Important Current Affairs 8th August

NATIONAL:

Delhi govt unveiled the Citywide WiFi project.

• Delhi government has announced that 11,000 hotspots will be installed to provide Wi-Fi before the end of 2019. The announcement was made by CM Arvind Kejriwal. It also announced that 4,000 hotspots will be installed at bus stops. The State govt. has planned to install 1,40,000 more CCTVs in the State.

Aim:

The Citywide Wi-Fi project aims to help in bridging the digital divide. It will also provide motivation to education, entrepreneurship, business, employment. It will also tie in with women's safety initiatives.

Project implementation:

The expenditure finance committee (EFC) has approved the 'hotspot' model to provide free internet to Delhiites. The committee has also approved Rs.99 crore for the project.

In the first phase, up to 15 GB usage per mobile number will be free of cost per month. The Wi-Fi signals will be available within a radius of about 50m from where the router is installed. The project has been planned to be completed by September 2020.

INTERNATIONAL:

SpaceX Falcon launched Israels Amos telecommunications satellite.

• The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Israeli telecommunications satellite called Amos-17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite was launched successfully into the geosynchronous transfer orbit .

• The launch was a makeup launch for Spacecom when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad in 2016. Amos-17 has been designed to provide enhanced voice, video and data services to customers in Africa and parts of Europe, the Middle East, India and China.

SpaceX's previous and recent launches:

• Before AMOS 17, Spacex launched the Europe’s Arianespace consortium with two satellites from its spaceport in the South American country of French Guiana using its heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket.

• The second satellite called  EDRS-C is part of an effort led by the European Space Agency and Airbus to facilitate high-speed laser communications between orbiting satellites and ground stations.

AGREEMENTS AND MOU'S:

India, 45 others sign UN treaty on mediation in trade disputes.

• India and 45 other United Nations members including the US and China, on Wednesday signed the Singapore Convention on Mediation, intended to help stabilise trade ties. The international treaty aims for the resolution of cross-border commercial and trade disputes as an alternative to court cases.

• The convention sets the standards for enforcing and invoking settlement agreements

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

OYO appoints Mandar Vaidya as CEO for South-East Asia, Middle East.

• India's largest hospitality chain, Gurugram-based OYO has appointed Mandar Vaidya as the CEO for South-East Asia and the Middle East. Vaidya has served as a Partner at American worldwide management consulting firm McKinsey & Company for around 15 years. OYO operates in countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the region.

DAYS:

India observes 77th anniversary of Quit India movement.

• The 77th anniversary of the August Kranti Din is considered as one of the important milestones in the history of freedom struggle of our country, is being observed. Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call to end the British rule and launched the Quit India Movement at the session of the All-India Congress Committee in Mumbai. Gandhiji gave the call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai. The grateful country is today paying homage to the freedom fighters and remembering the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs during the freedom struggle.Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu urged the people to take part in nation-building activities in a constructive manner. He said the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi are eternally relevant. He was addressing a gathering after well-known Gandhian, Dr. Shobana Radhakrishna rendered ‘Gandhi Katha’. It is a narrative on the clarion call given by Mahatma Gandhi to the British this day to Quit India. Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel also present at the event held at the Vice President’s residence in New Delhi.

The failure of Cripps Mission, Gandhiji gave the call to “Do or Die” in his Quit India speech delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai. The grateful country is paying homage to the freedom fighters and remembering the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs during the freedom struggle.

Quit India Movement

Quit India Movement or the August Movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942 during World War II. Demanding an end to British Rule of India.The Cripps Mission failed, and on 8 August 1942, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. The All-India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called "An Orderly British Withdrawal" from India.

This resolution declared that the immediate ending of the British rule in India was an urgent necessity for the sake of India and for the success of the cause of freedom and democracy for which the countries of the United Nations were fighting against fascist Germany, Italy, and Japan. The resolution called for the withdrawal of the British power from India. India with all her resources would join the war on the side of those countries who were struggling against fascist and imperialist aggression.

AWARDS:

Pranab Mukherjee to receive India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna today.

• Former President and veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee will be presented with the Bharat Ratna by President Ramnath Kovind on Thursday evening.

• Mukherjee was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, in January, along with renowned musician Bhupen Hazarika and Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Nanaji Deshmukh.

• Kovind will present the award to Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan at 6pm. Hazarika and Deshmukh, awarded posthumously, will also be honoured at the ceremony.

• Pranab Mukherjee, 83, in his long and illustrious political career has served the country in various capacities -- Defence Minister, Finance Minister, External Affairs Minister, Leader of Lok Sabha, Leader of Rajya Sabha and as the President of India between 2012 to 2017.

SPORTS:

Part-time bowler sets world record by taking 7 wickets in a T20.

• Leicestershire Foxes captain and part-time spinner Colin Ackermann recorded the best bowling figures in a T20 after taking seven wickets for 18 runs against Birmingham Bears. Malaysian spinner Arul Suppiah held the previous world record when he claimed 6-5 for Somerset against Glamorgan in 2011. More than 30 bowlers had taken six wickets in a T20 prior to Ackermann's seven-for.