Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2018

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh government will set up ‘iHub’ (the intelligent hub), a first-of-its kind global research centre for scientific learning with an initial investment of Rs 245 crore spread over five years. For this purpose, the state government has already collaborated with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP). Some of the social and economic objectives of iHub will be to create 50,000 future-ready skilled manpower, reduced school dropouts and capture the EdTech market. The initial staff will be about 40 International researchers in disciplines such as neuro-science, education, psychology, digital instructional design, educational technology, Artificial Intelligence, data sciences, and gamingamong others. The centre will also issue “Global Certification” for digital educational content.

Notes:
Dr Bhishma Narain Singh (85), the former Union Minister and Congress leader, has passed away in Noida on August 1, 2018. Dr Singh held various portfolios during the Congress rule led by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was also the Governor of Assam and Tamil Nadu.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has recently approved an unemployment allowance scheme “Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestam” through which an allowance of Rs 1000 per month will be provided to unemployed youth in the state. Unemployed youths with a degree or diploma between the ages of 22 and 35 years are eligible to avail the benefit. The state government will set up a website for the scheme by the end of August, where a 15-day registration window will be open for potential beneficiaries of the scheme. The amount will be directly transferred into their bank account. The state government decided to implement this scheme to benefit as many as 12 lakh youths of the state. It has also been decided that 20,000 job vacancies, 9,000 teacher posts and other department vacancies will be filled.

Notes:
Sashi Cheliah, an Indian origin prison guard from Adelaide, has clinched the title of MasterChef Australia 2018 after scoring 93 out of 100 points. He defeated fellow contestant Ben Borsht, who scored 77 out of 100. For the first round, Cheliah made a sambal prawns starter, which got him a perfect 30 while his second recipe for the grand finale was a fish curry and cumin rice dish that he made to honour his aunt. The winner took home the MasterChef Australia trophy and a winning amount of 2,50,000 (almost Rs 1.7 crore) while the first runner-up was awarded 40,000 (around Rs 27 lakh).

Notes:
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has launched a dedicated portal – Forum of Cargo Owners and Logistics Operators (FOCAL) – to connect cargo owners and shippers with real time data on availability of vessels. The landmark e-connect measure will enable direct interaction among the vessel operators, shippers and cargo owners as currently, there is no platform to know the availability of vessels in the market. It has been designed and developed by the in-house IT Department and the traffic wing of IWAI as part of its preparedness for optimal use of its ongoing capacity development on various National Waterways. FOCAL will facilitate responses from the logistic operators against the requirement raised by cargo owners and vice-versa. The users can register on the portal to key in the availability and details of vessels or the available cargo, as the case may be. Cargo owners will be able to put details like the origin, destination, type of cargo etc.

Notes:
The group of computer scientists and a team of students from the IIT- Madras have developed the first of a family of six industry-standard microprocessors under Project Shakti. The initial batch of 300 chips, named ‘RISECREEK’, has been fabricated for free at the Intel facility in Oregon (US), which was used to run the Linux operating system. The design of microprocessors is open source. They optimize power use and compete with international units such as the Cortex A5 from Advanced RISC Machines (ARM). The entire team was lead by Dr. Neel Gala, who is an alumnus of IIT-Madras. The team had used a BlueSpec System Verilog language, which helped them capture the processor functionality. At a frequency of 350 MHz, RISECREEK can meet the demands of defence and strategic equipment such as NAVIC (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite) and Internet of Things (IoT) electronics.

Notes:
The Central Government has approved 122 new research projects of Rs 112 crore under its Impacting Research Innovation and Technology ‘IMPRINT-2’ scheme. The aim of the initiative is to advance research in energy, security, and healthcare domains in the high education institutions. IMPRINT is the first of its kind government supported initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance. The proposals were approved at the IMPRINT 2 Apex Committee meeting held in New Delhi on August 4, 2018..

Notes:
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed pact with the State Bank of India (SBI) for a long-term unsecured loan to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore. This is SBI’s highest long-term unsecured loan to any entity and also the largest ever loan sanctioned to NHAI. There is no principal repayment liability for initial 3 years. After 3 years, the repayment would be done in 14 equal half yearly instalments. The total loan tenure is 10 years. NHAI can repay/ prepay it at any time without any prepayment penalty. The total sanctioned amount of Rs 25000 Crore is to be disbursed within 31st March 2019. Rate of interest would be based on one month MCLR. Interest accrued on the amount actually outstanding will be paid on monthly basis. NHAI can draw the amount in any number of tranches, latest by 31st March 2019.

Notes:
NITI Aayog’s International Conference on “Sustainable Growth through Material Recycling: Policy Prescriptions”was held at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi on August 6, 2018. It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways & Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari. The day long conference brought together a host of experts for identifying policy prescriptions for the development and growth of material recycling in India towards creating more jobs, reduce dependence on exports, protect the environment and take steps towards adopting circular economy concepts.

Notes:
The communication exercise “Pacific Endeavor-2018 (PE-18)” under the Multinational Communications Interoperability Program (MCIP) has started in Kathmandu, Nepal on August 6, 2018. The basic objective of 12 day exercise is to develop common communications operating procedures to enable military forces in the Asia Pacific region to collectively work in the wake of disaster. Around 270 personnel from 20 Asia-Pacific Countries are participating in the exercise, which is jointly organised by the Nepali Army and United States Pacific Command (USPC). The Pacific Endeavor began in 2005 and it focuses on establishing rapid and effective inter-operable communication systems to jointly act in disaster relief operations.