Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
India’s first tribal circuit tourism project under the Swadesh Darshan scheme has launched at Gangrel in Chhattisgarh on September 13. It covers 13 sites in Chhattisgarh which are Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Kamleshpur, Maheshpur, Kurdar, Sarodadadar, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Nathiya Nawagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot and Tirthgarh. Under the tribal circuit theme of the scheme the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 4 projects to Nagaland, Telangana and Chhattisgarh for Rs. 380 crore. Major components sanctioned in the tribal circuit theme include eco log huts, craft haats, souvenir shops or kiosk, tourist reception and facilitation centres, open amphitheatre, tribal interpretation centres, workshop centres, tourist amenities centres, last mile connectivity, wayside amenities, viewpoints, nature trails, solar illuminations, signages and solid waste management among others. The Swadesh Darshan scheme was launched in 2014 -15 for development of thematic circuits in the country in a planned and prioritized manner.

Notes:
The agricultural festival of Nuakhai has started in Odisha on 13th September 2018. The word ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means food, so the name means the farmers are in possession of the newly harvested rice. The festival is seen as a new ray of hope, held the day after the Ganesha Chaturthi festival. During this harvest festival of western Odisha, new produce Nabannis offered to presiding deities. After offering the Nabann, people relish different types of delicacies prepared from the newly harvested crop. The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival, during which greetings are exchanged with friends, relatives and well-wishers.

Notes:
The book “Bastar Dispatches: A Passage Through the Wilds” has been authored by Narendra, which explores lives of Bastar’s Abujhmad tribals. It provides a narrative of these people at peace with themselves and nature, their dialect, their festivities & their delightful interactions. The Bastar Dispatches brings out how forests and the wilds, humans and animals, distances, spaces and the skies, the known and unknown together make up societies and intimacies. Abujhmad stands today as one of the few mirrors left the world over wherein modernity can view itself – its calamities and collapses. The book is based on the author’s over 30 years of association with Abujhmad under a field research programme and its contiguous areas in the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh.

Notes:
India will hold its first-ever global tourism mart at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi from September 16-18. It is modelled on the ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-B rse Berlin), the world’s largest tourism trade fair. The ten major tourist organisations like FHRAI, HAI, IATO are involved in this mega event. The purpose of the event is to create an annual global tourism mart for India in line with major international travel marts being held in countries across the world. Many tour operators who can’t attend the tourism mart abroad because of the expenses involved, will be able to meet the industry big wigs right here in the country. The mart will see the participation of around 225 international buyers from across the world such as North America, West Europe, East Asia, Latin America and others as well as an equal number of domestic stakeholders. After the event, the visitors will also be taken on familiarization tours of tourist sites of their choice sponsored by the respective state governments and ten such itineraries have already been chalked out.

Notes:
The scientist at INMAS claim to have developed India’s first indigenous medical kit that may ensure protection from serious injuries and faster healing of wounds resulting from nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage. The medical kit has been developed for the armed, paramilitary and police forces only as they are the first ones likely to get exposed to radiation. It has over 25 items, including radio-protectors that provide 80-90% protection against radiation and nerve gas agents, bandages that absorb radiation as well as tablets and ointments. The kit also has an Ethylene Di-amine Tetra acetic acid (EDTA) injection that traps uranium in the guts and blood of victims during a nuclear accident or warfare. The kit also has Ca-EDTA Respiratory Fluid, which is the inhalation formula for chelation, or grabbing, of heavy metals and radioactive elements deposited in lungs through inhalation at nuclear accident sites. The medicine reduces the body burden of radioactivity by 30-40% in controlled conditions and is highly useful for the rescue teams and victims after a nuclear accident. The acronym “INMAS” stands for “Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences”.

Notes:
The International Day of Democracy is observed every year on September 15 to highlight the values of freedom and respect for human rights as essential elements of democracy. It is an opportunity to look for ways to invigorate democracy and seek answers to the systemic challenges it faces. This includes tackling economic and political inequalities, making democracies more inclusive by bringing the young and marginalized into the political system, and making democracies more innovative and responsive to emerging challenges such as migration and climate change. The 2018 theme is “Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World”.

Notes:
The National Engineer’s Day (NED) is celebrated every year on September 15 in India to appreciate the contributions of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was born on this day in 1861 in a village called Muddenahalli in Karnataka. He patented and installed an irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune to raise the flood supply level of storage in the reservoir to the highest level. This was also installed at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam and Mysuru’s Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) dam, the latter of which created one of the largest reservoirs in Asia at the time. According to the Institution of Engineers India (IEI), he was not only known for his contributions in the field of engineering but was also called the “precursor of economic planning in India”. The 2018 theme is “Engineering Challenges for Knowledge Era”.

Notes:
India’s first exclusive and certified ‘Dog Park’ has come up in Hyderabad, which is spread over 1.3 acres. The park has been developed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) at a cost of Rs. 1.1 crore on a site which was earlier a dump yard. The park has dog training and exercise equipment, splash pool, two lawns, an amphitheatre, loo café, separate enclosures for big and small dogs among other facilities. According to a survey, there are about 2.5 lakh pet owners in the West Zone and the Central Zone limits of the city which are nearer to the park. Public can bring in their pet dogs and use the facilities in the park. The park is certified by Kennel Club of India and would be inaugurated within 10 days.

Notes:
Recently, Indian Mountaineers Satyarup Siddhanta and Mousumi Khatua created history by climbing Asia’s highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand in Iran. The expedition team comprised of 3 members – Siddhanta, Mousumi and Bhaswati Chatterjee. According to a release, the trio left for Iran on 6th September 2018, the team had to scale the summit within a very short span of time to avoid the Sulphur exposure related hazards. Mountain Damavand is known for its Sulphur discharge near its peak which can cause irreparable damage if exposed for a longer duration. This is the 4th volcanic summit for Siddhanta. Now, he is targeting scaling three more volcanic peaks by January 2019. He is now in the last lap of climbing the highest volcanoes of each of the continents known as climbing the 7 volcanic summits. If successful, Siddhanta will be the youngest person to complete all the 7 volcanic summits – Mount Sidley, Mount Giluwe, Mount Damavand, Pico de Orizaba, Mount Elbrus, Mount Kilimanjaro and Ojos del Salado.

Notes:
Sawai Singh Shekhawat, the Jaipur-based poet and writer, will be honoured with Meera Puruskar by Rajasthan Sahitya Academy for his contribution to Hindi literature. The award function will be held in October 2018. He has published seven books of poetry and his first Rajasthani story “Koonpal” was translated in Hindi, Telugu & Dogari. He served as Editor for Bakhat and Rajasthan Vikas magazines.