Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
For the 2019 kharif season, the West Bengal government has rolled out a free crop insurance scheme in collaboration with the Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC). The scheme called Bangla Shashya Bima (BSB) is applicable for farmers in 15 districts – Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Medinipur, Malda, Hooghly, Nadia, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Purulia, Dakshin Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. The crop insurance scheme would be free of cost for the farmers since the government will pay the full premium. The crops that will come under insurance are aman paddy, aus paddy, jute and maize. All farmers taking loans (granted or applied for) and even those not taking loans can avail of the insurance. The insurance will be paid in four stages – for any losses suffered during planting, during cultivation, during the period post-cutting when crops are lying in the field, and for adverse weather situations. The amount will be decided by the state government and will be calculated per hectare.

Notes:
The first-ever India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) will be held in New Delhi between 11th to 13th October. The initiative is a part of the Agriculture Export Policy 2018 which aims at doubling the agriculture export and integrating Indian farmers and agriculture products with global value chains. The Trade Fair is aimed at promoting cooperative to cooperative trade within the country and abroad leading to enhanced rural and farm prosperity. The fair offers a huge opportunity for the industry and business houses from India and abroad to build alliances, product sourcing and interact with the primary producers of a wide range of products and service providers.

Notes:
Santosh Rana (76), the veteran Naxalite leader, has passed away in Kolkata on June 29, 2019. He is one of the foremost leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and a major thinker on caste, class and tribal politics in West Bengal and winner of a top literary award in the State. The CPI-ML (PCC) was one of the very first Naxalite groups to participate in elections. Under his leadership, CPI-ML (PCC) was active in parts of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam. It played a significant role in opposing the CPI-M led government during the Nandigram land agitation, which contributed to the electoral debacle of the Left Front in West Bengal. He argued in his award-winning autobiography, Rajnitir Ek Jibon [A Life in Politics], that the Left in India made a huge mistake as they never analysed and responded to the caste question.

Notes:
On 1st July 2019, Japan officially resumed commercial whaling after more than 30 years of limiting whale hunts to scientific purposes — a policy that still resulted in the deaths of hundreds of whales every year. The hunts come after Japan’s withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The move is slammed by anti-whaling activists but welcomed by Japanese whaling communities. Now, Japan has joined Iceland and Norway as the only nations to allow commercial whaling despite the IWC moratorium. Hunting will reportedly be limited to Japan’s territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, which stretches about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the nation’s coasts. The IWC, established in 1946, to conserve and manage the world’s whale and cetacean population, introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.

Notes:
The 6th edition of Exercise Garuda-VI has started between Indian and French Air Force from 1st of July 2019 at French Air Force Base – Mont-de-Marsan. The exercise will see the most potent fighter aircraft of the two countries going head-to-head to validate the latest defence strategies and fine-tune their waging capabilities and is expected to showcase fighter jets like Rafale, Mirage 2000, Sukhoi 30 from the two sides. Participation of Indian Air Force (IAF) in the exercise will also promote professional interaction, exchange experiences and operational knowledge besides strengthening bilateral relations with the French Air Force. It will also provide a good opportunity to the air warriors to operate in an international environment.

Notes:
Dr. Narinder Batra, President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has been elected as a member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. Batra now has a rare distinction of becoming a member of the IOC, while heading a National Olympic Committee (NOC) as well as an international federation. He is the first Indian to have this distinction. He has already become the first Indian to head an international federation of an Olympic sport — that of International Hockey Federation (FIH). With the election of Batra, the number of Indians who are currently active members of IOC will rise to two. Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani was elected as an individual member of the IOC in 2016. She is the first Indian woman to be elected to the prestigious seat.

Notes:
The autobiography titled “Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly” has been authored by Bollywood actor Anupam Kher i.e. set to hit stands on 5 August. It is a story of a small town boy who dared to dream. It is a story about hope, disappointments, success, failures and eternal optimism. The book will be an extraordinary, riveting and no-holds-barred saga in which Kher will make some behind-the-scenes revelations, and share anecdotes and rare nuggets from his life and the lessons it taught him. He has over 530 films in several languages, both in India and the West, 100 plays and numerous TV shows to his credit. He is a winner of two National awards, 8 Filmfare awards and a BAFTA nomination. He is also a recipient of the Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan awards.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a 6-member committee, under the chairmanship of former secretary of MCA Tapan Ray, to strengthen the corporate governance framework of systematically important Core Investment Companies (CICs). These are Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) which have their assets predominantly as investments in shares for holding stake in group companies but not for trading. CICs also do not carry out any other financial activity. The committee report is to be submitted by October 31, 2019. The working group will examine regulatory framework, enhance onsite and offsite surveillance of these companies, suggest changes in registration criteria including the practice of multiple CIC within a group and other such assessment to strengthen the corporate governance framework. The committee report is to be submitted by October 31, 2019.

Notes:
The Indian passport has been ranked at the 86th position with a mobility score of 58 in the latest Henley Passport Index 2019. The score points out that Indian passport holder can access 58 countries around the world without a prior visa. The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations — including micro-states and territories. India shares the 86th position with Mauritiana and Sao Tome and Principe. The list is topped by Japan & Singapore with a mobility score of 189. South Korea, Finland and Germany have acquired 2nd position, while Denmark, Italy, and Luxembourg are on the third rank. France has dropped to the fourth spot, now sharing the position with Spain and Sweden. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information.

Notes:
Indian middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu from Andhra Pradesh retired from all forms of cricket on July 3, 2019. He did not specify reasons for calling it quits. He was in India’s official standbys list for the on-going World Cup but was omitted twice. Rayudu played 55 ODIs for India, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.05. However, he did not play any Test.