Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Indian Railways has launched a special drive code named ‘Operation Number Plate’ to ensure safety of passengers. The purpose of the special drive is to identify vehicles parked in the premises of Indian Railways and at several ‘No Parking’ zones for beyond the stipulated time or longer duration.

Notes:
The World Elephant Day (WED) is observed every year on 12th of August to raise awareness of the worsening plight of Asian and African elephants. The day also observed to bring the world together to help protect & honour these gentle giants and to spread awareness about the critical threats they are facing. Elephant is also the National Heritage Animal of India. However, the state of this majestic animal is becoming pitiable due to man’s conflict with the wild. African elephants are listed as “Vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their numbers are dwindling as poachers target them for their ivory. Habitat loss is another reason for their dwindling numbers.

Notes:
The World Organ Donation Day (WODD) is observed every year on 13th of August to raise awareness about organ donation. This day strives to motivate people to donate their healthy and precious organs after death to save lives. It attempts to eliminate the myths and fears people have in their mind about organ donation. Organ donation can be life-changing for many. This practice can give a new life to the ones in need because one organ donor can save up to 8 lives. A donor can initiate to donate organs like heart, liver, intestine, kidneys, lungs and pancreas after his or her death. Later these organs can be transplanted into another person who is in urgent requirement. As per the national guidelines, anyone can be an organ donor irrespective of age, caste, religion and community.

Notes:
Wrestler Deepak Punia has won gold in men’s 86-kg freestyle bout at the World Junior Wrestling Championships after beating Russia’s Alik Shebzukhov in the final at Tallinn, Estonia. With this, Punia has become the first Indian to win gold at the junior World Championship after 18 years. Earlier, Ramesh Gulia (69 kg) and Palwinder Singh Cheema (130 kg) had won international gold medals at the junior circuit in 2001.

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:
In Uttar Pradesh, the state government has decided to set up Atal Bihari Vajpayee residential schools for children of labourers in all 18 divisions of state. Beside this, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced many projects in state in remembrance of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee including a memorial in Bateshwar, the former prime minister’s native village in Agra. A ‘Centre of Excellence’ will also establish in DAV College in Kanpur where Atal ji had his education. The state government also announced that the work to set up a medical university in Lucknow is underway and a satellite centre of KGMU is being set up in Balrampur, from where Vajpayee had contested elections in 1957.

Notes:
On the eve of 73rd Independence day, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Grama and Ward Volunteer system for effective delivery of schemes. The basic idea behind implementing the scheme is to ensure corruption-free governance and last-mile delivery of welfare schemes and services to every household and citizen in the State. The scheme will involve over 2.8 lakh volunteers. Under the scheme, one volunteer will cover 50 families in each village. Identity cards will be given to each volunteer and they would get an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month. A toll-free telephone number – 1902 – would be set up at the call centre in the Chief Minister Office to receive the grievances of the people.

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:
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:
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.