Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 31 August 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

::NATIONAL::

Nine new judges, including three women, would be administered the oath of office as judges of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana. Three out of these nine new judges -- Justice VikramNath and Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice PS Narasimha -- are in line to become the chief justice of India.
The strength of the Supreme Court would go up to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34, after the swearing-in of the nine new judges.
This will be for the first time in the history of the top court when nine judges would be taking the oath of office in one go. Also, the swearing-in ceremony would be held in the auditorium of the Supreme Court's additional building complex due to the coronavirus pandemic. Traditionally, new judges take the oath of office in the CJI's courtroom.
The Supreme Court Collegium recommended the names of these nine judges on August 17 for appointment as judges of the top court. President Ram NathKovind then signed the warrants of their appointment as top court judges.
The top court has seen very few women judges since its inception and in the last over 71 years has appointed only eight women judges starting from M FathimaBeevi in 1989. Justice Indira Banerjee is the lone serving woman judge in the top court after her elevation on August 7, 2018.

Russia warned on Monday of a possible increase in West Nile Virus (WNV) infections this autumn as mild temperatures and heavy precipitation create favourable conditions for the mosquitos that carry it.
"In light of favourable climatic conditions this year - an abundance of precipitation... a warm and long autumn, a high number of (virus) carriers could be observed in the autumn," Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's consumer health watchdog, said.
More than 80% of Russia's West Nile fever cases are recorded in its southwest region.
WNV is an infectious disease spread by infected mosquitoes. It spreads from birds to humans with the bite of an infected Culex mosquito. It can lead to a fatal neurological disease in humans.
The virus causes West Nile fever in around 20 per cent of cases, according to World Health Organization (WHO). It is related to the Zika, dengue and yellow fever viruses.
People who get WNV usually have no symptoms or mild symptoms. The symptoms include a fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph glands. They can last a few days to several weeks, and usually go away on their own.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) introduced a regular Jungle Tea Toy-Train Safari from Siliguri junction to Rongtong station on Monday evening.
This is the second attempt made by the railway authority in Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) to attract tourists as well as to boost the tourism industry.
The direct DHR Toy train service was suspended for one and half years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The toy train runs on a regular basis from Siliguri Junction to Rongtong hill station with a heritage steam engine and vista dome dining car facilities. Tourists can enjoy the breathtaking views of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and the hills from the train.
The railway authority will also open a DHR heritage photo gallery at Sukna station during the journey and offer a complimentary cup of Darjeeling tea at Rongtong station. It is a three-hour journey and after reaching Rongtong station they will come back to Siliguri junction again.
Sanjay Chilwarwar, ADRM, Katihar division of Northeast frontier railway said, "We have started a regular basis up-down jungle tea toy-train safari from today with the heritage steam engine and Vistadome dining car facilities. Tourism is the only industry in this region. So we decided to run maximum toy trains in this route to attract the tourists and to gear up the tourism industry in this region. He said that they are getting a good response, people are asking questions and in the future, it will be a part of major attraction.

Earlier in the month of August, IIT Roorkee in partnership with the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority developed a mobile application that would detect early signs of an earthquake and accordingly deliver warnings to the users on Android and iOS smartphones.
The app was named the 'UttarakhandBhookamp Alert'. It is one of the most useful applications in the state which is one of the most earthquakes hit regions.
The application uses the Earthquake Early Warning system which is a real-time earthquake information system and can detect signs of potential earthquakes.
One of the most prestigious institutes in the country, IIT Roorkee is known for making some major inventions. In the wake of the COVID-19 situation, it had developed an application for helping in the surveillance of coronavirus patients. It not only helped in managing quarantine facilities but also in controlling overcrowding at any location.

India's SumitAntil on Monday set a new world record to win the gold medal in the men's javelin throw (F64) event at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. With the best throw of 68.85 m in the final in Japan, he took India's medal count to 7.
Sumit began with a throw of 66.95m to top the standings after round 1 and set a new world record. He then consolidated his position with his second throw of 68.08m and smashed the previous world record. In the third and fourth throws, respectively, he threw 65.27m and 66.71.