11-12 August 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Justice M R Shah sworn in as Chief Justice of Patna HC

The Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik administered the oath of office to Justice Mukesh R Shah in a ceremony held at the Raj Niwas in Patna.
Justice Shah was a judge of the Gujarat High Court (in 2004) and confirmed as the permanent judge on 22^nd June 2005.
Justice Shah enrolled as an advocate of the Gujarat High Court in 1982.

Note: The high courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in each state and union territory.

Obituaries

2. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee passes away

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee (89-year) passed away due to multi-organ failure at a city hospital in Kolkata.
Chatterjee served as Lok Sabha Speaker during the UPA-I rule (2004 to 2009).
He was elected to Parliament’s Lower House for ten times since 1971.
He won the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1996.
In July 2008, he was expelled from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for refusing to resign as Speaker after his party CPM withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Note: In 2007, Somnath Chatterjee was awarded an honorary fellowship by the college.

3. Nobel Prize Winner Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul passes away

Nobel Prize winner for Literature British author V S Naipaul (85-year) has passed away in London.
Has written about 30 books, although it was the novel "A House for Mr. Biswas" that launched him to fame.
He won the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 2001) and Booker Prize (in 1971).

Note: He was a Trinidadian by birth, an Indian by descent and in terms of citizenship he was British.

Important Dates

4. 12 August: International Youth Day

The International Youth Day (IYD) is observed every year on 12^th August (first in 2000) to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.
The theme for International Youth Day 2018 is “Safe space for Youth”.
There are currently 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in the world.

Note: On 17 December 1999, the International Youth Day (IYD) was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by passing resolution 54/120.

5. 12 August: World Elephant Day

The World Elephant Day (WED) is being observed to spread awareness about the animal.
The Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated a four-day special event Gaj Mahotsav in New Delhi,
The goal of International Elephant Day is to create awareness of the urgent plight of African and Asian elephants and to share knowledge and management of captive & wild elephants.

Note: The first International Elephant Day was held on 12^th August 2012.

Science & Defence

6. NASA launches parker solar probe to ‘Touch Sun’

US space agency the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) blasted off a USD 1.5 billion spacecraft toward the Sun on a historic mission to protect the Earth by unveiling the mysteries of dangerous solar storms.
The Parker Solar Probe rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The probe is set to become the fastest-moving manmade object in history.
It is the first spacecraft to be named after a living person - astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 91, who first described solar wind in 1958.

7. India to launch its 2nd lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 on January 3 next year

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan, India will launch its 2^nd lunar mission "Chandrayaan-2" (3,890-kg) on 3^rd January 2019 to land on the moon with a lander and rover.
It will be launched onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-3.
It will orbit around the moon and study its lunar conditions to collect data on its topography, mineralogy and exosphere.
This is the first time India will have a rover landing on the moon nearly 50 years after American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the eerie lunar surface in 1969.
Earlier, "Chandrayaan-1" launched on October 22 onboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket from the spaceport in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

International Affairs

8. Nepal-India literature festival 2018 begins in Birgunj

The two-day Nepal-India Literature Festival 2018 has been inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Province 2 Mohammad Lalbabu Raut in Birgunj, Nepal.
The festival is aimed at strengthening Indo-Nepal ties.
Around 250 participants from India and Nepal, organized by Nepal India Co-operation Forum.

National Affairs

9. Nirmala Sitharaman dedicates to nation bridge at Hussainiwala border in Punjab

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dedicated to the nation a bridge at the Hussainiwala border in Ferozepur district of Punjab.
It is a permanent bridge as the old one was demolished in 1971 during the Indo-Pak war to stop the advancement of the Pakistani forces.
The bridge is the only lifeline for nearly 10 villages connecting Hussainiwala enclave with the rest of the country.

Banking & Finance

10. Axis Bank introduces iris authentication for Aadhaar-based transactions

Axis bank has become the first bank in the country to introduce Iris Scan Authentication feature (customer to scan their iris on a tablet) for Aadhaar -based transactions through its micro ATM tablets.
It will boost the bank's financial inclusion efforts by making Aadhaar authentication process hassle-free and offering easier access to digital banking for consumers especially in the rural parts of the country.
This is being run as a pilot project in 8 branches of rural Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
The transaction will be completed after the biometric details are verified from the UIDAI database.

Note:

Iris scan technology is completely contactless and provides up to 98.2% authentication success rate and offers an edge over other prevalent biometric modes.

11. Exim Bank signs MoU with BRICS development banks

Exim Bank of India has signed a multilateral cooperation agreement with member development banks of BRICS to undertake “collaborative research” in distributed ledger/blockchain technology.
Under the agreement, the signatories have agreed to constitute a joint research working group which will formulate the research agenda and targeted outcome.
Exim Bank of India is the nominated member development bank under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.
The BRICS grouping comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Sports

12. Viraj Madappa wins maiden Asian Tour title

Indian golfer Viraj Madappa (20-year) has become the youngest Indian to win on the Asian Tour.
He won his maiden title on the Asian Tour at Take Solutions Masters in Bengaluru and USD 63,000 cheque.
Earlier, the record held by Gaganjeet Bhullar, who won the Indonesia Invitational when he was 21-years.