Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
The researchers from IIT Kharagpur have developed a low-cost diagnostic device which can perform various pathological tests by using blood taken from a finger prick. The device requires only a paper strip based kit integrated with a smartphone to enable analytics and readout functions and an LED light for imaging. The key aspect of the kit is operational simplicity and extremely low running cost. The kit is developed by a research team led by Prof Suman Chakraborty.

Notes:
The researchers at IIT Hyderabad and BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) of Jalandhar have developed a process by which bone implant materials can be synthesized from waste egg shells. They seek to produce bone substitute materials such as – Tri-Calcium phosphate (TCP) without the use of toxic chemicals. The natural source of choice of the IIT-Hyderabad researchers is egg shells. Eggshells are made up largely of calcium (95.1%) along with small amounts of proteins and water. In modern medicine, damaged and missing bones are replaced with bone from either patient or donor, or by using artificial materials containing calcium, such as Plaster of Paris, and phosphate compounds like hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphate. TCP is a commonly-used bone substitute material from natural sources.

Notes:
India’s first private Space Science Museum has opened in Hyderabad to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Birla Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute (BACRI). It is a collaborative effort between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the B M Birla Science Centre. The ISRO on its part is providing some 65 models of various spacecrafts, satellites and rockets of varying sizes. This museum exhibits scale models of Indian Launch vehicles GSLV Mark III, GSLV Mark II and PSLV, Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter spacecraft, APPLE, Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini RS-1 and a model of the International Space Station (ISS). Presently, 24 exhibits are on display to encourage young minds to explore Space Science and Technology.

Notes:
Advait Bhartia, a 9-year old boy from Pune, has recently climbed the highest peak in Africa – Mount Kilimanjaro – in a span of just 7 days. Advait is fondly called ‘Simbum ToTo’ (Little Simba). He reached the top of mountain on 31st July 2019 under the supervision of his expedition leader Samir Patham. The trek was organized by Pune-based adventure and trekking company Adventure Pulse. Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is about 4,900m from its base and 5,895m above sea level. The mountain has been the subject of many scientific studies because of its shrinking glaciers and disappearing ice fields.

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:
Damodar Ganesh Bapat (84), the noted social worker and Padma Shri awardee, has passed away in Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh on August 17, 2019. He dedicated his life to the treatment and service of leprosy patients at an ashram run by Bharatiya Kushta Nivarak Sangh (BKNS) in Sothi village in Janjgir-Champa district of the state for the last four-and-a-half decades. He played an instrumental role in making people aware about leprosy in tribal areas of the state.

Notes:
India has recently contributed $1 million to the UN Special Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF) for the Resident Coordinator System. The SPTF is a specific fund housed within the UN Secretariat. The fund has been established to receive, consolidate, manage and account for all contributions and financial transactions of the new Resident Coordinator system in a transparent and effective way. On real time basis, the SPTF web portal reflects all commitments, contributions and expenditures recorded for the fund.

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:
Nepal is planning to hold SAARC Foreign Ministers’ informal meet on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly (UNGA) session in September 2019. The 18th SAARC summit was held in Kathmandu in 2014 and Pakistan was to host the next summit in 2016. But, the summit was cancelled after India boycotted the meeting, in the wake of the terror attack at a military base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which killed 19 soldiers. Other countries viz. Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan, also walked out following India’s decision to exit the summit to step up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan. India also declared that it will participate only if Pakistan took steps to tackle terrorism.

Notes:
On 22nd August 2019, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the two-day National Conference on Varmam Science in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. ‘Varmam’ is a constituent of the Siddha system of medicine, that also doubles up as a martial art. The national conference is being organized by the National Institute of Siddha in Chennai.