Daily Current Affairs from 24 July 2014

1) Kurdish politician Fouad Massoum elected Iraq's president: Kurdish politician FouadMassoum has been named the new president of Iraq following a parliamentary vote. Massoum, 76, is one of the founders of current President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party. He is considered a soft-spoken moderate, known for keeping good relations with Sunni and Shiite Arab politicians. The vote for president — a largely ceremonial post — was delayed for a day when the Kurdish bloc requested more time to select a candidate. They named Massoum as their pick late on Wednesday.

2) TCS becomes first Indian company to top Rs 5 lakh crore market cap: Outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has become the first Indian company to exceed Rs 5 lakh crore in market capitalisation. The company's share price touched a 52-week high of Rs 2,580.60, taking its market cap to Rs 5.6 lakh crore ($86.5 billion, at 60 a dollar). The feat makes TCS the second most valuable IT services company in the world ahead of Ireland's Accenture but behind US's IBM. At present, Accenture’s market valuation stands at $51 billion and that of IBM at $193.7 billion.

3) Arijit Basu to assume charge as SBI Life MD & CEO: Arijit Basu, currently the Deputy Managing Director of State Bank of India, will take over as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SBI Life Insurance in August. Basu will replace Atanu Sen who is due to retire on July 31. Basu has been Deputy Managing Director of State Bank of India since May 2014 and serves as its Chief General Manager of Delhi. He has handled many important assignments over two-and-a-half decades in the bank. SBI Life is a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif, in which SBI owns 74 per cent.

4) KN Tripathy sworn in as Govenor of West Bengal: Former Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mr. Keshari Nath Tripathy was sworn in as the Govenor of West Bengal on Thursday. The Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court Mr. Asim Kumar Banerjee administered the oath of office to Mr. Tripathy at a function in Raj Bhavan in Kolkata Thursday afternoon. The State Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee, her Cabinet colleagues, members of the diplomatic corps and other distinguished guests were present at the swearing-in-ceremony.

5) Doordarshan music show to feature in Limca book of records: A reality show based on classical music aired by Doordarshan will feature in the Limca Book of Records. "Our show 'Naad Bhed-The Mystery of Sound', the first ever reality show on classical music, has been selected by the Limca Book of Records, to be featured in its next edition under Television chapter: for being the First ever National- level Reality show on Classical Music," a statement issued by Doordarshan said. Officials said that 'Naad Bhed' is a first of its kind national-level reality television show in the country and possibly the world, on classical music.

6) India's Mars orbiter completes about 80 percent of its journey: Inching closer to the red planet, India's ambitious Mars orbiter spacecraft has covered more than 540 million kilometres, about 80 percent of its journey for its rendezvous with the planet scheduled for 24 September. The spacecraft has covered a distance of more than 540 million kilometres on its helio centric journey to the red planet, ISRO said. "Yes, that is very close to a whopping 80 percent". Mars Orbit Mission and its payloads are in good health," ISRO said on Twitter.

7) Train, bus collision kills 25 school children in Telangana: Twenty five schoolgoers and the driver of their bus were killed when the Nanded-Secunderabad passenger train rammed into it at an unmanned railway crossing at Chegunta in Masaipet village of Veldurthi mandal in Medak district on Thursday.

8) Weightlifter Khumukcham Sanjita wins India's first gold at Commonwealth Games: Khumukcham Sanjita and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu bagged a gold and silver, respectively, in women's 48kg weightlifting in a display of overwhelming domination to open India's medal account on the opening day of the competition in the 20th Commonwealth Games on Thursday. Sanjita won with a total lift of 173kg (77+96) while Mirabai grabbed the silver with a cumulative effort of 170 (75+95) in the absence of other strong competitors. India finished first day with 7 medals (2 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze) in Commonwealth Games 2014.  Sukhen Dey has won the second gold medal for India in weight lifting.