Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
On 23rd August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a 3-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. During the visit, PM Modi will receive the the UAE’s highest civil honour ‘Order of Zayed”. The honour was conferred to him in April 2019 in recognition of his distinguished leadership that gave a big boost to bilateral relations between the two countries. The award is named after the UAE’s founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It acquires special significance as it was awarded to PM Modi in the year of the birth centenary of Sheikh Zayed. So far, six countries — Russia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Palestine and Afghanistan — have given their highest award to Prime Minister Modi.After that, PM Modi will visit Bahrain that will be the first-ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Bahrain.

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:
To mark the 75th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Punjab government has rolled out a mega health insurance scheme named ‘Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana’. It will cover 76% of the state’s population. The scheme has clubbed with the Centre’s health insurance scheme titled ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for the poor. As per latest Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), Ayushman Bharat would have covered only 14.86 lakh families while the Punjab scheme in its new form, will benefit a total of 46 lakh families. Like the original PMJAY, the Punjab government will provide cashless health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per year. The Centre and the state government will bear the cost of the annual premium for 14.86 lakh families in the ratio of 60:40. For the remaining beneficiaries, the Punjab government will bear the entire expense.The Punjab scheme with 1,396 treatment packages will be implemented through over 450 empanelled hospitals, including 200 government hospitals.

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:
The first-ever International Day for Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief is observed on 22nd of August 2019 to honour the victims and survivors of heinous acts who often remain forgotten. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness about religious intolerance, and violence and discrimination against anyone based on their religion or belief.

Notes:
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Government of India (GoI) has launched its latest initiative called the ‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon – for Divyangjan accessible toilets. The aim of the initiative is to ease lives of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) by making toilets smarter, more accessible, and easier to use. In this hackathon, the government is looking for smart, scalable and innovative solutions for economical toilets for individual and community use in rural and urban contexts. The Hackathon is inviting researchers, start-ups, student innovators, technology enthusiasts, and industry experts to participate. The last date to apply for participating in the Hackathon is August 28. The shortlisted applicants will work to develop their prototype during the two-day Hackathon scheduled to be held in the month of September in New Delhi. The initiative is being organized jointly by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and 91springboard.

Notes:
Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has recently launched the book titled – “the Diary of Manu Gandhi (1943-44)” at a function in New Delhi. The book has been brought out by National Archives of India (NAI) in collaboration with Oxford University Press on the occasion of 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The book originally written in Gujarati language and has been edited & translated by a well known scholar Dr. Tridip Suhrud. The first volume of the book covers the period of 1943-1944. It throws light on Gandhiji’s life as a prisoner and his endeavour to establish the possibility of collective non-violence. It also chronicles the spiritual and educational pursuits of a woman who takes up writing as a mode of self examination. She shares a moving portrait of Kasturba Gandhi’s illness and death. Manu Gandhi (Mridula) was a grand niece of Mahatma Gandhi, and stayed with Gandhiji till his assassination. She was an aide to Kasturba Gandhi during her imprisonment in the Aga Khan Palace in 1943.

Notes:
The Asia-Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a global watchdog for terror financing and money laundering. It has recently put Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Blacklist) for its failure to meet its standards. The APG has also found that Pakistan was non-compliant on 32 of the 40 compliance parameters of terror financing and money laundering. On 11 effectiveness parameters of terror financing and money laundering, Pakistan was adjudged as low on 10. According to officials, Pakistan could not convince the 41-member plenary to upgrade it on any parameter. Now, Pakistan has to focus on avoiding the blacklist in October 2019, when the 15-month timeline ends on the FATF’s 27-point action plan.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has recently released report on the Composite Water Management Index 2.0 (CWMI 2.0) for reference year 2017-18 . Gujarat has been ranked first in the CWMI 2.0, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In North Eastern and Himalayan States, Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged No. 1 in 2017-18 followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura and Assam. The Union Territories have first time submitted their data and Puducherry has been declared as the top ranker. In terms of incremental change in index (over 2016-17 level), Haryana holds No. 1 position in general States and Uttarakhand ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States. On an average, 80% of the states assessed on the Index over the last 3 years have improved their water management scores, with an average improvement of +5.2 points.