Appointments & Resigns, Science & Technology, August 12th, 2018, Current Affairs PDF Download

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Two additional directors appointed by Board of IndusInd Bank ; effective from Aug 10
On August 12, 2018, IndusInd Bank board has appointed 2 non-executive independent directors.
i. They are : Akila Krishnakumar and Anil Tiwari .
ii. Their appointment is with effect from August 10,2018.

Justice M R Shah of Gujarat HC sworn in as Chief Justice of Patna HC
On August 12, 2018, Justice M R Shah has been appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court.
i. He was a judge of the Gujarat High Court.
ii. Justice Shah enrolled as an advocate of the Gujarat High Court in 1982.
iii. He became a judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004 and was confirmed as permanent judge on June 22, 2005.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe: World’s first mission to touch the Sun lifts off
On 12^th August 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, the world’s first mission to touch the Sun, was launched from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in United States.

Parker Solar Probe:
i. The Parker Solar Probe was carried by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.
ii. The Parker Solar Probe has been sent on a 7 year long mission to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere and its effects on space weather.
iii. The spacecraft is of the size of a car. It will directly travel into the Sun’s atmosphere, nearly 4 million miles from its surface and more than 7 times closer than any spacecraft has gone before.
iv. The spacecraft has an innovative Thermal Protection System. The heat shield has been designed to withstand radiation equivalent to up to 500 times the Sun’s radiation here on Earth. The mission costs USD 1.5 billion.
v. It will make the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s outer atmosphere which is called the corona.
vi. Corona is a region of the Sun that is only seen from Earth when the Moon blocks out the Sun’s bright face during total solar eclipses. Corona is nearly 300 times hotter than the Sun’s surface.
vi. It will make 24 passes through the corona during the 7 year mission. It has a range of instruments to study the Sun both remotely and directly.
vii. Measurements and imaging performed by the mission will give a better understanding of the corona and how processes there affect near-Earth space.

About United Launch Alliance (ULA):
♦ joint venture between Boeing & Lockheed Martin
♦ President & Chief Executive Officer – Salvatore T. “Tory” Bruno
♦ Headquarters – Centennial, Colorado, USA