Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2024

Notes:
Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on 31 July 2024. He was attacked after attending the swearing-in of Iran’s new president, Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas, a militant Palestinian group, aims to destroy Israel and establish an Islamic Palestinian state.

Notes:
On 31 July 2024, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Preeti Sudan, a 1983 batch IAS officer and former Union Health Secretary, as the new Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), succeeding Dr. Manoj Soni. Sudan, the second woman to hold this position, has played key roles in government programs like Ayushman Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. The UPSC, established in 1950, is an independent constitutional body.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh government will provide gas cylinders at a subsidized rate of ₹450 per year for beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna scheme, focusing on women, especially those under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). Additionally, beneficiaries will receive ₹250 for the Rakhi festival. The central government also offers a targeted subsidy of ₹300 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder for PMUY beneficiaries.

Notes:
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an air strike in Tehran. Experts believe this could lead Iran to increase attacks against Israel through its allies, known as the Axis of Resistance. This coalition of Iranian-backed groups includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Houthis. The coalition’s origins trace back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which empowered radical Shia clerics and led Iran to support non-state actors to expand its influence and counter threats from Israel and the US.

Notes:
The World Bank’s 2024 report highlights the “Middle-Income Trap,” where countries stuck in middle-income status struggle to advance to high-income levels. This trap often occurs around $8,000 GDP per capita. Since 1990, only 34 of 108 middle-income countries have moved to high-income status. Key challenges include aging populations, rising protectionism, and the need for faster energy transitions. India, classified as a lower-middle-income country since 2007, has a GNI per capita of $2,540 and would need 75 years to reach one-quarter of U.S. income per capita at current trends.

Notes:
India hosted the 14th India-Vietnam Defence Policy Dialogue in New Delhi on August 1, 2024. The meeting aimed to strengthen bilateral defence ties and coincided with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit. It was co-chaired by Indian Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of National Defence, Hoang Xuan Chien. Both sides reviewed cooperation areas and signed a Letter of Intent to enhance training exchanges.

Notes:
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) launched the Women Entrepreneurship Programme to empower 25 lakh women in India. The program, in two phases, offers free online entrepreneurship courses through Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH), supported by NIESBUD. In the second phase, NSDC will provide incubation support to 10,000 selected contestants across 100 business models.

Notes:
A mahout from Darrang district was tragically killed by a wild elephant at Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Located in Assam’s Morigaon district, Pobitora is home to the highest density of Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros, with around 102 rhinos in 38.8 sq. km. The sanctuary, declared in 1987, features alluvial lowlands, marshland, and wet savannah, bordered by the Brahmaputra River to the north and Garanga Beel to the south.

Notes:
Lyme disease, affecting about 476,000 people annually in the US, is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and spread through bites from infected black-legged ticks. It cannot be transmitted between humans or through other insects. Symptoms appear 3 to 30 days after a tick bite, including fever, headache, fatigue, and a “bull’s-eye” rash. If untreated, it can lead to serious complications, but early-stage cases are effectively treated with antibiotics like doxycycline or amoxicillin.

Notes:
Novak Djokovic became the fifth tennis player to achieve a Golden Slam by winning the men’s singles gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets. This victory, added to his Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, places him alongside legends like Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Andre Agassi, and Steffi Graf. Djokovic had previously won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but did not medal in the subsequent Olympics.