Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
Lt Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane appointed next Vice Chief of Indian Army. He will succeed Lt Gen Devraj Anbu who is slated to retire on August 31. Lt Gen Naravane will be in contention for the Army chief’s post as he will be the senior-most commander when incumbent Gen Bipin Rawat retires on December 31. In his 37 years of service, Lt Gen Naravane has served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter insurgency environments. He has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in Jammu and Kashmir and an Infantry Brigade on the eastern front.

Notes:
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government has decided to bring legislation in the Assembly for ensuring the job security of Journalists in the State. The legislation aims at social security of Journalist. Besides, it will deal with the issues of retrenchment of Journalists and closure of TV channels and Newspapers publication houses.

Notes:
India has improved its rank by five places to stand at 52nd in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019 of the world’s most innovative economies and maintained its position as the top exporter of IT services. The list continues to be topped by Switzerland while Israel finds its place in the top ten for the first time. The latest GII ranking shows that India has constantly been maintaining its leadership position as the most innovative country in Central and South Asia region every year since 2011. The GII ranks 129 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications. The rankings are published annually by Cornell University, INSEAD and the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and GII Knowledge Partners.

Notes:
Dejan Papic from Canada has been appointed the new national coach of the Indian table tennis team. He accepted the one-year contract that was offered to him by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). He will be paid USD 7000 per month and his contract will be up for renewal after the Tokyo Olympics. The Indian team has been playing without a coach since the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Without a coach, the team suffered a lot of defeats in several important tournaments. However, in the recently concluded 2019 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship, India won the gold medal in all categories.

Notes:
The research team led by Assam forest officer Jatindra Sarma has discovered Dracaena cambodiana – a dragon tree species in the Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong. Researchers took 4 years of fieldwork and study to classify the plant as a dragon tree species whose sap turns bright red after coming in contact with air. This is for the first time that a dragon tree species has been reported from India. Dracaena cambodiana is an important medicinal plant as well as an ornamental tree. It is a major source of dragon’s blood, a precious traditional medicine in China. Several antifungal and antibacterial compounds, antioxidants, flavonoids, etc., have been extracted from various parts of the plant. In India, the Dracaena genus belonging to the family Asparagaceae is represented by nine species and two varieties in the Himalayan region, the northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. But Dracaena cambodiana is the only true dragon tree species.

Notes:
The National Institute of Miners’ Health (NIMH), an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Mines (MoM), has been dissolved and merged with the ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad with all assets and liabilities. All the employees of NIMH will be absorbed in NIOH in the similar post/pay scale as the case may be and their pay be protected. The merger / amalgamation of NIMH with NIOH will prove beneficial to both the Institutes in term of enhanced expertise in the field of occupational health besides the efficient management of public money. The ICMR – NIOH works under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW).

Notes:
In the area of solar rooftop installations, Gujarat has stood first in the country with total 261.97 megawatts (MW) of installed rooftop solar capacity as on July 23, 2019. Gujarat is followed by Maharashtra (198.52 MW) and Tamil Nadu (151.62 MW), respectively. As per the Central government data, the total rooftop solar installations in India are 1700.54 MW. The Government of India (GoI) has set a target of installation of 40,000 MW of Rooftop Solar (RTS) projects by the year 2022 in the country including installation of RTS on rooftop of houses.

Notes:
Lt Gen Paramjit Singh, who has vast experience in counter-terror operations, will be the next Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army. He will succeed Lt Gen Anil Chauhan on October 15. Currently, he is serving as General Officer Commanding of the Army’s Nagrota-based XVI Corps. As DGMO, Lt Gen Singh will oversee various operations of the Indian Army including along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. He has vast experience in high-altitude warfare, including a tenure at the Siachen Glacier. He spent most of his career conducting counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, besides taking part in operations against the LTTE in Sri Lanka. He was also involved in the planning of the 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Notes:
The 22nd National Conference on e-Governance 2019 will be held with the theme “Digital India: Success to Excellence” on 8-9th August 2019 at Shillong, Meghalaya. It is being organized by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in association with Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the State Government of Meghalaya. This is the first time that the event is being organized in the North-Eastern region of the country. The conference will provide a platform to disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable e-Governance initiatives to provide end-to-end Digital services, exchange experience in solving problems, mitigating risks, resolving issues and planning for success. The Conference at Shillong is part of the DARPG’s 100 days initiatives in the new Union Government. 28 States and 8 Union Territories will participate in the 22nd National e-Governance Conference. Over 450 delegates are expected to attend the Conference.

Notes:
Wing Commander Tarun Chaudhri has become the first Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot to perform a wingsuit skydive jump. He achieved the feat on July 21 during the Kargil Diwas celebrations at Air Force Station in Jodhpur. The jump was accomplished from a Mi-17 helicopter from an altitude of 8,500 feet. This is the first IAF Wing Suit Skydive Jump by a pilot who has flown and captained the same type of helicopter. The Kargil Diwas celebrations were held at Air Force Station in Jodhpur on July 21 and 22.