Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2018

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:
Ajit Laxman Wadekar (77), the former Indian cricket captain, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on August 15, 2018. He is best remembered for being the captain of the Indian team which won Test series in England and the West Indies for the first time, in 1971. Wadekar scored 2,113 runs in his Test career, including one hundred, and was also the country’s first ODI captain. Wadekar is the only cricketer apart from Lala Amarnath and Chandu Borde to have served as captain, coach/manager and selector in Indian cricket. He was bestowed the Arjuna Award in 1967 and India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padmashri, in 1972.

Notes:
KS Srinivas, a 1997 batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, has been appointed the new Chairman of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). Prior to this post, he served as Joint Secretary in Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare. The MPEDA was constituted in 1972 under the MPEDA Act 1972 and is headquartered at Kochi. It is given the mandate to promote the marine products industry with special reference to exports from the country. It is also empowered to carry out inspection of marine products, its raw material, fixing standards, specifications and training as well as take all necessary steps for marketing the seafood overseas.

Notes:
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised down India’s GDP growth to 7.2% for FY19 from 7.4% earlier in its latest report titled ‘Mid-year FY19 Outlook’. The key reason for this is the upward revision in the estimation of inflation for 2018-19 due to increasing crude oil prices and the government’s decision to fix the minimum support prices of all kharif crops at 1.5 times the production cost. On rupee, the rating agency stated that in 2018, rupee has already depreciated 7.7% till July in response to elevated global turbulence, worsening of current account, rising inflation and concerns related to fiscal deficit. It expects the aggregate fiscal deficit of the states to moderate to 2.8% of GDP. Ind-Ra is one of the India’s most respected credit rating agency that provides ratings, research and rigorous analytics of market in India. The headquarters of Ind-Ra is located in Mumbai and is belong to Fitch group.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development (HRD) has proposed to set up a 5-member committee to suggest changes to the JEE (Advanced) examination in the wake of an inadequate number of candidates qualifying the entrance test this year. The aim of the committee, which will be headed by IIT-Madras director “Bhaskar Ramamurthy”, is to develop a robust and scientifically designed entrance exam system to test the potential of the candidates as well as to reduce their dependence on coaching institutes. The proposal is on the agenda of the IIT Council, which is considered to be the top decision-making body of all the IITs. Additionally, the IIT-Council is expected to discuss a suggestion made by one of the 23 premier engineering schools that the students who qualify JEE (Advanced) should be allocated an institute and not the engineering branch. According to the suggestion, the student should be allocated an engineering branch only in the second year, based on the aptitude exhibited in the first year. The IIT Council is scheduled to meet on August 21, 2018.

Notes:
SK Arora, the Delhi government’s additional director of health, has been honoured with the prestigious World Health Organization (WHO) World No Tobacco Day 2017 Award for his extraordinary contribution towards tobacco control. He was presented the award by Henk Bekedam, WHO India country head in New Delhi, on August 16, 2018. It is awarded every year by WHO to individuals or organizations alike in each of six WHO regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. The National Health Policy 2017 of the Government of India (GoI) has set targets of relative reduction in tobacco prevalence by 15% by 2020 and 30% by 2025. Delhi has already achieved these targets before 2017. The Delhi government’s health department has been fighting against direct advertisement of brand promotion of tobacco and surrogate advertisement of tobaccos in the name of pan masala and other eatables such as tea, ilaichi (cardamom) for the past 4 years. According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2 (GATS 2, 2016-17), the prevalence of tobacco use has reduced by 27% in Delhi as compared to 17% for the rest of India average.

Notes:
The World Mosquito Day (WMD) is observed every year on August 20 to raise awareness regarding what all causes malaria and ways to prevent it. The day also observed to mark British doctor Sir Ronald Ross’ 1897 landmark discovery that female mosquitoes “Anopheles” transmit malaria to humans. This discovery laid foundations for scientists across the world to better understand the deadly role of mosquitoes in disease transmission and come up with effective innovative interventions. Some of the best ways to prevent malaria include insecticide treated mosquito nets, indoor spraying with insecticides and anti-malarial drugs. Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria.

Notes:
On August 21, Indian Shooter Sanjeev Rajput clinched a Silver in the men’s 50-metres Rifle 3 Positions event at the 18th Asian Games in Palembang on August 21, 2018. Rajput, who is already an Arjuna Awardee, has been making India proud since the 2006 Asian Games. His consistency and commitment are admirable.

Notes:
Satya Pal Malik has been appointed the new Governor of Jammu & Kashmir. He will replace N N Vohra. Prior to this post, Malik was the Governor of Bihar. On 21 August, other governors of states appointed were Lal Ji Tandon for Bihar, Ganga Prasad for Sikkim, Tathagata Roy for Meghalaya and Kaptan Singh Solanki for Tripura. Satyadev Narayan Arya was appointed as the Governor of Haryana while Baby Rani Maurya was appointed as the Governor of Uttarakhand.

Notes:
The 2018 International Buddhist Conclave (IBC) will be inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind with theme “Buddha Path – The Living Heritage” in New Delhi on August 23. The aim of the conclave is to showcase Buddhist Heritage in India and boost tourism. It is being organized by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the State Governments of Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh at New Delhi and Ajanta (Maharashtra), followed by site visits to Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodhgaya (Bihar) and Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh). The Ministerial level delegation from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka will participate in the conclave along with delegates from the 29 countries participating in the International Buddhist Conclave including US, UK, Russia, Japan, Germany and France. Japan would be the partner Country for the 2018 Buddhist conclave.