Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
The book “Kashmir’s Untold Story: Declassified” has been authored by filmmaker Iqbal Chand Malhotra and defence analyst Maroof Raza. It will tell the riveting story of the history of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), from the time of its political and geographic consolidation under Maharaja Gulab Singh to the present-day. It will also shed light on why the special status was integral to the accession treaty. The book world reveal amazing insights into the Government of India (GoI)’s policy towards the state, right from 1889, when it first imposed central rule and dispossessed the rule of the then Maharaja, till date. It will also provide answers to some of the most asked questions on the situation in the Valley, like “Why has this state of siege in the Kashmir valley continued for 72 years since the Partition of India?”, “What role has Pakistan played in it all these years?”, or the question of the hour, “Will there ever be a resolution to the militancy in the state?”. Now, the former state has been bifurcated into two union territories — J&K and Ladakh.

Notes:
Rizia Rahman (79), the renowned Bangladeshi novelist and the Ekushey Padak winning author, has passed away in Dhaka on August 17, 2019. She was born in Kolkata in 1939 and migrated to East Bengal after the partition. Rizia wrote in all genres of creative work viz. short stories, poems, essays and children’s fiction but she was renowned for her novels. Some of her well-known novels are as follows: Bong Theke Bangla, Rokter Okshor and Ghar-Bhanga-Ghar.

Notes:
On the occasion of the 73rd Independence Day 2019, ISRO Chairman Dr Kailasavadivoo Sivan has been honoured with the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam award by the Tamil Nadu government. However, Dr. Sivan could not receive the award at the Independence Day celebrations at Fort St. George but he is expected to collect the award from the Chief Minister at a later date. He won the award in recognition of his stellar work in promotion of science and technology. The Kalam award is to honour those who work for promoting scientific growth, humanities and students’ welfare and the awardees should hail from Tamil Nadu. The award carries 8 gm gold medal, Rs. 5 lakh in cash and a citation.

Notes:
In New Delhi, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the 5th edition of the annual cleanliness survey – Swachh Survekshan 2020 (SS 2020) – with theme “Cleanliness is Our Right’’. The survey will be conducted in January 2020. On this occasion, the MoHUA also launched Swachh Nagar app for waste collection – solid, wet or Construction and Demolition (C&D). The Ministry also launched the Water PLUS Protocol which aims to provide a guideline for cities and towns to ensure that no untreated waste-water is released into the environment thereby enabling sustainability of the sanitation value chain.A city could be given the tag of Water+ if it ensures 100% treatment of wastewater and 10% use of treated wastewater, among other things.

Notes:
The famous ‘Hazratganj Chauraha’ of Lucknow has been renamed as ‘Atal Chowk’ in memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The announcement came on the first death anniversary former PM. Hazratganj is a major Victorian style shopping area situated in the heart of the city. It houses showrooms, shopping complexes, restaurants, hotels, theatres, offices and businesses. Hazratganj shops sell the famous Lucknow Chikan material. Naza Market, part of Hazratganj, is the biggest market for computer/IT goods in the state and 2nd largest in India after Delhi’s Nehru Place. Naza Market is also the biggest piracy market in whole Asia.

Notes:
Ranjit Guru (61), the noted Odisha journalist and columnist, has passed away in Bhubaneswar on August 18, 2019. He was working with leading Odia daily Sambad in a senior editorial position. During his over a 3-decade long career in journalism, he was also associated with the leading newspapers like ‘Anandabazar Patrika’ and ‘The Asian Age’.

Notes:
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in collaboration with IIT Kanpur has developed a kit to spread sexual-abuse awareness among children by using interactive means to teach them about personal safety. The kit is a set of cards, posters, short animation clips and games. It can be used by teachers or NGOs to conduct an interactive workshop for children about sexual-abuse awareness. The kit also features game cards as an intervention to assess the learning acquired by children. It can be used in classrooms for kids aged between 8-12 and in a group of 30-35 students in one session. It has manuals, reading and video material for the teacher or workshop facilitator to read and understand how to conduct the workshop. The workshop kit has been vetted by the psychologists at Central Institute of Psychiatry of Ranchi, and a revised version will be developed based on their feedback.

Notes:
Dr. Jagannath Mishra (82), the 3-times former chief minister of Bihar, has passed away in Delhi on August 19, 2019. He was known for sharp political acumen and bold decision-making, which he demonstrated during the peak of his career. Mishra was the last Congress chief minister of Bihar between December 1989 and March 1990. He also served as a Union minister in the P V Narasimha Rao cabinet. He was one of the most powerful leaders of the state in pre-Mandal politics who brought the infamous ‘Press Bill’ to curtail the freedom of the press. Currently, he was a member of Bhartiya Jan Congress (Rashtriya).

Notes:
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has recently released an analysis of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite data. as per country-wise world rankings, India is the world’s largest emitter of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) as it has the maximum hotspots. It contributes more than 15% of all anthropogenic SO2 hotspots in the world. The major SO2 emission hotspots in India are Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Neyveli and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Talcher and Jharsuguda in Odisha, Korba in Chhattisgarh, Kutch in Gujarat, Ramagundam in Telangana and Chandrapur and Koradi in Maharashtra. According to report, the vast majority of plants in India lack Flue-Gas Desulfurization (FGD) technology to reduce their air pollution. Individually, the Norilsk smelter complex in Russia is the largest SO2 emission hotspot in the world, followed by Kriel in Mpumalanga province in South Africa and Zagroz in Iran. Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh is at 5th position.

Notes:
The Karnataka government has recently classified nicotine as Class A poison by amending the Karnataka Poisons (Possession and Sale) Rules 2015. The move is to curb illegal sale, smuggling of nicotine cartridges & e-cigarettes. Highly toxic chemicals (such as cyanogen, hydrocyanic acid, nitrogen peroxide, and phosgene) which even in very small quantities as gas or vapour in the air are dangerous to life.