Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2018

Notes:
The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 eliminates leprosy as a ground for dissolution of marriage or divorce. It is an attempt to end the discrimination against leprosy persons in various central laws: The Divorce Act, 1869; the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939; the Special Marriage Act, 1954; the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956. The Bill is meant to provide for the integration of leprosy patients into the mainstream. Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It usually affects the skin and peripheral nerves, but has a wide range of clinical manifestations. According to WHO, leprosy affected 2,12,000 people globally in 2015. India alone reported 1,27,326 new cases, accounting for 60% of new cases globally.

Notes:
Satya S Tripathi, the veteran Indian development economist and UN official, has been appointed Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The appointment was made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Mr. Tripathi, who will succeed Elliott Harris of Trinidad and Tobago, has worked with the UN since 1998 in Europe, Asia and Africa on sustainable development, human rights, democratic governance and legal affairs. UN Environment is the leading agency at the world body focussed on environment. It works with governments, the private sector, the civil society and with other UN entities and international organisations across the world.

Notes:
Dr. Ravinder Kumar Singhal (53), the Maharashtra cadre IPS officer & presently Nashik Police Commissioner, has successfully completed the immensely difficult “Ironman triathlon” in 15 hours and 13 minutes as against the stipulated time of 17 hours in France on August 26, 2018. The Ironman is an international triathlon consisting of three consecutive events- 3.8 km of swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km of running (a full marathon). It is considered one of the toughest one-day sporting events in the world. The competitors have to complete the events in sequence within 17 hours to earn the title of ‘Ironman’. Earlier, model-turned-actor Milind Soman had successfully completed the race in 2015. Beside this, Anju Khosla (52) became the oldest Indian woman to complete an Ironman Triathlon in Austria on July 2018, while Major General Vikram Dogra became the first serving Indian Army officer and the only General across the world to have successfully completed a gruelling ‘Ironman’ competition held in Klagenfurt, Austria in July 2018.

Notes:
Ulka Mahajan, who is one of the three founders of Sarvahara Jan Andolan (SJA), has been conferred Praful Bidwai Memorial Award for 2018. The award was presented to Mahajan by social activist Medha Patkar. It was instituted in the memory of journalist and social activist “Praful Bidwai” who died in Amsterdam in 2015 and was committed to radical social transformation, justice for all and gender equality. The award seeks to recognize the efforts of individuals and institutions that strive for similar ends.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank signed a $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program. The program will be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). It will help scale-up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors. The investments under the Program are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tons of CO2, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity. The Program will help tackle the financing, awareness, technical and capacity barriers faced by new energy efficiency programmes and support the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and Street Lighting National Program (SLNP) schemes. The $220 million IBRD loan has a 5-year grace period & a maturity of 19 years while the $80 million IBRD guarantee will partially cover re-payment risks to commercial lenders or investors, to enable EESL to raise funds for its programme.

Notes:
In Argentina, the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting 2018 was held in Salta with theme ‘Building consensus for fair and sustainable development’ on August 23-24. It took place as part of Sherpa Track for 2018 G20 Leaders’ Summit, which is to be hosted by Argentina by end of 2018. India was represented by Union Minister for Electronics and IT & Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad. The G20 Ministerial meeting allowed India to showcase the inclusive use of digital technology by the Government to empower the people. It also allowed India to articulate it’s views on global issues relating to cyber security, data protection and innovation for growth. The key issues of the meeting were future of work, infrastructure for development, and sustainable food future. It concluded with the adaptation of declaration that reflects G20’s commitment towards promoting policies and actions that catalyze digital transformations.

Notes:
Arpinder Singh from Punjab clinched India’s first men’s triple jump gold in 48 years, with a jump of 16.77m in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games on August 29. With this, he became the 2nd Indian sportsperson to achieve this landmark. Before him, Mohinder Singh Gill won gold medal in triple jump event in 1970 Bangkok Asian games event.

Notes:
Germany has sanctioned a soft loan of euro 120 million ( approx Rs. 990 crore) to India for National Clean Ganga Mission & to strengthen sewage water treatment infrastructure in Uttarakhand. The purpose of the project is to reduce the inflow of untreated waste water in River Ganga & to improve the water quality of the river. The project would focus on extension and replacement of sewerage system (around 360Km) including complete house connection, construction of sewage treatment plants of around 15 million litres per day (mld).The initiative also includes construction of 13 sewage pumping stations. Beside this, the German development agency GIZ has prepared a ‘Ganga Box’ that aimed to target schools-going children and inform them about the river. The concept ‘Ganga book’ was planned on the lines of ‘Danube Book’ when the cleaning of Rhine River was undertaken. The Ganga book would have information mythological, socio-cultural, economic importance about the river and suggestions to avoid pollution, like not dumping plastic in the water body.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has signed a $346 million million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Karnataka State Highways lmprovement lll Project (KSHIP-lll). Under KSHIP-III, about 419Kms of state highways will be upgraded to two- and four-lane roads and will involve reconstruction as well as widening and strengthening of bridges and culverts. It will enhance connectivity and access to economic centers across 12 districts in the state. The key element of the project is the use of hybrid annuity contracts to increase participation of private sector and improve quality & sustainibility of road assets with performance based maintenance period of 7 years post construction. The project will also carry out a road safety audit to identify and mitigate critical accident blackspots across the state highway network and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Karnataka Public Works, Ports, and lnland Water Transport Department (IWTD).

Notes:
NITI Aayog will organise MOVE: India’s First Global Mobility Summit 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on September 7. The aim of the summit is to showcase innovation and build a platform to shape the future of mobility, The summit will constitute three designated components – the Conclave, Digital Exhibition, and Featured Events. The six themes of the 2-day summit are asset utilisation and service, comprehensive electrification, alternative energy, reinventing public transit, logistics and goods transport and data analytics and mobility. The summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will help drive the government’s goals for vehicle electrification, renewable energy integration and job growth and also speed up India’s transition to a clean energy economy.