Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy (93), Acclaimed educationist, journalist and patron of the arts, has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 5th August 2019. Parthasarathy founded the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Group of Schools driven by her desire “to Indianise school education”. She waspopularly known as Rashmi or ‘Mrs YGP’. In 2010, she received the Padma Shri for her contribution to literature and education. She also worked in ‘The Hindu’ and had written regularly for its Sport & Pastime magazine.

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:
Ethnologue (a directory of languages) lists 7,111 living languages worldwide (languages that are still being used and spoken by people). According to it, Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the highest number of ‘living’ indigenous languages in the world (840), while India stands 4th with 453. Interestingly, the U.S. (335 languages) and Australia (319), widely English-speaking nations, are among the countries where the highest number of languages are spoken. Among regions, Asia (2303) and Africa (2140) account for the highest number of indigenous languages (over 70% of the total).The United Nations has designated Year 2019 as International Year of Indigenous Languages to promote native tongues in five key areas viz. creation of favourable conditions for knowledge-sharing and dissemination of good practices with regards to indigenous languages.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has recently released a report card on “Breastfeeding & Infant & Child feeding Practices” with data from the State and UTs on 8th August in New Delhi. In it, Manipur has topped the rankings in the Breastfeeding report card in the country. National capital Delhi is also among the worst-performing States. It has been developed by devising a composite score based on three indicators namely early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for six months and complimentary feeding at 6-8 months of child’s age. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are at the bottom positions in the report card.

Notes:
In Meghalaya, the 22nd National Conference on e-Governance 2019 was held at Shillong on August 8-9, 2019 with theme “Digital India: Success to Excellence”. It was inaugurated by Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. The Conference is a part of the DARPG’s 100 days initiatives in the new Government. This is the first time the event was organized in North-Eastern region of the country. This Conference provides a platform to disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable e-Governance initiatives to provide end-to-end Digital Services, exchange experiences in solving problems, mitigating risks, resolving issues and planning for success. A total of 28 states and all the Union Territories (UTs) participated in the Conference.

Notes:
The RBI task force on Offshore Rupee Markets (ORM), headed by Usha Thorat, has suggested liberal currency market for offshore users. The panel recommended that onshore market hours may be suitably extended to match the flexibility provided by the offshore markets (or NDF markets). This is aimed at incentivizing non-residents to hedge in the onshore market. The Thorat panel suggested that banks may be allowed to freely offer prices to non-residents at all times, out of their Indian books, either by a domestic sales team, or by using staff located at overseas branches. It recommended that non-deliverable rupee derivatives (with settlement in foreign currency) may be allowed to be traded in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), and IFSC Banking Units may be allowed to deal in such derivatives with a distinct foreign currency-Indian rupee (INR) position limit.

Notes:
The World Biofuel Day (WBD) is observed every year on 10th of August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels. The day also highlights the various efforts made by Government in the biofuel sector. The 2019 theme of Biofuel day is ‘Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)’. Biofuels have the benefits of reduction of import dependence, cleaner environment, additional income to farmers and employment generation.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh government has recently `Mukhyamantri Madad Yojna’ for providing assistance to tribal families on child birth and death of a family member. Upon the birth of a boy or a girl, the family will get 50 kg of rice or wheat. In the event of death in the family, 100 kg of rice or wheat and utensils for cooking food would be given. Beside this, 40 new Eklavya schools would be set up in tribal areas to provide quality education. For preserving tribal history, a museum with estimated cost of Rs 500 crore will be set up at Jabalpur in the memory of Raja Shankarshah and Raja Raghunath Shah.

Notes:
Sudha Rani Relangi, who is currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Law and Justice, has been appointed as new director of prosecution in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a period of two years. The post had been lying vacant since the last Director of Prosecution OP Verma completed his term on 24th December 2018.

Notes:
Bajrang Punia won gold in the 65 Kilogram category at Tbilisi Grand Prix Wrestling tournament. In the 65kg final of the men’s free style competition, Punia prevailed 2-0 over Iran’s Peiman Bibyani in the capital city of Georgia. It is 4th gold of the season for the Asian Games champion Bajrang after standing atop the podium at Dan Kolov, Asian Championship and Ali Aliev tournament.