Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2018

Notes:
As per Section 8 (1) (c) of the RBI Act 1934, Chartered Accountant Swaminathan Gurumurthy has been appointment as non-official director on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of 4 years. He is associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch and is also the editor of Tamil magazine Thuglak. Besides him, the government has also appointed businessman Satish Kashinath Marathe as another non-official director on the RBI board for 4 years.

Notes:
The 4th edition of National Handloom Day (NHD-2018) is celebrated every year in India on August 7 to honour Indian handloom weavers and celebrate the rich cultural legacy of handlooms in the country. The handloom industry is one of the largest cottage industries in India. It provides direct and indirect employment to thousands of people across regions. The 7th of August has been chosen to celebrate the day due to its special significance in India’s history. It was on this day that the Swadeshi Movement was launched in 1905. The movement involved revival of domestic products and production processes.

Notes:
NDA candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh has been elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha after defeating opposition nominee B K Hariprasad on 9th August 2018. Mr Harivansh, a veteran journalist, represents the state of Bihar in the House as a JD(U) member. He polled 125 votes as against 105 by Hariprasad in a division of voting in the House.The post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman was lying vacant since the retirement of P J Kurien on July 1, 2018.

Notes:
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed every year on August 9 in recognition of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982. On this day, people from around the world are encouraged to spread the UN’s message on the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples. The 2018 theme “Indigenous peoples’ migration and movement” focus on the current situation of indigenous territories, the root causes of migration, trans-border movement and displacement, with a specific focus on indigenous peoples living in urban areas and across international borders.

Notes:
The Punjab Government will start ‘Tatkal Sewa’ for property registration across the state from 13th August 2018. The state government has fixed the sum of Rs 5,000 as facilitation charges to seek appointment for ‘tatkal’ (instant) registration for properties. Beside this, an hour-long slot from 9 am to 10 am has been reserved for availing the service under instant mode. People could seek an appointment by visiting the website “www.revenue.punjab.gov.in”. So far, over 1.62 lakh online documents have been registered under the new system. This service comes on the heels of the State starting on line property registration in June 2018.

Notes:
India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations has been inducted in Delhi Police. The 36 elite women commandos, hailing from north-eastern states, have undergone rigorous training of around 15 months from specialists all across India and abroad to handle urban situations as well as jungle operations. Their expertise includes unarmed combat, ambush and counter-ambush and urban operations like building interventions, vehicle intervention and VVIP security. They will be deployed at Red Fort and India Gate during the 2018 Independence Day celebrations. The SWAT team is the brainchild of Amulya Patnaik, the Delhi Police Commissioner.

Notes:
The 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2019 is scheduled to be held between January 18 and 20 in Gandhinagar with theme `Shaping of a New India’. The `Youth Connect Forums’ at the summit will facilitate interactions between young achievers, successful businessmen and traders and the youth. There would be discussions on success of sectors like pharma, diamond, manufacturing and SEZ in the state.

Notes:
Somnath Chatterjee (89), the former Lok Sabha Speaker & veteran leader, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on August 13, 2018. Mr. Chatterjee was the Speaker in the first five-year term (2004-2009) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and was elected to the Parliament’s Lower House ten times since 1971. He joined Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in 1968 and was a member till his expulsion in 2008. He was expelled from CPI-M in July 2008 for refusing to resign as Speaker after CPI-M withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. After that, he was independent in the last decade of his life.

Notes:
Ashish Kumar Bhutani, a 1992 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) till May 9, 2020. The PMFBY is the government sponsored crop insurance scheme that integrates multiple stakeholders on a single platform. It was launched by Prime Narendra Modi on 18th February 2016 in line with ‘One Nation – One Scheme’ theme. It envisages a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops, and 1.5% for Rabi crops. The premium for annual commercial and horticultural crops will be 5%. The purpose of PMFBY is to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases. It also aims to encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices and to stabilize the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.

Notes:
Prasar Bharati has tied up with Google and its video sharing platform YouTube to telecast the 72nd Independence Day programme live online on 15th August 2018 to increase digital presence. Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati has stated that the live stream window will be seen on the homepage of Google itself so that people do not have to look for a separate link to go to the Youtube channel. In a first-of-its-kind digital drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech from Red Fort will be live streamed on both Google and YouTube. This year, Doordarshan anchors will introduce the programme from Red Fort instead of the studios. Doordarshan will also translate the PM’s speech in over 20 regional languages. The Independence Day coverage will open with a song composed by Shankar Mahadevan. This service was first used by Google to telecast the inauguration ceremony of US President Donald Trump in January 2017.