Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
The 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-52) has recently taken place in Bangkok, Thailand from July 29 to Aug 3. The annual meeting opened with a call from the host Thailand for deeper integration to expand trade and bolster prosperity in the region amid rising global challenges. The meeting takes place in the shadow of rising security tension on the Korean Peninsula, China’s aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea and the US-China trade war. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is seeking to boost its own voice as a global player. It also plays host to a series of foreign ministers from key strategic and dialogue partners, including US, China and Russia.

Notes:
The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is observed every year on July 30 to raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights. Human trafficking is a global problem and no country is immune to it. Millions of victims fall into the hands of traffickers, lured by fake promises and deceit. Hence, the 2019 theme “Human Trafficking: call your government to action” is focusing on highlighting the importance of Government action in the interest of victims of trafficking. But the call to action is not only to Governments, we encourage everyone to take action to prevent this heinous crime.

Notes:
NDTV India’s senior executive editor, Ravish Kumar has been honoured with the prestigious 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his ‘ethical journalism’. Kumar has won the honour for his news show, Prime Time, which deals with real-life & under-reported problems of ordinary people. He is among five individuals who were declared winners of the award. The four other winners of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award are Ko Swe Win from Myanmar, Angkhana Neelapaijit from Thailand, Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab from Philippines and Kim Jong-Ki from South Korea. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is the highest honour given to Asian individuals and organisations and often referred to as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

Notes:
India’s transsexual woman Naaz Joshi has been crowned Miss World Diversity 2019 at Port Louis in Mauritius on August 3. She has made the country proud with a third successive victory in the beauty pageant Miss World Diversity. Apart from the Miss World Diversity title, Naaz also bagged the Best Project, Miss Congeniality, Miss People’s Choice Ambassador and Best National Costume titles. She was the first transgender in the world to win a coveted international crown against natural born females in 2017.

Notes:
Former Indian opener and Bengal captain, Arun Lal has been conferred with Karthik Bose Lifetime Achievement award of the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB’s) in Kolkata. He played 16 Test matches and 13 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for India between 1982 and 1989. He played six seasons for Delhi before becoming a regular feature for Bengal and was a major figure in Bengal’s Ranji Trophy triumph in 1989. He was credited with instilling a positive attitude in the team’s approach.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has launched a new higher education model titled “Resource Assistance for Colleges with Excellence (RACE)” for distribution of faculties and movable assets among the government colleges at the district level to rationalize the availability of resources. The new model will create a pool for sharing of facilities which will benefit the colleges lacking infrastructure. The colleges in need will have to submit their requirement to the nodal college in the district that will send the teachers on deputation (if needed) and provide the facilities such as projectors, digital libraries, equipment and technicians.

Notes:
The Western and Central Railways have introduced a new Biometric Token System (BTS) by which passengers travelling in the general coach, where seats are not reserved, are given a token roughly 3 hours before the train’s departure. These tokens are issued on a first-come, first-served basis after accepting biometric information of individual passengers. The tokens carry a serial number on them, which governs the order in which passengers will board the train. The use of biometrics cuts out the touts and helps genuine passengers. It would provide relief to passengers and prevent jumping of queue. The system is also cost-effective, as an average of Rs 20 was spent on each train.

Notes:
The researchers at the University of Leeds in Britain have created a new form of gold which is 0.47 nanometres thick – one million times thinner than a human finger nail. They claimed that it is the world’s thinnest-ever unsupported gold. The researchers named their created precious metal as “golden algae” because of its greenish hue under water and the similarities between its shape and that of an algae’s. The Golden Algae is regarded as 2D because it consists of just two layers of atoms sitting on top of one another, so there are no “bulk” atoms hidden beneath the surface. According to researchers , the Golden Algae could have wide-scale applications in the medical device and electronics industries. It could also be used as a catalyst to speed up chemical reactions in a range of industrial processes.

Notes:
For Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched a draft titled ‘Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF)”, which is a part of a World Bank-funded project. The draft plan will dictate how prospective infrastructure projects situated along the coast ought to be assessed before they can apply for clearance. The document lays out guidelines out for coastal States to adopt when they approve and regulate projects in coastal zones. The document was prepared by the Society for Integrated Coastal Management, a Ministry-affiliated body. So far three coastal States, namely Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal, have prepared ICZM Plans with support from the World Bank. Such plans would be prepared for the selected coastal stretches in other States/UT.

Notes:
On the occasion of World Tribal Day (WTD-2019), the Madhya Pradesh government has announced that loans taken by tribals from money-lenders would be waived in all tribal blocks of the state. The government will also provide debit cards to tribals through which they can withdraw up to Rs 10,000 from ATMs. The facility to withdraw money from ATMs will be provided at weekly markets. The decision is expected to benefit 1.5 crore tribals. Chief Minister Kamal Nath has also said that the government will also ensure that tribals get back valuables like jewelery and land pledged as collateral for the loan. Now, money-lenders will have to obtain a license from the government for working in tribal areas. The state government has also announced that forest villages would be converted into `revenue villages’ for administrative convenience. The Scheduled Tribes (STs) department would be renamed as Tribal Development Department as per tribals’ demand.