Important Current Affairs 8th September 2018 English

Important Current Affairs 8th September 2018

   (International News)

Waking of Kepler space telescope
Kepler space telescope has woken up from sleep mode and has restarted its scientific operations. The Kepler team is planning to collect as much science data as possible in its remaining time and beam it back to Earth before the loss of the fuel-powered thrusters.
About 
Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched on March 7, 2009, into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit.

Nepal gets access to 4 China ports  
On Friday’s meeting, China and Nepal finalised Transit and Transport Agreement. It has provided access to 4 Chinese ports(Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang ) to Nepal.   
According to the agreement, Nepalese can use rail or road to access seaports.
This agreement will reduce Nepal’s dependence on India since a prolonged blockade of its border crossing with India in 2015 and 2016 left the country short of fuel and medicines for several months.

(National News)

Trust status granted to ‘Bharat Ke Veer’
The government has granted the trust status of ‘Bharat Ke Veer’.
About “Bharat Ke Veer”
It is a private initiative which aids families of paramilitary personnel that got martyred. Akshay Kumar and former national badminton champion Pullela Gopichand are in its  trustees.  
The public can contribute by visitng its website or application. One can donate directly to individual braveheart's account (upto max of 15 lakhs) or may donate to the Bharat Ke Veer corpus.
Management 
Bharat Ke Veer corpus would be managed by a commitee made up of eminent persons of repute and senior government officials, in equal number, who would decide to disburse the fund equitably to the bravehearts family on need basis.
‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit’
NITI Aayog organized ‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit’ in New Delhi, in collaboration with various ministries and industry partners.

Themes

1.    Maximising asset utilisation and services.
2.    Comprehensive electrification and alternative fuels.
3.    Reinventing public transport.
4.    Goods transport and logistics.
5.    Data analytics and mobility.
Aim 
To co-create a public interest framework to revolutionize transport. In addition to it government also wanted to make it safe, clean, shared and connected, affordable, accessible and inclusive.

Aero India 2019
The Government has decided to hold the Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from 20-24 February 2019. Besides global leaders and big investors in aerospace industry, the show will also see participation by think-tanks from across the world.

(Environment)

The world's first omnivorous shark 
The bonnethead shark is the world's first omnivorous shark, according to new research.
About
The bonnethead shark - which is a smaller cousin of the more famous hammerhead shark - resides in shallow, coastal areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and the US's Pacific and Atlantic coast. These areas have plenty of seagrass, along with the shrimp and crabs scientists thought was the shark's preferred sustenance.

Extinction of 8 species of Avian 
The macaw is one of eight species, including the poo-uli, the Pernambuco pygmy-owl and the cryptic treehunter, that can be added to the growing list of confirmed or highly likely extinctions, according to a new statistical analysis by BirdLife International. It is included in the first avian extinctions of the 21st century. 
About
Birds, also known as Aves, are a group of endothermic vertebrates, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws.
Birdlife International
It is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity.
Establishment - 1922
Headquarters - Cambridge, United Kingdom