GK & Current Affairs Quiz: September 24-25, 2018

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu government has announced a novel scheme for the protection of the exotic Neela kurinji (Strobilanthus kunthianus) plants that flower only once in 12 years. This came after the complaints of packaging and selling of these rare and ecologically unique flowers on commercial basis. The state department has warned that strict fines will be imposed in offenders. The Neela Kurinju is a shrub that is found in the shola forests of the Western Ghats. It is a major attraction to foreign & native tourists and one of the prime foreign exchange earners from tourism. The Kurinji plant belongs to the genus Strobilanthes, which was first scientifically described by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in the 19th century. The Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.

Notes:
The Government of Nepal has appointed former Member of Parliament and renowned Indian actress Jaya Prada as Goodwill Ambassador for tourism and culture for four years. Tourism is one of the important sources of employment and income generation in Nepal and India is the biggest source market for Nepal. As per officials, the appointment of Jaya Prada will strengthen age old cultural ties between the two countries and help in promoting Nepal’s tourism in India. The Govt. of Nepal has decided to observe the year 2020 as the ‘Visit Nepal Year’ with a target of at least two million international arrivals every year.

Notes:
Anil Kumar Chaudhary has been appointed the new chairman of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) till his superannuation in December 2020. He succeeded P K Singh. Prior to this, Chaudhary has been serving as the Director (Finance) at SAIL. Beside him, PK Rath has been appointed as new CMD of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). Rath is presently the Director (operations) in RINL. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has also appointed V Gopi Suresh Kumar as Director (Projects) in RITES Limted, a railway consultancy firm.

Notes:
Nepal is set to become the world’s first country to double its tiger population. On the occasion of 2018 National Conservation Day (NCD), Nepal announced that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the country, nearly doubling the baseline of around 121 tigers in 2009. According to a press release issued by WWF-Nepal, if these trends continue, Nepal could become the first country to double its national tiger population since the launch of ambitious TX2 goal at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010 to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022. Nepal conducted its national tiger survey between November 2017 and April 2018 in the trans-boundary Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), a vast area of diverse ecosystems shared with India. The earlier tiger survey in 2013 had estimated the tiger population at 198.

Notes:
India has recently celebrated the 100 years of Battle of Haifa with a grand function in New Delhi on September 23, 2018. It is being commemorated in Israel, Delhi and Jaipur. On this day, in 1918, the Indian soldiers from the Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur Lancers liberated the strategically important city of Haifa, known for its deep water bay in the eastern Mediterranean. The sacrifice made by the Indian soldiers is honoured and memorialized in 7 cemeteries across Israel, from Jerusalem to Haifa. Close to 900 Indian soldiers are buried in these cemeteries, which act as an immortal testimonial for their heroism. The Indian Army commemorates September 23 every year as Haifa Day to pay its respects to the two brave Indian Cavalry Regiments “Mysore and Jodhpur Lancers” that helped liberate the city following a dashing cavalry action by the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade.

Notes:
Kalpana Lajmi (64), the renowned filmmaker, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 23, 2018. She was the daughter of painter Lalita Lajmi and niece of filmmaker Guru Dutt. Lajmi was known for working on real subjects Her films were often woman-oriented like “Rudaali”, “Daman”, “Darmiyaan”. Her last movie as a director was “Chingaari” in 2006, based on a novel “The Prostitute and the Postman” by Bhupen Hazarika, who was her partner.

Notes:
The World Bank has approved an ambitious 5-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for India, which aligns with New Delhi’s objectives of high, sustainable and inclusive growth. The move is aimed at supporting India’s transition from a low-middle income to a high-middle income country by addressing some of its key development priorities such as resource efficient and inclusive growth, job creation and building its human capital. The framework is expected to receive $25-30 billion in financial support from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Notes:
India will host the Women’s Boxing World Championships after more than a decade, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from November 15-24, 2018. The teams will have to be in the national capital by November 13, with the competition starting two days later. The marquee tournament was last held in India in 2006 and remains the best for the country in terms of performance. India had topped the medal tally with four gold, three silver and one bronze medal.

Notes:
On September 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rolled out the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) from Ranchi, Jharkhand. The ambitious scheme aims to provide coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually. It will cover around 50 crore people and there is no cap on family size and age in the scheme ensuring that nobody is left out. Eligible people can avail the benefits in government and listed private hospitals. According to the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, the scheme will target poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers’ families: 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas. The entitlement is being decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. The scheme will provide cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service. In it, Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab are not among the states which have opted for the scheme.

Notes:
The Jharkhand government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Insurance Company Ltd (NICL) to provide medical facilities to the people of the state under the Centre’s flagship health scheme – Ayushman Bharat Yojana. The scheme will cover 80% population of the state. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries will get health insurance of Rs 5 lakh per annum. The insurance company will pay up to Rs 1 lakh for treatment. For additional expenditure, the state government will pay through Jharkhand State Health Society. The beneficiaries are also entitled to get treatment in any listed hospital in the country. Under the scheme, payment of premium for 25 lakh families will be paid by the Centre and the state government in the ratio of 60:40. The state government alone will pay premium for the remaining 32 lakh families. Under the scheme, 1,350 types of diseases have been included.