08 May 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. World Red Cross Day being observed Today

The ‘World Red Cross Day’ is observed on 8th May annually to commemorate the birth anniversary of 'Henry Dunant'.
Henry Dunant was the founder of the Red Cross as well as the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
This day is dedicated to the people who suffer from food shortage, natural calamities, war as well as disease of the Epidemic.
The theme for World Red Cross Day 2019 is “#love” or simply "love".
In 1901, Henry Dunant has received the First Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy.

Note:

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide.
It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering.

Obituaries

2. Noted writer academician Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao passes away

Prominent writer and academician, Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao (84-years) passed away at a hospital following a cardiac arrest.
Mr. Rao had worked as professor of political science and registrar of Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.
He was born at Jayaram village in Mahabubabad district in Telangana.

Source: Business Standard

3. West Indies cricketer Seymour Nurse passes away

Former West Indies batsman Seymour Nurse (85-years) passed away following a prolonged illness.
He played 29 Tests between 1960 and 1969 and scored 2523 runs at an average of 47.60.
The middle-order batsman from Barbados made 9489 runs in 141 First-Class matches at 43.93.
He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1967

Source: The Times of India

Books & Authors

4. Shahid Afridi released his autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’

Pakistan’s all-rounder & former captain Shahid Afridi (popularly known as ‘Boom Boom’) released his controversial autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’.
The book is co-authored by Afridi & journalist Wajahat S Khan and published by HarperCollins India imprint Harper Sport.
Afridi stated that he was born in 1975 and not 1980 as stated in the official records.
Afridi played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is and retired from international cricket in 2017.

Note:

Wisden, the sport's recognised almanac, still lists Afridi as the youngest player to score a one-day ton - aged 16 years and 217 days.
Afridi’s fastest-century record lasted until 2014 when it was eclipsed by New Zealander Corey Anderson, and by South African AB de Villiers a year later.

Source: Gulf News

National Affairs

5. Gujarat assembly passes an act to allow shops & businesses to remain open 24X7

Gujarat state assembly has passed Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019’.
It allows the shops, commercial establishments and other businesses in the state to operate 24×7 (from 1^st May,2019).
The Act replaced the Gujarat Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 which prevented shops and other businesses from operating between 12 am. to 6 am.
Employees will get twice the regular salary for working overtime, against the one-and-a-half-time as provided under the earlier act.
Working hours for women employees can be only between 6 am and 9 pm (relaxed if considering safety issues).

Source: Indian Express

Appointments

6. Myntra appoints Virat Kohli & Anushka Sharma as its first brand ambassadors

Flipkart-owned fashion e-commerce platform ‘Myntra’ announced that it had appointed celebrity couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma as its first brand ambassadors.
Myntra has launched ‘Go Myntra-la-la’, a brand campaign that brings alive the joyful experience of shopping for fashion on the brand’s platform.
The campaign thought was inspired by Myntra’s vision to offer an online shopping experience for fashion.

Note:

Myntra (founded - 2007) is an Indian fashion e-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
In May 2014, Myntra.com was acquired by Flipkart.

Source: The Tribune

7. India's Jagjit Pavadia re-elected to International Narcotics Control Board

India's Jagjit Pavadia has been re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another five-year term.
Ms Pavadia has been a member of the INCB since 2015 and her current term is set to expire in 2020.
Jagjit Pavadia Pavadia has held several senior positions in the Indian Revenue Service for 35 years in the Government of India, including Narcotics Commissioner of India, Central Bureau of Narcotics.

Note:

INCB consists of 13 members who are elected by the ECOSOC and who serve in their personal capacity.
Established in 1968, the INCB is an independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the UN's international drug control conventions.

Source: The Hindustan Times

8. Laurentino Cortizo wins Presidential elections of Panama

Businessman & politician Laurentino Cortizo (66-year) has won Panama's presidential election with 33.27% of the vote in support.
Chairman Rómulo Roux lost a close race, polling just around 31% of the vote.
Cortizo was also a member of the National Assembly between 1994 and 2004, serving a year as chamber president.
Due to constitutional term limits, Outgoing President Juan Carlos Varela is ineligible for a second consecutive term.

Note:

As the presidential election in Panama does not have run-off criteria, so the candidate with the maximum number of votes wins the election even he does not have 50% of the vote.

Source: Business Standard

9. Stevo Pendarovski elected new President of North Macedonia

Stevo Pendarovski (56 years) has won the 2019 Macedonian presidential elections with 51.66% vote to become the President-elect of North Macedonia.
The president must be a citizen of North Macedonia, be over 40 years of age and have lived in North Macedonia for at least ten of the previous fifteen years.

Note:

The President of the Republic of North Macedonia is the head of state of North Macedonia.

Source: Aljazeera

International Affairs

10. India, Bangladesh to produce a movie on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

India and Bangladesh will jointly produce a movie based on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a documentary on Bangladesh Liberation War.
The movie will be directed by acclaimed India’s filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
Prasar Bharati has decided to carry Bangladesh TV on DD Free Dish platform without charging carriage fees.
As a reciprocal gesture, Bangladesh Delegation announced that a Doordarshan channel will be adopted on the soon to be launched DTH platform of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Delegation assured full cooperation in ensuring smooth logistics for shooting the movie in Bangladesh.

Source: AIR News

11. India re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council

India and Finland re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council.
The Arctic Council promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among Arctic states on common issues, particularly on sustainable development and environmental protection.
Observer status is open to non-Arctic states approved by the Council at the Ministerial Meetings that occur once every two years.
The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic.

Note: AIR News

12. Microsoft unveils tool “ElectionGuard” for secure, verifiable voting

Microsoft has launched a software named “ElectionGuard” to help countries ensure secure and verifiable voting.
The tool “ElectionGuard” will enable end-to-end verification of elections, open results to third-party organisations for secure validation, and allow individual voters to confirm their votes were correctly counted.
However, it should be noted that “ElectionGuard” is not designed to support internet voting and is aimed at supplementing and improving the paper ballot systems.
"ElectionGuard" provides each voter a tracker with a unique code that can be used to follow an encrypted version of the vote through the entire election process via a web portal provided by election authorities.

Source: Business Standard

Science & Defence

13. USAF Successfully tests Laser System ‘SHiELD’ to shoot down missiles

The United States Air Force (USAF) has successfully conducted the test of a laser weapons system called the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) at the US Army’s White Sands Missile range in New Mexico.
It successfully shot down multiple air-launched missiles while in flight.
The SHiELD is an Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Program which is capable of shooting down multiple missiles in flight.
It would be mounted on aircraft to demonstrate self-defence of aircraft and protect the fighter jets against surface-to-air (SAM) and air-to-air (AAM) missiles attack.

Source: Express.co