24th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs

• "9th Cultural Festival" in Kuwait to showcase India's rich artistic heritage begins today.
• Seeking a more dynamic relationship with strategically important Vietnam, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is on a Three Day visit to Vietnam. During this visit she will participate in talks with the country's top leadership during which cooperation in defence, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and textiles would be in focus.
• Afghan President Hamid Karzi has his successor world take office on 2nd September 2014, despite a slow moving vote audit designed to eliminate fraudulent ballots cast for the two contenders.
• Two alarming new cases to Ebola have emerged in Nigeria, widening the circle of people sickened beyond the immediate group of caregivers who treated a dying airline passenger in one of Africa's largest cities.

• Indian revolutionary freedom fighter Shivaram Hari Rajguru's 106th Birth Anniversary today. Shivaram Rajguru - one among the communist trio of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru - was born in Khed (now Rajgurunagar, after him) on 24th August, 1908.
• As Part of the Green Initiative and cut down on cost, the Finance Ministry has asked government departments to curb use of paper and promote electronic communication.

• Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan, who was transferred to Mizoram by the NDA government late on Saturday night, has tendered his resignation, refusing to take charge of his new assignment.
• Haryana Minister Ajay Yadav, who had resigned from Bhupinder Singh Hooda government sometime back but later withdrew it, was made chairman of the campaign committee for the poll-bound state while Naveen Jindal was appointed as chairman of the publicity committee.

• After a gap of 10 years, Pakistan has resumed export of crude oil with output touching an all-time high.
• All Transaction involving domestic credit cards must necessarily conform to additional authentication or validation process as mandated under the rules. Asserting this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it clear that the two step authentication process is a must even for "card not present transactions".

• NASA scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a new satellite than can predict the severity of droughts worldwide and help farmers maximise crop yield. Currently, there is no ground-or-satellite-based global network monitoring soil moisture at a local level.

• Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo beat Nico Rosberg to win an incident-packed Belgian Grand Prix today.

• More than 4.5 Lakhs students today appeared in the civil services preliminary examination at various centres across the country. 1.27 Lakh More from Last Year.