Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2018

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:
The Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting will offer 3-year Santoor women’s scholarship for higher education to girls from economically weaker families in the three southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Approx 900 girls from the 3 states will be given Santoor scholarship, with Rs 24,000 for each of them per annum to do under-graduation.. The students can apply for the scholarship on “www.santoorscholarships.com” till September 15 or in state-run colleges across the three states. The scholarship is an attempt to empower women to change their life and the world. Enrollment ratio of women pursuing higher education in the country is low and many give up higher study due to lack of financial support. Santoor is the leading brand name of Wipro’s toilet soap.

Notes:
The World Organ Donation Day (WODD) is observed every year on August 13 to encourage people to donate their precious organs. Every year, about 5 lakh people die awaiting organ transplants due to non-availability of organs. There is a wide gap between the number of transplants awaited and the organs available. Organ donation is a process where an organ is transferred from the body of the one who is giving the organ (donor) to the one who needs the organ (recipient). The donor can be living or deceased. Organs that can be donated are kidney, lungs, heart, eye, liver, pancreas, cornea, small intestine, skin tissues, bone tissues, heart valves and veins.

Notes:
Balramji Das Tandon (91), the present Governor of Chhattisgarh, has passed away in Raipur on August 14, 2018. Born on 1st November 1927, he started his political career as corporator of Amritsar Municipal corporation in 1953. Tandon was one of the founder members of the Jansangh which later became the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During his long political career, he has served on various posts, including as deputy chief minister of Punjab. A six-time MLA, Mr. Tandon was also the Punjab State BJP president for two years. He was also jailed in 1975 during the Emergency for 19 months.

Notes:
D Bala Venkatesh Varma, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed India’s new ambassador to Russia, which is considered a high-profile posting due to expanse of strategic cooperation between the two countries. Currently, he is serving as Indian envoy in Spain. He will succeed Pankaj Saran, who has been appointed deputy National Security Advisor (NSA). The Union Government also appointed Partha Satpathy as next Ambassador of India to Ukraine.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has released 470 million Nepali rupees grant for Terai roads project in Nepal. The amount has been released to maintain fund liquidity for the ongoing construction of 14 road packages under Postal Highway Project. With this payment, 2.35 billion Nepali rupees have been released so far out of total grant assistance of 8 billion Nepali rupees committed by the Government of India for implementing 14 packages under Postal Highway Project. Since 1950, the Indian Government has been supporting infrastructure development of Nepal and has provided financial assistance for construction of various Highways, Roads, Bridges, Airports, etc. as part of its multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme.

Notes:
On the occasion of 72nd Independence Day 2018, the special film festival on the theme “Freedom Struggle and Freedom Fighters” has started in Mumbai on August 14. The festival was organized by Films Division of India (FDI), a film production house belonging to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). It was inaugurated by Rama Khandwala, nonagenarian freedom fighter and Indian National Army (INA) veteran. During the festival, noteworthy documentary films on freedom struggle and freedom fighters were screened. Some of them are as follows: Jawan Tujhe Salam, Gandhi – A Universal Man, Netaji, Sardar Patel – The Iron Man, etc.

Notes:
As per survey conducted by UK-based online market research and data analytics firm YouGov, the State Bank of India (SBI) has been ranked as the most patriotic brand, followed by Tata Motors, Patanjali, Reliance Jio and BSNL. The survey, which covered 152 brands across 11 categories, is based on data collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 1,193 respondents in the country between 2 August and 8 August using its panel of an online representation of India. In the financial sector, SBI lead the chart with 47% of the sector-share, followed by LIC with 16%. In the auto sector, Tata Motors emerged as the most patriotic brand, followed by Bharat Petroleum (BP) and Maruti Suzuki. In terms of food brands, Amul grabbed the top slot with one-third Indians considering it, followed by Patanjali. Nirma emerged as the most patriotic brand in the homecare products category. In the beverages category, Tata Tea grabbed the top rank with 35% respondents voting for it, followed by Taj Mahal with 18%.

Notes:
On August 19, Wrestler Bajrang Punia clinched India’s first gold medal in the 18th Asian Games after defeating Takatani Daichi of Japan in the men’s 65 kg freestyle title bout in Jakarta, Indonesia. Punia, who hails from Haryana, had won three consecutive gold medals — 2018 CWG (Gold Coast), Tbilisi Grand Prix (Georgia) and Yasar Dogu International (Istanbul) — ahead of the 2018 Asian Games. Earlier, Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event at the 2018 Asian Games. It was India’s first medal in the ongoing event.

Notes:
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to form a 3-member committee to look into the draft of Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2018. The expert committee will be led by B Sesikeran, former director of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and comprise current NIN director Hemalatha and AIIMS’ Nikhil Tandon. In April, food safety regulator FSSAI had come out with the above draft that propose mandatory red colour-coded labels on packaged food products which are high in fat, sugar and salt contents. However, the Union Health Ministry has put on hold the draft after industry stakeholders expressed concerns referring to an adverse impact on the evolving packaged food industry. Hence, FSSAI has decided to set up committee to study in detail the concerns of the industry and make recommendations.