Current Affairs 15th October, 2015

Auditorium where Kalam delivered his last speech to be named after him

The Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, will pay homage to its most loved mentor, former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on his 84th birth anniversary on 15th October. Kalam died as he was addressing the students on its campus on July 27.
IIM Shillong has a number of events lined up in Kalam’s honour. Among other things, the auditorium where he delivered his last speech will be christened after him and a portrait of his will be unveiled by the students.

Brian Lara launches Yupp TV in India

West Indian cricketing legend, Brian Lara launched what Indians love most next to cricket &ndash movie and television serials content &ndash after he officially unveiled Yupp TV, which claims itself as the World’s largest Over-The-Top provider for Indian content.
The cricketer said he was a fan of Bollywood given the fact that 40 per cent of his country, Trinidad’s population was ethnic Indian and there was no way he couldn’t get influenced by Indian movies and entertainment. Mr. Lara is also associated with Yupp TV in his home country Trinidad being the brand Ambassador of TSTT, its technology partner.

Madras High Court comes to the rescue of temples

Pulling up the State government for not maintaining the list of temples that are over 100 years old, the Madras High Court on Wednesday wondered what the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department is doing.
The First Bench of Chief justice S.K. Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam made it clear that the objective of the court was to identify heritage temples with archaeological and religious significance and make sure that maintenance and renovation of the temples were carried out in such a manner that there was no damage to the structure.
When a batch of petitions on renovating heritage temples came up for hearing, counsel for the petitioners submitted that they had given a list of names of persons who are experts in temple rituals and practises and the government was not considering it.
P.S. Raman, who heads the team of experts appointed by the court to check the damage caused to temples due to renovation, submitted that structures of several temples, including the 1000-year-old Sri Rangam, were damaged due to cement plastering and installation of electrical fittings.

German police warn parents against posting kids\' photos on Facebook

Police in western Germany have issued an urgent appeal to parents to not post photos of their children on social media websites for all to see.
The appeal by Hagen police suggests to parents that “maybe you think these photos are cute now, but your child will find them endlessly embarrassing in a couple of years.”
It warns that such photos may be used by bullies or pedophiles and notes that children are entitled to privacy.
A spokesman for Hagen police said the appeal has been shared more than 100,000 times and viewed by more 7 seven million people, since it was first posted Tuesday on Facebook.
Spokesman Tino Schafer said that at the very least, parents should adjust their privacy settings to prevent strangers seeing the photos.

Tata Housing ties up with Facebook to sell leisure homes in Goa

Located close to the Goa airport at Dabolim this project is marketed as a leisure home.

Tata Housing has announced “Social Sell”, on Facebook, a first of its kind initiative in India to sell houses in its upcoming project in Goa.
Through this initiative prospective buyers can register themselves through Facebook to ensure they receive their unique invite code which will allow them to login on October 26 to book limited homes at this project “Codename: Goa Paradise” on a first come first basis.
Spread across 5 acres, the project is a premium resort themed residential project offering a range of homes extending from a 1BHK to a 3BHK starting Rs.29 lakh.
Located close to the Goa airport at Dabolim this project is marketed as a leisure home.

Netherlands fail to qualify for Euro 2016

The national team has failed to qualify for the European Championships for the first time since 1984.

The Netherlands\' hopes of a dramatic rescue act in Euro 2016 qualification evaporated as they conceded two first-half goals and eventually lost 3-2 at home to 10-man Czech Republic on Tuesday.
The Dutch, third at the World Cup in Brazil last year, had to win their final qualifier and hope Turkey lost at home to Iceland to sneak into third place in Group A and book a slot in next month\'s playoffs.
However, defeat consigned the Netherlands to fourth spot behind the Turks, who won 1-0 to secure a place at the finals as the best third-placed team, while the Czechs topped the group.
A second half change in tactics by the Dutch to full-out attack failed to turn around a dire situation despite the Czechs being down to 10 men after Marek Suchy was sent off just before halftime for a last-man tackle.
Goals from Pavel Kaderabek and Josef Sural stunned the hosts in the first period and the game was over when substitute Robin van Persie headed into his own net in the 66th minute. The Dutch consolation goals came from Klaas-an Huntelaar and Van Persie.
The Netherlands were crowned European champions in 1988 and were third in 1992, 2000 and 2004. They went out at the group stage of the last edition in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.

CM’s panel for Swachh cess on telecom, fuel

The chief minister\'s panel on Swachh Bharat has suggested a cess on petrol and diesel as well as telephony services to raise funds for Prime Minister Narendra Modi\'s pet scheme. In a radical move, the panel has also recommended that anybody contesting an election for local bodies must have an individual household toilet.

A levy on accumulated waste produced by mineral waste generation plants like coal, aluminum and iron ore and issuance of Swachh Bharat bonds by central and state governments to raise resources are among the other suggestions. The budget had allowed the government to levy a Swachh Bharat cess at a rate of 2% or less on all or certain services, if need be. According to estimates, the government can raise around Rs 15,000 crore if it imposes a 1% levy.