GK & Current Affairs Quiz: September 14, 2018

Notes:
India’s first tribal circuit tourism project under the Swadesh Darshan scheme has launched at Gangrel in Chhattisgarh on September 13. It covers 13 sites in Chhattisgarh which are Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Kamleshpur, Maheshpur, Kurdar, Sarodadadar, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Nathiya Nawagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot and Tirthgarh. Under the tribal circuit theme of the scheme the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 4 projects to Nagaland, Telangana and Chhattisgarh for Rs. 380 crore. Major components sanctioned in the tribal circuit theme include eco log huts, craft haats, souvenir shops or kiosk, tourist reception and facilitation centres, open amphitheatre, tribal interpretation centres, workshop centres, tourist amenities centres, last mile connectivity, wayside amenities, viewpoints, nature trails, solar illuminations, signages and solid waste management among others. The Swadesh Darshan scheme was launched in 2014 -15 for development of thematic circuits in the country in a planned and prioritized manner.

Notes:
Veteran film writer Brij Katyal (86), who penned the story of Shashi Kapoor-Nanda hit “Jab Jab Phool Khile”, has passed away in Mumbai on September 13. One of the most accomplished writers of the film industry, Katyal also has writing credits to his name in many TV serials such as “Dillagi”, “Saans” and “Pal Chhin”, both directed by Neena Gupta. His stint in movies also includes “Ajooba” and “Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi”, among others.

Notes:
The 2018 G-20 trade and investment ministerial meeting was held at Mar del Plata in Argentina on September 12-13. From India, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu participated in the meeting. Issues including increasing protectionism, challenges to promote global commerce and new industrial revolution were discussed. The meeting assumes significance as countries including the US has significantly raised customs duties on products including steel and aluminium. It has triggered a trade war kind of situation, which is impacting the global trade. The G20 members include India, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, France, Gemaany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, UK and the US.

Notes:
The National Hindi Divas (NHD) is celebrated every year on September 14 in India. On this day, in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of India under Article 343. In all, there are 22 Scheduled languages of India, of which, two are officially used at Union government of India level: Hindi and English.

Notes:
The Supreme Court has appointed a 3-member committee headed by D.K. Jain, a former judge of the court, to probe the harrowing arrest and alleged torture of former space scientist Nambi Narayanan in the ‘ISRO spy scandal’ that turned out to be fake. A 3-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra also awarded Mr. Narayanan Rs. 50 lakh in compensation for the mental cruelty he suffered all these years. The committee will explore “ways and means” to bring justice to the former space scientist besides probing the officers who caused the “harrowing” incidents. The Centre would take care of the committee’s facilities and expenses.

Notes:
Under article 124 of the constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the 46th Chief Justice of India (CJI). He will assume office after the current CJI Dipak Misra retires on October 2. He will have tenure of 13 months – till November 17, 2019. Currently, Justice Gogoi is heading the Bench monitoring the sensitive Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) case. Thus, Justice Gogoi will become the first CJI from North-Eastern states. He is the son of former Assam chief minister Keshab Chandra Gogoi. Justice Gogoi was one of the four senior-most judges of the court who had called an unprecedented press conference this January, when they had publicly raised concerns about the administration of the court and the formation of benches for the allocation of important cases. He is also one of 11 judges in the Supreme Court who have disclosed their assets.

Notes:
Mehlli Gobhai (87), the veteran artist, has passed away in Mumbai on September 13,2018. He is considered one of the foremost abstractionist artists in India. His paintings record the dialogue between the spare line and burnished field. Gobhai was a student at the Royal College of Art in London and the Art Students League and the Pratt Graphic Centre in New York. He worked in New York for 20 years before returning to Mumbai in the 1980s. He was part of the advisory council at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghrahalaya in Mumbai.

Notes:
The agricultural festival of Nuakhai has started in Odisha on 13th September 2018. The word ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means food, so the name means the farmers are in possession of the newly harvested rice. The festival is seen as a new ray of hope, held the day after the Ganesha Chaturthi festival. During this harvest festival of western Odisha, new produce Nabannis offered to presiding deities. After offering the Nabann, people relish different types of delicacies prepared from the newly harvested crop. The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival, during which greetings are exchanged with friends, relatives and well-wishers.

Notes:
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh has recently launched Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) in New Delhi with an outlay of Rs 10881 crore. The fund is implemented through National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Cooperative Development Development Corporation (NCDC). It will benefit 95 lakh farmers in about 50 thousand villages. In it, many skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers will get employment, directly and indirectly. Additional milk processing capacity of 126 lakh litre per day, milk drying capacity of 210 MT per day, milk chilling capacity of 140 lakh litre per day shall be created. Under this scheme, milk cooperatives will be provided financial assistance of Rs 8004 crore in the form of a loan at 6.5% interest, which will be reimbursed over a period of 10 years. The government has also given a provision of interest subsidy on loans.

Notes:
The book “Bastar Dispatches: A Passage Through the Wilds” has been authored by Narendra, which explores lives of Bastar’s Abujhmad tribals. It provides a narrative of these people at peace with themselves and nature, their dialect, their festivities & their delightful interactions. The Bastar Dispatches brings out how forests and the wilds, humans and animals, distances, spaces and the skies, the known and unknown together make up societies and intimacies. Abujhmad stands today as one of the few mirrors left the world over wherein modernity can view itself – its calamities and collapses. The book is based on the author’s over 30 years of association with Abujhmad under a field research programme and its contiguous areas in the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh.