GK & Current Affairs Quiz: August 08, 2019

Notes:
Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy (93), Acclaimed educationist, journalist and patron of the arts, has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 5th August 2019. Parthasarathy founded the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Group of Schools driven by her desire “to Indianise school education”. She waspopularly known as Rashmi or ‘Mrs YGP’. In 2010, she received the Padma Shri for her contribution to literature and education. She also worked in ‘The Hindu’ and had written regularly for its Sport & Pastime magazine.

Notes:
India has recently signed the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements (UNISA) to boost the confidence of foreign investors. It was signed by India’s High Commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf, who was representing the Government of India (GoI). The purpose of the convention is to strengthen the international dispute resolution framework, and in turn help ease trade and commerce among countries. It will enable the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements amongst signatory countries. So far, the treaty named Singapore Convention on Mediation (SCM) has signed by 46countries including the United States, China, and India. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Convention on 20th December 2018 during its 73rd session. The Convention has opened for signature by all States in Singapore on 7th August 2019, and thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Notes:
The researchers at the University of Leeds in Britain have created a new form of gold which is 0.47 nanometres thick – one million times thinner than a human finger nail. They claimed that it is the world’s thinnest-ever unsupported gold. The researchers named their created precious metal as “golden algae” because of its greenish hue under water and the similarities between its shape and that of an algae’s. The Golden Algae is regarded as 2D because it consists of just two layers of atoms sitting on top of one another, so there are no “bulk” atoms hidden beneath the surface. According to researchers , the Golden Algae could have wide-scale applications in the medical device and electronics industries. It could also be used as a catalyst to speed up chemical reactions in a range of industrial processes.

Notes:
Kandikuppa Sreekant has taken charge as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Power Grid Corporation of India. He shall be on post till 31st December 2023 i.e. the date of his superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Prior to this post, he was serving as the director (finance) of Power Grid. POWERGRID is an Indian state-owned electric utilities company headquartered in Gurugram. It transmits about 50% of the total power generated in India on its transmission network.

Notes:
Ethnologue (a directory of languages) lists 7,111 living languages worldwide (languages that are still being used and spoken by people). According to it, Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the highest number of ‘living’ indigenous languages in the world (840), while India stands 4th with 453. Interestingly, the U.S. (335 languages) and Australia (319), widely English-speaking nations, are among the countries where the highest number of languages are spoken. Among regions, Asia (2303) and Africa (2140) account for the highest number of indigenous languages (over 70% of the total).The United Nations has designated Year 2019 as International Year of Indigenous Languages to promote native tongues in five key areas viz. creation of favourable conditions for knowledge-sharing and dissemination of good practices with regards to indigenous languages.