Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has launched massive door to door campaign “DASTAK” against Acute Encephellitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephallitis (JE) disease. The campaign, which was launched in association with UNICEF, will run from 1st to 31st July. Under this state-wide campaign teams will go door to door in every village of the 75 districts of the state to create awareness about the communicable diseases as well as JE and AES. In this massive campaign, many departments of the state especially health, rural development, primary education will work together to spread awareness about the diseases through mass media communication and will ensure availability of clean drinking water, initiate sanitation drive, ensure vaccination and early treatment so that disease should be nipped in the bud.

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:
NASA has selected Texas-based Southwest Research Institute to lead its PUNCH mission which will image the Sun. This is a landmark mission that will image regions beyond the Sun’s outer corona. Prof. Dipankar Banerjee, solar physicist from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is also a Co-Investigator of the PUNCH mission. The acronym ‘PUNCH’ stands for “Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere”. The PUNCH mission is focused on understanding the transition of particles from the Sun’s outer corona to the solar wind that fills interplanetary space. India is also planning to send up its own satellite Aditya-L1, a mission to study the Sun’s corona, and Prof. Banerjee is the co-Chair of the Science Working Group.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI) and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost the availability of capital for infrastructure projects. The scope of the MoU includes equity investments, project funding, bond financing, renewable energy support and take-out finance for operating assets. The objective of this initiative is to aid in filling the gap at a time when the availability of equity and debt financing for infrastructure has moderated. The initiative will address concerns relating to the availability of equity and long-term debt funding options to large scale projects, thereby stimulating the infrastructure development.

Notes:
The world’s largest “Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute” has started functioning in Dhaka from 4th July 2019. The 500-bed hospital with 50 ICU and 12 operation theatres will provide advanced treatment to burn patients in Bangladesh. The institute has been built at a cost of over 500 crore Taka.

Notes:
The South Central Railway (SCR) has recently commissioned the longest electrified tunnel of 6.6 km built at a total cost of Rs 460 crore between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations. The tunnel is part of the 113-km new railway line completed recently between Obulavaripalli– Venkatachalam – Krishnapatnam Port. The electrified tunnel is constructed in the shape of ‘Horse Shoe’ on New Australian Tunnelling Method. The height of the tunnel (rail level to roof) is 6.5 metres and the minimum height of the contact wire is maintained at 5.2 metres. The new line would facilitate direct and viable connectivity between South Coast and West Coast Railway and improve freight revenue of the zone.

Notes:
The book titled ‘Whispers of Time’ has been authored by Dr Krishna Saksena. The story witnesses three generations in the author’s long life of 90 years in which she found a great difference. If the first was too strict and severe in clinging hard to traditions, the second had softened down to new values of love and helpfulness. In a way it was a beautiful world of togetherness. But this world soon dwindles into a world of selfishness and deceit. The series of events are developed in a powerful manner that makes the novel both real and revealing. The book has recently unveiled by Smriti Zubin Irani, the Union Minister of Textiles & Minister of Women and Child Development (WCD), at India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.

Notes:
The scientists from 17 nations will take part in the year-long MOSAiC mission as they anchor the ship to a large piece of Arctic sea ice to study climate change. The German icebreaker RV Polarstern will be the base for scientists studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic and how it could affect the rest of the world. The MOSAiC mission stands for Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate. It comes about 125 years after Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen first managed to seal his wooden expedition ship (Fram) into the ice during a three-year expedition to the North Pole. The mission has received funding from U.S. institutions such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and NASA.

Notes:
The historic walled city of Jaipur in Rajasthan has recently declared UNESCO World Heritage site at the ongoing 43rd Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at Baku, Azerbaijan. The city was founded in 1727 AD under the patronage of Sawai Jai Singh II. It is known for its iconic architectural legacy and vibrant culture, and serves as the capital city of the culturally-rich state of Rajasthan. In town planning, it shows an interchange of ancient Hindu, Mughal and contemporary Western ideas that resulted in the form of the city. In addition, Jaipur City is an exceptional example of a late medieval trade town in South Asia and defined new concepts for a thriving trade and commercial hub. Additionally, the city is associated with living traditions in the form of crafts that have national and international recognition.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has signed pact with IBM India for undertaking a pilot study to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) and weather technology solutions in agriculture in one district each in three states. The pilot study will be conducted for the Kharif crop season 2019 in three districts – Bhopal, Rajkot and Nanded – in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, respectively. As part of the collaboration, IBM’s Watson Decision Platform will give solution in the field of agriculture through AI and weather technology at village level/ farm level to provide weather forecast and soil moisture information on pro bono basis to help farmers for taking decisions regarding water and crop management for better production and productivity.