Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
Pardeep Singh from Punjab has created a new Commonwealth record in the clean and jerk category on the way to gold in the 109kg category by lifting 202 kgs at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships (CWC) in Apia (Samoa). Two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Vikas Thakur clinched the silver in the men’s 96 kg event. Vikas lifted a total of 338 kg (153kg185kg). India ended their campaign with a rich tally of 35 medals in the youth, junior and senior categories, breaking numerous national, Commonwealth, world and Asian records.

Notes:
Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has won gold in the 53kg category at Yasar Dogu International in Istanbul. Phogat beat her Russian opponent Ekaterina Poleshchuk 9-5 in the final match to bag the gold medal. It was third gold in the women’s competition for India after Seema (50kg) and Manju (59kg) triumphed in their respective categories.

Notes:
Meghalaya has become the first state in India to approve a draft water policy to address water issues, conservation, and protection of water sources in the state. The draft policy was approved by the State Cabinet in a meeting chaired by state Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma. The purpose of the policy is to recognize water resources as a common pool resource, to provide safe and hygienic water for drinking, domestic and sanitation and livelihood development to all residents of the state. It seeks to protect and improve management of water resources while actively involving the community. It also aims at ensuring protection and conservation of catchment areas of all water sources to prevent degradation of the quantity and quality of water sources.

Notes:
The West Bengal government has observed the first-ever Save Water Day on 12th July 2019 across the state to spread the message of water conservation. From now onwards, the day will be observed in the state every year to create awareness among people to check misuse of water. The state government also organized the Padayatra in Kolkata to save the natural resource as water scarcity has become a major issue in the world.

Notes:
Hussain Muhammad Ershad (89), the former military dictator of Bangladesh, has passed away in Dhaka on July 14, 2019. He was the Jatiya Party chief and also the leader of the opposition in Parliament. He was born in 1930 in Coochbehar district of West Bengal state in the then British India. His parents migrated to present-day Bangladesh, which was then a part of Pakistan, in 1948, after the end of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent. In 1982, Ershad took over the state power in a bloodless coup and subsequently ran the country for 8 years until he was forced to quit in a pro-democracy mass upsurge in 1990. Despite being imprisoned subsequently on several charges, Ershad emerged as one of the most powerful political leaders in the 1990s after his Jatiya Party became the country’s third biggest political outfit. His rule was marked by a controversial move to make Islam the state religion of the officially secular Bangladesh.

Notes:
The Spektr-RG space telescope is a joint venture of Russia & Germany that will map X-rays across the entire sky in unprecedented detail. It has been successfully launched into the space from the cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan on 13th July 2019. The Spektr-RG is a space observatory intended to replace the Spektr-R (Known as the “Russian Hubble”). The hope is Spektr-RG can provide fresh insights on the accelerating behaviour of cosmic expansion. It should also identify a staggering number of new X-ray sources, such as the colossal black holes that reside at the centre of galaxies.

Notes:
The L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (LTIF) has become the first Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) to get $100 million loan from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for on-lending to wind and solar power infrastructure projects in India. LTIF is a subsidiary of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd and a leading non-bank financier of renewable energy in India. The loan mobilises private capital from sponsors, other financiers and LTIF’s own sources. India is committed to reducing its carbon intensity by 30-35% of the 2005 levels by 2030 under the Paris agreement.

Notes:
The Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) signed a MoU to develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) for Indian States and Union Territories (UT). The first estimate will be made in 2019 and subsequently every year until 2022. This index will appraise the condition of the underlying digital infrastructure and related factors at state/UT levels. It will provide useful insights into strategic choices made by states for investment allocations in ICT programmes. The index will encourage states to cross learn and jointly participate in achieving the overall objective of digital inclusion and development in India.

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:
Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has recently launched the new e-challan system and the e-payment gateway for the use of Delhi Traffic Police. The E-challan devices are enabled with active GPS where the challaning officer and the violator, both can be logged and tracked to a particular geo-location. This is an important tool for evidence to establish the credibility of the prosecution. The payment gateway will help the citizens with the flexibility to login securely at their convenience and settle the pending violation notices with proof of payment. It is an important step towards cashless economy. It also ensures that the citizen interface with police improves and becomes more transparent.