Just In Current Affairs: 9 August 2017

Parliament to hold special session to mark 75th anniversary of Quit India movement

Both Houses of Parliament will hold a special session on 9 August 2017 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement. The Lok Sabha Treasury bench will be headed by Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will lead the treasury bench in the Rajya Sabha.

Both Houses will suspend the Question Hour and Zero Hour to make way for the special session's proceedings. As part of the anniversary celebrations, all parties are also expected to express their views on the movement, with the discussion culminating into a resolution that will be passed in order to reaffirm their commitment to the nation.

Justice Dipak Misra to be next Chief Justice of India

Justice Dipak Misra, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India. An official notification announcing 63-year-old Misra’s appointment was issued by the law ministry on 8 August 2017.
Misra will take over from incumbent Justice JS Khehar, who will retire on August 27.

Two massive earthquakes hit China; over 100 feared killed

At least nine people were killed and 164 others injured in an earthquake that struck China on 8 August 2017. According to media reports, a seven magnitude earthquake jolted a remote but popular tourist destination in China's southwest in which 100 people are feared dead and thousands injured. The condition of 30 hospitalized injured was stated to be serious.

Xinhua news agency said citing a China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) statement that five among the dead were visitors to the popular tourist destination of Jiuzhaigou national park. The massive earthquake struck at 9:19 PM, local time, on 8 August 2017 and the epicentre was monitored at a depth of 20 km, it said. Jiuzhaigou, or Jiuzhai Valley, is a national park known for spectacular waterfalls and karst formations.