Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
For the 2019 kharif season, the West Bengal government has rolled out a free crop insurance scheme in collaboration with the Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC). The scheme called Bangla Shashya Bima (BSB) is applicable for farmers in 15 districts – Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Medinipur, Malda, Hooghly, Nadia, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Purulia, Dakshin Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. The crop insurance scheme would be free of cost for the farmers since the government will pay the full premium. The crops that will come under insurance are aman paddy, aus paddy, jute and maize. All farmers taking loans (granted or applied for) and even those not taking loans can avail of the insurance. The insurance will be paid in four stages – for any losses suffered during planting, during cultivation, during the period post-cutting when crops are lying in the field, and for adverse weather situations. The amount will be decided by the state government and will be calculated per hectare.

Notes:
The book titled ‘The New Delhi Conspiracy’ has been authored by Meenakshi Lekhi, a Lok Sabha MP from Delhi and a Supreme Court lawyer. It is co-authored by Krishna Kumar and is slated for release on July 8. The debut novel talks about undercurrents of Delhi’s political landscape and attempts to lay bare what is influencing the course of the nation’s political trajectory. The book talks of a malicious man with a dangerous agenda, an assassin on a diabolical mission, a courageous politician on a treacherous trail and a conspiracy that will shake the nation.

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.

Notes:
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.

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:
Tamil yeoman (Cirrochroa thais) has been officially declared as state butterfly of Tamil Nadu. These butterflies are also known as Tamil Maravan (which means warrior) and are endemic to Western Ghats. The tawny-coloured creature with a dark brown outer ring is among the 32 butterfly species found in Western Ghats. Hence, Tamil Nadu has become the 5th state in the country to announce its state butterfly. Maharashtra was the first to declare Blue Mormon as its state butterfly, followed by Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern Bird Wing) and Kerala (Malabar banded peacock). While the butterfly becomes the pride of the state after such a declaration, the decision also helps conserve its ecosystem and paves the way for eco-tourism. People also recognize the importance of butterflies which subsequently helps in its conservation. There are a total of 32 butterfly hotspots in Tamil Nadu. The state had declared its various other icons earlier, like state animal (Nilgiri Tahr), state bird (Emerald Dove), state tree (palm tree), state flower (Gloriosa) and state fruit (jack fruit).

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:
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has operationalized the first Aadhaar Seva Kendra (ASK) in Delhi and Vijayawada. The new Aadhaar centres are similar to Passport Seva Kendras run by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). These are meant to facilitate enrolment, updation and other activities. The centre has the capacity to handle upto 1,000 Aadhaar-related requests daily. The Aadhaar enrolment and updation centre is open from 9.30 am to 6 pm on all days except Tuesdays. These centres will soon be rolled out across 53 cities of India at an estimated project cost of Rs 300-400 crore.

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.