Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
On August 1, East Bengal club has officially started the centenary celebrations on its foundation day with a glittering ceremony at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. On this occasion, the iconic football club awarded its highest honour – Bharat Gaurav – to India’s first cricket World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev. Kapil is no stranger to football as he had donned the club’s colours in an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan in 1992. Kapil is no stranger to football as he had donned the club’s colours in an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan in 1992.

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:
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently announced free electricity for people consuming up to 200 units under a domestic connection. The decision, which came into effect from August 1, has been taken barely 6 months before Delhi Assembly elections due in February 2020. The people who consume up to 200 units will not have to pay electricity bills. Those consuming 201-400 units of electricity will get about 50% subsidy.

Notes:
In Shooting, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar from Madhya Pradesh clinched a yellow metal in Men’s Rifle 3 Positions (3P) at 12th Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters competition in New Delhi. In the finals, Aishwary posted a comfortable victory with a score of 459.9 and a classy 10.7 in the end. Meanwhile, multiple International Shooting Sport Federation medallist and India’s most accomplished 3P shooter Sanjeev Rajput, had to be satisfied with a silver, finishing with a score of 455.5, a clear 4.4 behind Aishwary. India international Parul Kumar settled for the bronze.

Notes:
The United States has officially withdrawn from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia. The INF Treaty is a Cold War-era missile treaty that was signed by then US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. The treaty banned both countries from deploying land-launched cruise missiles in the 500- to 5,500-km range. It was a key to ending the arms race between the (then) two super powers and helped protect the U.S.’s NATO allies in Europe from Soviet missile attacks. The reasons for withdrawal are as follows: the Trump and Obama administrations have repeatedly alleged that Russia was violating the treaty by fielding a ground-based cruise missile – the Novator 9M729 (“SSC-8” in NATO terminology) that could strike Europe at a short notice, an allegation that Russia has repeatedly denied.

Notes:
A 23-year-old Indian-origin doctor, Bhasha Mukherjee has been crowned Miss England after fending off competition from dozens of other models. She holds two different medical degrees & has an IQ of 146, which makes her officially a ‘genius’. Mukherjee speaks five languages – English, Bengali, Hindi, German and French -and has a Bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Nottingham. As winner of Miss England, she will be entered into the Miss World contest and will also bag a holiday to Mauritius.

Notes:
Anant Setalvad (84), yesteryear cricket commentator, has passed away in Mumbai on August 4, 2019. His pleasant baritone voice distinguished him from other cricket commentators from the mid 1960s through to the 1980s. Regarded as a giant in cricket commentary on All India Radio (AIR), Anant shared the microphone with Vijay Merchant, Pearson Surita, Raju Bharatan, Balu Alaganan and Suresh Saraiya. He was commentator for AIR in Ranji Trophy and other BCCI tournaments and also for Test matches. He was on the AIR panel for the 1969 India-Australia Test match in Mumbai and also in the panel for the 1973 Test against the Tony Lewis led England at the CCI.

Notes:
The Union Government has approved Rs 4,900 crore Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project for interlinking of Kosi and Mechi rivers of Bihar. This is the second major river interlinking project in the country to be approved after the Ken-Betwa project in Madhya Pradesh. The ambitious Kosi-Mechi project is unique in many ways. It will not only prevent recurring floods in north Bihar but also provide irrigation for a whooping over 2.14 lakh hectares of cultivable land in Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar districts, collectively called Seemanchal region. This approval comes after this project secured the last remaining mandatory technical-cum-administrative nod from Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Mechi is an important tributary of Mahananda river.

Notes:
The 3rd edition of India’s largest education brainstorming event “ScooNews Global Educators Fest (SGEF-2019)” is being held in Udaipur, Rajasthan on August 09-10. It will bring together over 500 educators to discuss the way towards establishing India as the next global education powerhouse. The theme for the fest is ‘Education for Sustainability: Moving on from conformity to creativity’. The fest will provide an excellent platform for individuals and organizations contributing to the cause of education, schools as well as start-ups to debate on innovation with industry leaders on Industry-Academia partnerships, showcase their products among peers and network with like-minded people. Celebrity educator Anand Kumar of Super 30, Sonam Wangchuk of 3 Idiots Fame and various others will speak on key issues concerning Education in the new world.

Notes:
The NASA scientists have characterized the first potentially habitable world outside our own solar system that may be suitable for life. The super-earth planet — named GJ 357 d — was spotted by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. It is estimated that planet is about six times the size of our planet and located a mere 31 light-years away. The planet orbits a dwarf star in the Hydra constellation and may have the right conditions to support liquid water as it lies within its star’s habitable zone. It may be noted that a super-Earth is an extrasolar planet with a mass higher than Earth’s, but substantially below those of the Solar System’s ice giants, Uranus and Neptune.