Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar has inaugurated the National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural Sciences (SACON) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The purpose of the center is to explore the impact of chemical contaminants on individual species of birds and, where possible, link them to population and communities. The centre would study the movement of environmental contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and drugs through the food chain, and their harmful effects on birds. The Union Ministry allocated Rs 4 crore for the centre, which contains instruments such as High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC), Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAC) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS).

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Despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region, Russia has launched the world’s first floating nuclear reactor – Akademik Lomonosov – across the Arctic. It was loaded with nuclear fuel from the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000km voyage to voyage to Pevek in northeastern Siberia. The reactor’s trip is expected to last between four and six weeks, depending on the weather conditions and the amount of ice on the way. The vessel weighs 21,000 tons and has two reactors with a capacity of 35 megawatts each, close to that of those used by nuclear icebreakers. It has a crew of 69 and travels at a speed of 3.5 to 4.5 knots. However, environmental groups have warned dangers of unprecedented project & dubbed it a potential “Chernobyl on ice” and a “nuclear Titanic”. Though, Russia claims the project will provide clean energy to the remote region and allow authorities to retire an ageing nuclear plant and a coal-burning power station.

Notes:
Indian Para-badminton player Manasi Joshi from Rajkot has recently clinched her first gold in women’s singles category at the BWF Para Badminton World Championships in Basel, Switzerland. In the final, she defeated 3-time SL3 world champion Parul Parmar with a score of 21-12, 21-7.

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The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to offer modern nursery education at anganwadis (or childcare centres ) on the lines of private nursery schools. Under this scheme, all the 97,000 anganwadis of the state would be covered. In the first phase, a nursery school has been opened at each anganwadi across 313 administrative blocks across the state from August 28. Children would be imparted education based on ‘learning by playing’ method in a bid to strengthen their foundation by the time they get admission in regular schools.

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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.

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The Bimal Jalan Committee has suggested that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) economic capital framework must be periodically reviewed after every five years and its accounting year (July-June) be aligned with the fiscal year that ends on 31 March. The Committee has recommended that the central bank pay interim dividend to the government (a practice that started in 2016-17) only under exceptional circumstances. The committee also recommended that the RBI should put in place a framework for assessing the market risk of its off-balance sheet exposures in view of their increasing significance. The panel also suggested a clearer distinction between the two components of economic capital — realised equity and revaluation balances — mainly because of the volatile nature of the revaluation balances.

Notes:
The Central TB Division of the Health Ministry has signed a pact with Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (WIAI) to explore the application of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technology in its fight against TB. As per pact, Wadhwani AI would support the National TB programme in vulnerability and hot-spot mapping, modelling novel methods of screening and diagnostics and enabling decision support for care-givers apart from supporting the Revised National TB Programme (RNTCP) in adoption of other AI technologies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, India has close to 27 lakh TB cases every year and 4.23 lakh cases die. India is committed to ending TB by 2025, 5 years ahead of the Global Sustainable Development targets.

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S Aswatha Narayana from Odisha has created history by becoming the first Indian to win gold at 45th World Skills competition 2019 in Kazan city of Russia. He bagged the gold in water technology in the competition that was held between August 23-27. He was also rewarded as ‘Best of Nation’ amongst the Indian competitors. Pranav Nutalapati from Karnataka won Silver in Web Technologies. While Sanjoy Pramanik from West Bengal and Shweta Ratanpura from Maharastra both won bronze in Jewellery and graphic design technology respectively. Shweta has also earned the distinction of being the only female candidate to win a medal for India at World Skills Kazan 2019. In all, a 48-member Indian team returned with the best-ever finish at the competition by winning 19 medals and Medallions of Excellence.

Notes:
In its annual report for 2018-19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stated that the lack of domestic demand is holding back the animal spirits in the economy and emphasized the need to revive consumption demand and private investment during 2019-20. The report claimed that the economy is undergoing a cyclical slowdown rather than a deep structural one. It also stressed that issues related to “land, labour and marketing” will need to be addressed as a broad-based downturn is underway in sectors such as manufacturing, trade, hotels, transport, communication and broadcasting, construction and agriculture. The term ‘Animal spirits’ in Economics was coined by British economist John Maynard Keynes in his 1936 book ‘The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money’ to explain the persistence of economic fluctuations under capitalism. The term refers to the emotions and instincts that guide the behaviour of investors and consumers in a market economy. It is economic optimism and confidence that drives investors to make more investment even when there is uncertainly. In simple words, Animal spirits shows how human psychology drives the economy.

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.