Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
The Union Environment Ministry has selected 12 beaches in India to vie for a ‘Blue Flag’ certification. These beaches are at Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Bhogave (Maharashtra), Ghoghla (Diu), Miramar (Goa), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Eden (Puducherry), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha), and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands). The Blue Flag certification is an international recognition conferred on beaches that meet certain criteria of cleanliness and environmental propriety. The Blue Flag Programme for beaches and marinas is run by a Denmark-based organization – Federation of Environment Education (FEE).There are nearly 33 criteria that must be met to qualify for a Blue Flag certification, such as the water meeting certain quality standards, having waste disposal facilities, being disabled- friendly, have first aid equipment, and no access to pets in the main areas of the beach. Some criteria are voluntary and some compulsory.

Notes:
Researchers at Assam’s Tezpur University have developed a simple and cost-effective filtration system – Arsiron Nilogon – that may help reduce the health burden caused by arsenic and iron contaminated groundwater. The system filters out 99.9% of the arsenic contamination from the groundwater to make it suitable for drinking. The chemicals used in the filtration process are cooking soda for pH conditioning, potassium permanganate for supplying oxygen and ferric chloride for providing solid iron oxide adsorbents of arsenic. The method can remove arsenic even to below 2 ppb (parts per billion) level while the World Health Organization (WHO) has set 10 ppb as the standard level. According to theWHO, arsenic is a natural component of the Earth’s crust and is widely distributed throughout the environment — in air, water and land. However, it is highly toxic in its inorganic form. The long term exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly by drinking contaminated water, eating food grown or even prepared with this water, can cause skin lesions and cancer. The filtration process also removes other toxic metal ions like manganese, lead, nickel, chromium, copper, etc, very well along with arsenic and iron.

Notes:
The International Shark Awareness Day (ISAD) is observed every year on 14th of July to recognize the importance of sharks play in the ecosystem. The 2019 theme “The sharks in crisis: a call to action for the Mediterranean” . According to the latest report issued by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Tunisia has become the 2nd largest fishing country for sharks in the Mediterranean after Libya. The WWF report calls on fishermen and fishery managers on both sides of the Mediterranean to avoid fishing in critical areas such as nurseries and to use adapted gear to eliminate by catch. It also underlines the need to improve knowledge of shark populations and commercialized species in order to strengthen conservation efforts and ensure transparency and legality in the fishing sector.

Notes:
The Markandeshwar temple is situated on the bank of River Wainganga in district Gadchiroli of Maharashtra. It is in news because the Archaeological Survey of India initiated the large scale restoration work of this temple since November 2017. . Known as the “Khajuraho of Vidarbha”, the temples belong to the Nagara group of temples of North India. On stylistic grounds, their date ranges in between 9-12th centuries CE. The temples belong to saiva, vaishnava and sakta faith. Most of the temples have a simple plan, with ardhamandapa, mandapa, antarala and garbhagriha forming the component of the entire set up. The most striking feature of this temple is the largescale destruction caused on the main shrine (garbhagriha) and the very first recordings made by Alexander Cunningham states that – about 200 years ago the shikhara of the main shrine and mahamandapa was struck by a lightning which led to the partial collapse of the shikhara (the finial, north and south facade).

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has recently increased financial aid to families of jawans martyred in war or war-like situations or conflict related to national security from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Personnel wounded in conflict will get monetary compensation ranging from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 60 lakh each, depending on the severity of their injury. The rule will be applicable retrospectively from January 1, 2019.

Notes:
Palau, an archipelago of over 500 islands in Oceania, has become the 76th signatory country to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework Agreement. The ISA is a group of 121 solar resource-rich countries with headquarters in Gurugram, India. The organisation was jointly launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015. It is a major global initiative for contributing to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy. Palau will host the 2020 edition of the ‘Our Oceans conference’, which will focus on issues such as climate change, sustainable fisheries and marine pollution.

Notes:
The book titled “Kargil: Untold stories from the War” has been authored by Rachna Bisht Rawat. The book is based on author’s interviews with war survivors and martyrs’ families. It will take the readers to the treacherous Himalayan mountains where some of the Indian Army’s bloodiest battles were fought. The war, which lasted for nearly three months, initiated in the May of 1999 in an effort to displace Pakistani soldiers from the peaks they had occupied on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). India won the war, but lost over 500 soldiers. The book is a tribute to their courage and to that of their families, who have faced their loss with such dignity.

Notes:
SIDBI has introduced web-based application system for contribution from Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS). The applications for contribution from various Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) will now be accepted online and the status of the same shall be accessible to applicants, thereby increasing the transparency in the system. The provision of submission of online application will be on the home page of SIDBI. To begin with the application process, the AIF should create an account, fill in the details and submit the application form online along with the required supporting documents. SIDBI is the implementing agency for FFS with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore on behalf of the Government of India (GoI).

Notes:
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” launched ‘Paramarsh’ – a University Grants Commission (UGC) scheme. The scheme is aimed at mentoring National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) Accreditation Aspirant Institutions to promote Quality Assurance in Higher Education in New Delhi. Initially, 71 universities and 391 colleges with NAAC score of 3.26 and above will mentor five colleges each. Under the Paramarsh scheme, the leading institutions will provide regular mentoring to help colleges achieve high quality standards. The scheme also proposes to provide financial assistance to the mentoring institutions and the option of appointing an expert, who can be paid a fellowship amount of Rs 31,000 per month. The scheme is expected to have a major impact in addressing a national challenge of improving the quality of Higher Education in India.

Notes:
Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa has become the India’s first gold-medallist at the President’s Cup boxing tournament after getting a walkover in the finals in Astana, Kazakhstan on July 20, 2019. It was his international debut in the newly-introduced Olympic category of 63kg. Thapa was to fight Kazakhstan’s Zakir Safiullin in the summit clash but his opponent had to pull out due to injury. Earlier, this year, Thapa had lost to Safiullin in the 2019 Asian Championship semifinal.