Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
In Jammu and Kashmir, the district administration of Rajouri has been launched a campaign called “Operation Khumaar” to make 312 panchayats tobacco-free. The programme is run by the district administration to make panchayats free from tobacco and tobacco-based products. Under this programme, even the headmaster of the schools have been authorised to impose a fine on the sale of tobacco within 100 yards of school limits. Block Medical Officers (BMO) have been directed to set up counselling centres at all Community Health Centres (CHCs) to help tobacco consumers to quit this habit. The district officers have been urged upon to work in a mission mode so as to make the society free from the injurious tobacco and tobacco-based products.

Notes:
The Odisha government has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with state’s table tennis body and Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to host the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship. The tournament is scheduled to be held at the Jawaharlal Indoor Stadium in Cuttack from July 17-22, 2019. The tournament has received a good entry with 14 associations, consisting India, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, England, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, Australia, Cyprus, South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan.

Notes:
On 1st July 2019, Japan officially resumed commercial whaling after more than 30 years of limiting whale hunts to scientific purposes — a policy that still resulted in the deaths of hundreds of whales every year. The hunts come after Japan’s withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The move is slammed by anti-whaling activists but welcomed by Japanese whaling communities. Now, Japan has joined Iceland and Norway as the only nations to allow commercial whaling despite the IWC moratorium. Hunting will reportedly be limited to Japan’s territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, which stretches about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the nation’s coasts. The IWC, established in 1946, to conserve and manage the world’s whale and cetacean population, introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.

Notes:
NASA has selected Texas-based Southwest Research Institute to lead its PUNCH mission which will image the Sun. This is a landmark mission that will image regions beyond the Sun’s outer corona. Prof. Dipankar Banerjee, solar physicist from Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is also a Co-Investigator of the PUNCH mission. The acronym ‘PUNCH’ stands for “Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere”. The PUNCH mission is focused on understanding the transition of particles from the Sun’s outer corona to the solar wind that fills interplanetary space. India is also planning to send up its own satellite Aditya-L1, a mission to study the Sun’s corona, and Prof. Banerjee is the co-Chair of the Science Working Group.

Notes:
Dr. Jaya Arunachalam (87), founder of Working Women’s Forum (WWF), has passed away in Chennai on June 29, 2019. She is best known for her social service contributions through WWF which she initiated in 1978. Through WWF, she helped several lakhs of women from underprivileged background to organise themselves towards becoming financially independent. Dr. Arunachalam was conferred the Padma Shri by the Government of India (GoI) in 1987. She received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2009 for her work towards the welfare of women and children. A graduate in Economics and Geography, she was awarded a honorary doctorate by the University of Lueneberg, Germany in 1999. She is a recipient of the International Activist Award by Glietsman Foundation in 2003, and the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Social Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. She has also served as vice president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) and member of All India Congress Committee.

Notes:
Manoj Kumar Nambiar, MD of Arohan Financial Services (AFS), has been elected as new chairman of Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN). The MFIN is an industry association consists of 56 NBFC-MFIs (Non Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institutions) and 40 associates including Banks, SFBs (Small Finance Banks ) and NBFCs. It is also the Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) for the regulated NBFC-MFI.

Notes:
The Indian passport has been ranked at the 86th position with a mobility score of 58 in the latest Henley Passport Index 2019. The score points out that Indian passport holder can access 58 countries around the world without a prior visa. The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations — including micro-states and territories. India shares the 86th position with Mauritiana and Sao Tome and Principe. The list is topped by Japan & Singapore with a mobility score of 189. South Korea, Finland and Germany have acquired 2nd position, while Denmark, Italy, and Luxembourg are on the third rank. France has dropped to the fourth spot, now sharing the position with Spain and Sweden. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information.

Notes:
In Uttar Pradesh, the state government has launched a toll-free Chief Minister helpline No. 1076 that will enable people from across the state to register their complaints and will ensure a time-bound action on the complaints also. The CM helpline number 1076 will work 24×7 and anyone from any part of the state can call on this number anytime. The 500-seater call centre has been established for the helpline and it has the capacity to handle 80,000 inbound and 55,000 outbound calls on a daily basis. When the complainant calls the helpline, he/she will get an SMS informing that the complaint has been sent to the department concerned.

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.

Notes:
The South Central Railway (SCR) has recently commissioned the longest electrified tunnel of 6.6 km built at a total cost of Rs 460 crore between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations. The tunnel is part of the 113-km new railway line completed recently between Obulavaripalli– Venkatachalam – Krishnapatnam Port. The electrified tunnel is constructed in the shape of ‘Horse Shoe’ on New Australian Tunnelling Method. The height of the tunnel (rail level to roof) is 6.5 metres and the minimum height of the contact wire is maintained at 5.2 metres. The new line would facilitate direct and viable connectivity between South Coast and West Coast Railway and improve freight revenue of the zone.