Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
The Western Railway (WR) has opened the first-of-its-kind printing press heritage gallery of the Indian Railways at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai. With this, the Western Railway Mahalaxmi General Stores Depot (GSD) has become the first in Indian Railways to portray a heritage gallery of the printing and allied machines used in the Western Railway Printing Press since 1948, which are still in working condition. The GSD Mahalaxmi is spread over 12,171 sq meter area, which is a British-era single-storey building made with black stone having interiors made with wood, has its own beauty and uniqueness. The press came into existence in 1912 under the Greater Indian Peninsular Railway (GIP) Bombay, as the railway needed stationery and tickets to run the operations.

Notes:
Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the1984-batch Assam Meghalaya cadre IAS officer , has been appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with immediate effect. He will take over as Home Secretary from incumbent Rajive Gauba. Mr. Bhalla will have a fixed two-year tenure as Union Home Secretary till August 2021. Excerpts of the major reshuffle in the senior bureaucracy: Subhash Chandra Garg has been shifted to the Power Ministry as Secretary, while Gujarat cadre IAS officer Atanu Chakraborty has been made new Economic Affairs Secretary. Anshu Prakash has been appointed new Secretary of Telecommunications. This is the first reshuffle in the top bureaucracy after the parliamentary polls that saw return of the Narendra Modi government with thumping majority. The reshuffle includes IAS officers of 1984, 1985 and 1986 batches.

Notes:
The book titled ‘Fire and Fury Corps — Saga of Valour, Fortitude and Sacrifice’ has been authored by Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh. The book is showcasing the history and achievements of the Fire and Fury Corps which guards the Line of Control (LoC) and Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). It documents the courage and bravery of the Fire and Fury Warriors and portrays the rich heritage and ethos of the Indian Army. The book also covers the serenity and mysticism of Ladakh and its people, as a tribute to the symbiotic relationship shared by the Indian Army and the people of Ladakh region.

Notes:
Uttar Pradesh has become number one in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) in the country. As per the statement released by state government, 1.95 crores people have been given insurance cover under the scheme till 31 march 2019. The implementation of this ambitious central government scheme started in state from January 2018 under which people between age group of 18 to 70 get accidental insurance cover of Rs. 2 lakh by paying a nominal premium of Rs 12 annually. Beside this, Uttar Pradesh stands second in the country in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJBY). The PMJJBY is a life insurance scheme that provides a life cover of Rs.2 lakh at Rs.330/year. It is available to people in the age group of 18 to 50 years having a bank account who give their consent to join / enable auto-debit.

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:
The researchers at the IIT Kanpur and the Lucknow-based Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) have designed a novel molecular framework to destroy superbugs, which are becoming increasingly resistant to most known antibiotics. It would help drugs latch on to the germs and prevent them from multiplying. For the study, the scientists used bacteria – Staphylococcus Aureus – which are frequently found in the nostrils, upper respiratory tract and on the skin of nearly 30% of people. According to researchers, a substance called gyrase is essential for bacteria’s survival and multiplication. In most organisms, there are two types of gyrases — gyrase A and gyrase B. The new molecule targets gyrase B, which is more conserved in organisms and hence difficult to mutate. The strategy is very attractive because it makes it possible to destroy these bacteria with the same class of drugs to which they have developed resistance.

Notes:
The scientists at the IIT-Kanpur have developed two-finger robotic hand (exoskeleton) to help paralysed stroke patients. For the exoskeleton, Prof. Ashish Dutta and Prof. KS Venkatesh have partnered with the University of Ulster (based in the United Kingdom) and their teacher Girijesh Prasad, who belongs to Gorakhpur. The exoskeleton uses a four-bar mechanism and has four degrees of freedom (DOF). It can be used by a patient on the hand. It uses brain signals, with the help of the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) that is worn on the head, and helps paralyzed patients to open and close the movement of their thumb, forefinger and middle fingers for physical practice. The exoskeleton is operated by a MEGA microcontroller of 300 Mhz and powered by a battery. The device will cost around Rs 15,000.

Notes:
The Ministry of Culture has recently announced to include the remaining languages from 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution — Nepali and Santhali in the Sub-Field of Field “Literature” in the scheme component ‘Award of Senior/Junior Fellowships to Outstanding Artistes in the Fields of Culture’. The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) of Dwarka is the nodal institute for handling the scheme of the fellowship till selection process. “Literary Arts” is one of the Fields under this Scheme where candidates can apply for research in 22 languages as their Sub-Field. These 22 languages include the following 20 languages from the 8th Schedule of Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Indian Constitution along with English and Khasi:- (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Bodo, (4) Dogri, (5) Gujarati, (6) Hindi, (7) Kannada, (8) Kashmiri, (9) Konkani, (10) Maithili, (11) Malayalam, (12) Manipuri, (13) Marathi, (14) Oriya, (15) Punjabi, (16) Sanskrit, (17) Sindhi (18) Tamil, (19) Telugu and (20) Urdu.

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.