Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
The first-ever India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) will be held in New Delhi between 11th to 13th October. The initiative is a part of the Agriculture Export Policy 2018 which aims at doubling the agriculture export and integrating Indian farmers and agriculture products with global value chains. The Trade Fair is aimed at promoting cooperative to cooperative trade within the country and abroad leading to enhanced rural and farm prosperity. The fair offers a huge opportunity for the industry and business houses from India and abroad to build alliances, product sourcing and interact with the primary producers of a wide range of products and service providers.

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The book titled “A Prime Minister to Remember- Memories of a Military Chief” has been authored by former Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar. The book is about the huge impact that the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had on the armed forces of India. The author called Kargil as the finest hour of Vajpayee . He credits Vajpayee for turning the strategic tactical loss into a massive victory and for which he gave full credit to the Armed Forces. Admiral Kumar was the Navy Chief between 1998 and 2001 and oversaw the Kargil conflict in 1999.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently constituted a high-powered committee of Chief Ministers (CMs) for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers’ income. The nine-member committee, headed by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, will suggest policy measures, attract investments and raise growth in food processing. The members of the committee are as follows: Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Union Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand. The terms of reference (ToR) of the committee include suggesting modalities for adoption and time bound implementation of reforms such as Agriculture Produce and Livestock, Contract Farming and Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2018’; changes in the Essential Commodity Act, 1955 to attract private investments in agricultural marketing and infrastructure. The committee has also been asked to suggest mechanism for linking of market reforms with e-NAM, GRAM and other relevant Centrally Sponsored Schemes; and ways to upgrade agri-technology to global standards and improve access of farmers to quality seed, plant propagation material and farm machinery in agriculturally advance countries.

Notes:
Indian middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu from Andhra Pradesh retired from all forms of cricket on July 3, 2019. He did not specify reasons for calling it quits. He was in India’s official standbys list for the on-going World Cup but was omitted twice. Rayudu played 55 ODIs for India, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.05. However, he did not play any Test.

Notes:
The world’s largest “Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute” has started functioning in Dhaka from 4th July 2019. The 500-bed hospital with 50 ICU and 12 operation theatres will provide advanced treatment to burn patients in Bangladesh. The institute has been built at a cost of over 500 crore Taka.

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently released its report titled- Working on a Warmer Planet – The Impact of Heat Stress on Labour Productivity and Decent Work’. It stated that working hours will be lost because it is too hot to work or because workers work at a slower pace. The UN report said India will be the most affected country. It said because of its large population, in absolute terms, India is expected to lose the equivalent of 34 million full-time jobs in 2030 in productivity. India is projected to lose 5.8% of working hours in 2030 due to global warming, particularly impacting agriculture and construction sectors. The projections are based on a global temperature rise of 1.5 degree Celsius by the end of the twenty-first century, and labour force trends. Most of the impact in India will be felt in the agricultural sector. But, increasing working hours are expected to be lost in the construction sector, where heat stress affects both male and female workers. Heat stress is defined as generally above 35 degrees Celsius, in places with high humidity.

Notes:
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) has collaborated with public sector enterprise Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on a pilot project to supply sanitary napkins to 11,516 students free of cost through a team of volunteers and female teachers of 75 schools in Gandipet, Moinabad, Rajendranagar, Serilingampally and Shamshabad mandals of the State. The project involves creating awareness on menstruation and menstrual hygiene among children in government schools in Telangana. It is being taken up with a funding of Rs 71.82 lakh given by the BDL as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The aim of the project is to create awareness on hygiene along with sociological and environmental issues, and removing the stigma associated with menstruation among rural adolescent girls. The NIRDPR is an Indian institute for research in rural development. It is located in Rajendranagar near Hyderabad.

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The state of Maharashtra achieved first rank in NITI Aayog launched “Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index (AMFFRI). The index ranks states based on the degree of reforms they have undertaken in agricultural marketing. Gujarat ranked second with a score of 71.5 out of 100, closely followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. NITI Aayog launched an index to rank States and UTs based on implementation of seven provisions proposed under model APMC Act like joining e-NAM initiative, special treatment to fruits and vegetables for marketing and level of taxes in mandis. These indicators reveal ease of doing agribusiness as well as opportunities for farmers to benefit from modern trade and commerce and have wider option for sale of her/his produce. These indicators also represent competitiveness, efficiency and transparency in agri markets.

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The book titled ”War over Words: Censorship in India, 1930-1960” has been authored by Devika Sethi, who teaches modern Indian history at IIT-Mandi. The book explores the diverse mechanisms and motivations for censorship and its role in the shaping of the modern Indian republic. It looks at state censorship in India in the transition period from colonial to national rule, when historical actors behaved in unpredictable ways. The book is divided into four parts – Guarding the State, Protecting the Public: Censorship Policies and Practices in the 1930s; Protests and Publicity: Banning Non-Indian Authors; Political or Military? Censorship in India during the Second World War; and The Censored Turn Censors: Freedom and Free Speech.

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Under Puducherry smart city development plan, the Union Territory government has decided to introduce Bi-cycle sharing scheme in a couple of months. The registered users or customers can use bicycles to hop from one place to another within the boulevard area. The bicycles can be left at any of the docking stations after use. For the scheme, 100 spots have been identified for cycle docking stations. To begin with, 20 docking stations with 10 to 15 cycles each, are to be set up in places like beach promenade, Bharathi Park, Gandhi Thidal, Aurobindo ashram and railway station. The novel scheme is a boon to tourists who throng to Puducherry in thousands whose number swells to several thousand on weekends. The project under the public-private partnership model will be operationalised after a suitable operator is found out through tender. This scheme is one among the 22 prioritised schemes of the Puducherry Smart City Project for which about 194 crore rupees would be spent.