Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
In a first, the Goa government has decided to ply ‘water taxis’ in its inland waterways between Panaji and Old Goa. The announcement was made while tabling the performance budget of the River Navigation department (RND) for the financial year 2019-2020. The department also plans to upgrade existing ferry ramps and jetties and provide better facilities on all the ferry routes. The RND has a fleet of 34 ferry boats which cater to different inland routes, connecting islands to the mainstream areas. The Central government’s Sagarmala project has also funded reconstruction of 9 jetties in Goa. A flagship programme of the Ministry of Shipping, the Sagarmala project aims to promote port-led development by exploiting India’s 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and its strategic location on international maritime trade routes.

Notes:
In India, the National Broadcasting day (NBD) is celebrated every year on 23rd of July because on this day, in 1927, the radio broadcasting was started. The first ever radio broadcast in the country went on the air from the Bombay Station under a private company – the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC). It was started by the British Viceroy of India Lord Irwin. Since 1927, radio has been an important part in people’s life in India. On 8th of June 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio (AIR). The AIR has been serving to inform, educate and entertain the masses since it’s inception, truly living up to its motto – Bahujan Hitaya Bahujan Sukhaya. The AIR is one of the largest public broadcasting organizations in the world. It has 414 stations in 23 languages and broadcasts in 179 dialects.

Notes:
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has recently announced that Bengaluru-based educational technology and online tutorial firm Byju’s has replaced Chinese mobile manufacturer Oppo as the official Team India sponsor. The deal period will begin from 5 September, 2019 until 31 March, 2022. BYJU’s is a leading education and learning app and has superstar Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. Byju’s will now be seen on the Indian team jersey from September 2019 when the home series against South Africa begin.

Notes:
Badri Narain Sharma, a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer of 1985 batch, has been re-appointed as chairman of the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) for next two years. The NAA ensures that consumers get benefit of reduced prices under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The NAA has been constituted under Section 171 of the Central GST Act of 2017 to ensure that the reduction in rate of tax or the benefit of input tax credit is passed on to the recipient by way of commensurate reduction in prices. The NAA has the power to cancel registration of any entity or business if it fails to pass on to consumers the benefit of lower taxes under the GST regime, but it would probably be the last step against any violator.

Notes:
The third edition of Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG-2020) is scheduled to be held in Guwahati, Assam from 18th January 2020. The Games will see participation of more than 10,000 athletes and officials. It will be conducted in partnership with Indian Olympic Association (IOA), School Games Federation of India & Assam as host State. The first edition was held in New Delhi, while Pune hosted the 2nd one in 2019.

Notes:
Renowned Indian sand artist and Padma Awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the People’s Choice Award at a prestigious sand sculpting festival in the United States. He won the award for his sand sculpture ‘Stop Plastic Pollution, Save Our Ocean’ at the 2019 Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Pattnaik was the sole representative from India and Asia. The award-winning sculpture showed a turtle caught in a plastic bag and a fish with plastic trash such as slippers, bottles and glass inside its body. The tail of the fish is in the mouth of a human, signifying how plastic pollution in the oceans is adversely impacting human beings also when they consume sea food.

Notes:
The 5th International Dharma-Dhamma conference was held in Rajgir, Bihar from 27-28 July 2019. Approx 200 delegates from 15 countries participated in the conference. The main purpose of this conference was to address people about the terror, violence and global warming prevalent in the world. This two-day conference addressed the subjects of Sat-Chit-Ananda and Nirvana which are the pivotal topics of Buddhism. The Dharma-Dhamma conference will act as a platform for the Hindu and Buddhist thinkers to express their views.

Notes:
On the occasion of 2019 International Tiger Day (ITD), Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the 4th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation report 2018 in New Delhi. The count of tigers in India has risen to 2967 in 2018. The rise in tiger numbers was in conformity with the average annual growth rate of tigers since 2006. According to the Tiger census, Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number of tigers at 526, closely followed by Karnataka at 524 with Uttarakhand at 442. It was a moment of pride for the country as it achieved its commitment to the St. Petersburg Declaration, of doubling Tiger population, much in advance to the 2022 deadline. Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in their tiger numbers while tiger’s numbers in Odisha remained constant. The Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of tigers, while Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu registered the maximum improvement since 2014. The ITD is observed every year on 29th of July to spread the message to protect these endangered species and assist in maintaining ecological integrity. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia with the goal to bring worldwide attention to the dwindling numbers of tigers and their plight.

Notes:
The Ministry of Finance has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on all imports of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) from South Korea and Thailand. PTA is primary raw material in the manufacture of polyester chips, which in turn are used in a number of applications in textile, packaging, furnishings, consumer goods, resins and coatings. The latest action comes in less than a month after the Designated Authority came up with its final findings on the sunset review.

Notes:
Tamil Nadu girl Jerlin Anika has won gold at the 2019 World Deaf Youth Badminton Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. She has also bagged two silver and one bronze medal in the championship in the Under-18 category. She is just 15 years old and a student of class 10 in a government school in Madurai.