Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
For the first time, the researchers have sighted a critically endangered species of tarantula – Peacock Parachute Spider (or Gooty Tarantula) beyond its known habitat in the Eastern Ghats. The spider belongs to the genus ‘Poecilotheria’. The spider was spotted by a team of researchers of the Puducherry-based Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee in Villupuram district. The spider was first sighted in 1899 by Reginald Innes Pocock on the basis of a single female specimen in Gooty. The known habitat of Peacock Parachute Spider is in degraded forests near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh. Tarantulas are biological pest controllers and there is a huge demand for them by collectors in the pet trade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorised it as Critically Endangered.

Notes:
For the first time, the 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship is scheduled to be held in Arunachal Pradesh from 10th to 24th September 2019. The tournament will be held in the oldest town of the state Pasighat in East Siang District. A total of 30 teams from across the country, representing various States, Union Territories and Indian Railways will participate in the tournament. The teams have been divided into 8 groups — A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir and Telangana is in group H. The inaugural match will be played between Railways and Mizoram.

Notes:
The International Day Against Nuclear Tests is observed every year on 29th of August for increasing awareness about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Notes:
On the occasion of National Sports Day (NSD), Bajrang Punia and Deepa Malik have been conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2019 in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the sport of wrestling and para-athletics, respectively at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. With this, Malik (49) became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest athlete ever to be conferred the prestigious award. She also became only the second para-athlete after double Paralympic gold-medallist javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, who received the recognition in 2017, to have won the prestigious award. The Khel Ratna award carries a prize purse of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Notes:
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has launched Walk to Work on Wednesdays (WWW) campaign in the state. The campaign is a part of the nationwide Fit India Movement, which has been launched in the country by the Prime Minister. The idea of ‘walk to work’ will have multiple benefits like cost cutting of fuel including reduction of CO2 emission, reduction in congestion in the city and the most important “health and fitness” for the citizens.

Notes:
The Delhi Cabinet has given “in principle” approval to the free-ride scheme of providing free rides for women in city buses and metro trains. For this cause, the Delhi Assembly also passed Supplementary Demands for Grants of Rs 290 crore. Of the Rs 290 crore, Rs 140 crore is for free rides for women in buses and Rs 150 crore for rides in metro trains. The free-ride scheme is slated to begin from October 29. Though, women employees of the Delhi government, local bodies and undertakings will not be entitled for transport allowance if they opt for free ride in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses. Both DTC and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) will strengthen their ticket checking mechanisms prevent “misuse” and “pilferage” of single journey passes.

Notes:
Aparna Kumar, a 2002 batch Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS officer, has been honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2018. With this, she became the first IPS officer to be bestowed with this prestigious award. Currently, she is posted as DIG in Indo Tibetan Police Force at Dehradun. This is the highest National award at par with Arjuna award for Adventure sports in India. The award is given in 4 categories – Land, Water, Air Adventure and Lifetime achievement. The awards are given by the Government of India (GoI) with an aim to encourage young people to develop the spirit of endurance, risk-taking, cooperative teamwork and quick, ready and effective reflexes in tough situations. Besides Aparna, five more personalities also received the award. The other personalities are late Dipankar Ghosh, Manikandan K, Prabhat Raju Koli, RameshwerJangra and Wangchuk Sherpa. The awardees received a statuette, certificates and cash award of Rs. 5 lakh each.

Notes:
On 2019 National Sports Day (NSD), Gagan Narang and Pawan Singh have been honoured with the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar for their Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (GNSPF) at the Arjuna Awards ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The award recognizes their contribution in the growth of their favourite sport and a reward for sacrifices they have made to realize their dream. In 2011, Narang and co-founder Pawan Singh founded GNSPF to nurture budding talent and provide them training in a systematic and structured and also education to help carve out future champions. The Gun For Glory Shooting Academy — formed under the aegis of GNSPF — has 16 centres spread across India and has over 50 shooters getting international level coaching. The academy shooters have won over 165 international medals and many of them are a regular feature in the national team.

Notes:
The National Lab Directory (NLD) has been launched by the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan. The NLD is a one-stop-shop for all testing needs of the industries, academia, researchers and other stakeholders who need to get their Testing Facilities accredited / certified / recognized. Presently, the NLD encompasses the labs accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Hallmarking Labs. Now, the labs which are recognized / notified by FASAI, APEDA, EIC, can also be indicated accordingly. The NDL will benefit all stakeholders such as manufacturers, consumers, regulatory agencies, government and research institutions in identifying the test facilities that are required for assessing conformity of relevant products or in testing for the purpose of research and development.

Notes:
To boost tourism and give and an all new experience to visitors, India’s first-ever sky cycling park will soon open at Gulaba area near Manali in Himachal Pradesh. It is 350m long & is located at a height of 9000 Feet above sea level. Forest Department and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports have jointly developed an eco-friendly park. The adventure sport will give a fillip to tourism in Manali and visitors will get an enriching experience of adventure sports at this park. It will also help provide employment to locals.