Current Affairs Quiz - July, 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 World Day for International Justice (WDIJ) is observed every year on July 17 to promote international criminal justice and as a way of supporting the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) . The aim of this day is to unite everyone who wants to support justice as well as promote victims’ rights. It is to help prevent serious crimes and those that put the peace, security and well-being of the world at risk. The day is also referred as the International Criminal Justice Day (ICJD) or International Justice Day (IJD).

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.

Notes:
On 18th July 2019, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the 10th Jagran Film festival (JFF) at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi. The JFF is an initiative by the Jagran Prakashan Group (JPG) towards creating a culture of cinema appreciation and an honest and sincere attempt create a platform that connects great content with audiences across the country. Last year, with over 18 towns, 400 screenings, 18 cinema appreciation workshops, the festival directly touched over an audience of over 55 thousand people and the media coverage of Jagran puts the reach of JFF well beyond 50 million people across India.

Notes:
The 5th International Police Expo 2019 was held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi with theme ‘Challenges to strengthen peace and security’ from July 19 to 20. The exhibition is an interactive platform where police representatives of different nations can meet policing security equipment and technology suppliers. Over 25 countries showcased advanced firearms, combat or armoured vehicles and a plethora of disruptive technologies in cyber security, drones, homeland security, and safety and rescue at the International Police Expo. More than 100 companies from Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, China, UK, the US, Malaysia, Germany, Australia, Poland and other nations displayed the best and advanced technologies at the expo organised by Nexgen Exhibitions. The police to people ratio at the all-India level is about 117 policemen for every 100,000 people.

Notes:
The 2019 Durand Cup will be the 129th edition of the Durand Cup, which will be held at Kolkata in West Bengal from August 2 to 23. This will be for the first time that the tournament will be played outside New Delhi, its traditional venue. The matches will be played across three locations in West Bengal – Kolkata, Siliguri and Kalyani in 5 different stadiums namely East Bengal Ground, Mohun Bagan Ground, Kalyani Stadium, Siliguri Stadium and Salt Lake Stadium from 2nd August 2019. Army Green is the defending champion, who won its first title beating NEROCA FC on penalties in the last edition in 2016. The Durand Cup is the Asia’s oldest football tournament and third oldest football tournament in the world.

Notes:
In a bid to preserve the drug’s efficacy in humans, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned the manufacture, sale and distribution of Colistin and its formulations for food-producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal feed supplements. The ban has been imposed under provisions of section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 and a notification in this regard has been issued by the Centre. According to a ministry official, the antibiotic is being used as a last resort for treatment of patients suffering from infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria. But the drug is highly misused in poultry industry as a growth promoter for prophylactic purpose.

Notes:
India has successfully launched its 2nd lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 onboard its powerful rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 from Sriharikota to explore the uncharted south pole of the Moon by landing a rover. The Rs 978 crore mission will mark a giant leap in India’s space research and make it only the 4th country to have landed a rover on Moon. For the first time in India’s space history, an interplanetary expedition is being led by two women – Muthaya Vanitha (the project director) & Ritu Karidhal (the mission director). According to ISRO, the lunar South Pole is an interesting surface area which remains in shadow than North pole. There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it. The lander ‘Vikram’, named after father of Indian space research programme Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, carrying the rover ‘Pragyan’, will be landed in a high plain between two craters at a latitude of about 70 degrees South of the moon. Then the 27-kg ‘Pragyan’ meaning ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit and a six-wheeled robotic vehicle, will set out on its job of collecting information on lunar surface. A safe site free of hazards for landing would be decided based on pictures sent back by the camera onboard the lander and after touchdown the rover will carry out experiments for 14 Earth days, equals one Lunar Day.

Notes:
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has launched a research project for developing an online platform in order to facilitate effective fish marketing systems. The project aims to develop a fish market information system, fish price information and facilitate an e-auctioning system trade platform for commercially important fish species. As many as 1,500 fish markets, including landing centres, wholesale markets, retail markets and aquaculture production markets, across the country will be selected for implementing the programme. The project on fish market and price information system is funded by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad. The headquarters of CMFRI is located in Kochi, Kerala.

Notes:
Vivek Kohli has been elected as chairman of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF). He defeated incumbent Alan Ransome of England. The elections were recently held in Bhubaneswar, close to the venue of the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship 2019 (Cuttack). M.P. Singh, who is secretary general at Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), was unanimously elected as secretary general of CTTF. The CTTF president’s post is already held by TTFI chief Dushyant Chautala. It is for the first time that all the three positions in CTTF are held by Indians.