Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2017

Notes:
A.R.Rahman, the Oscar winning Indian music composer, has been shortlisted for the 2017 World Soundtrack Awards – a public choice award for his music in the film “Viceroy’s House”. Gurinder Chadha, a British filmmaker of Sikh origin has directed Viceroy’s House. The film features Huma Qureshi, Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson and late actor Om Puri. It will release in India on August 18, 2018. For this award, all soundtrack and film music fans globally can cast their vote for what they find the finest soundtrack in the past one year. The soundtrack that gets the highest number of votes will be given the World Soundtrack Public Choice Award 2017.

Notes:
Saima Wazed Hossain, a globally renowned Bangladeshi champion for the cause of autism spectrum disorder, has been appointed as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Autism in South-East Asia Region for two-years. As a WHO Goodwill Ambassador, she will create awareness and generating action to address and elevate sufferings of people affected by autism in the region. Ms Saima is the daughter of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She is a member of World Health Organization’s 25-member Expert Advisory Panel on mental health. Globally, autism prevalence rates are estimated to be 160 cases in a population of 10 000. In low-and middle-income countries, children with autism do not get the medical attention and care they need. Their life is a struggle, marred by stigma and discrimination.

Notes:
The 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) International Conference will takes place in Istanbul, Turkey from July 10 – 12, 2017. Dharmendra Pradhan Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, will represent India in the conference. The tri-annual WPC Conference is widely recognized as the `Olympics` of the oil and gas industry. It attracts Ministers, CEOs of Oil and Gas MNCs, experts and academics from the hydrocarbon sectors and provides an ideal forum to showcase potential of India’s hydrocarbon sector, highlight the recent policy reforms to international investors and interact with policy makers, technologists, scientists, planners and management experts, entrepreneurs, service providers and vendors in order to attract foreign investments into India’s growing oil and gas sector.

Notes:
Lt Col Srinivas Gokulnath has the first Indian to complete the 4,900 kilometre Race Across America (RAAM) in solo category, which is the toughest cycle race in the world. He completed the race in eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes, which begin from California. Lt Gokulnath stated that his postings at Siachen Base Camp and at 15,000 feet on the Uri mountains helped him achieve the feat of finishing the race. A solo rider has 12 days to finish the race and has to ride over 400 kilometres a day to finish it in given time. Sleep is for under 3-hours a day.

Notes:
The 8th edition of the SAARC Ministers of Law and Order (Interior/ Home Affairs) has started in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 11, 2017. The 3-day meeting will focus on the issue of tackling terrorism apart from discussing liberalization of visa, illegal trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and small arms. Indian side is being led by a senior official in Ministry of Home affairs (MHA).

Notes:
Dr John Joseph, a 1983 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), has been appointed Director General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DG GSTI). He is at present posted in Mumbai and expected to take the new charge soon. The post of chief of central excise intelligence (now GST intelligence) was lying vacant for over a month after R K Mahajan took charge as Member, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Mahajan has been given the additional charge of the DG GSTI till the joining of the new chief.

Notes:
Maharashtra has become the first Indian state to provide women an injectable contraceptive for free. The state’s public health department launched a programme “Antara” on July 10, 2017 to cover Pune, Mumbai, Raigad, Nandurbar, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri, and Beed. The programme will be launched in 23 district hospitals, 20 medical colleges and 12 women’s hospitals. The new method under government-funded contraceptives, called Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (MPA), will add to existing contraception options for women, such as intrauterine devices, pills, and permanent sterilisation procedure— tubectomy. The contraceptive injections will deter pregnancy for three months and allow conception seven months after the injection is stopped. The injection will be given intramuscularly to women in age bracket of 18-45 years.

Notes:
Subhash C. Garg, a 1983 batch lAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, has taken charge as the new secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in the finance ministry. The post fell vacant after Shaktikanta Das retired on May 31, 2017. As the secretary in the DEA, Garg will oversee capital markets, Budget preparation as well as infrastructure financing and decide on borrowing, along with RBI. He will also decide on funding by multilateral institutions. Prior to this post, Garg was Executive Director at World Bank for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka.

Notes:
India’s first Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) will be set up at Patent Information Centre in Punjab under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC program. For this, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has signed an institutional agreement with the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology in New Delhi. The objective of the TISC is to stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) system in India to foster creativity and innovation, thereby promoting entrepreneurship and enhancing social, economic and cultural development by establishing a network of TISCs in India.

Notes:
The National Gandhi Museum (NGM) is located in New Delhi i.e. showcasing the life and principles of Mahatma Gandhi. The museum first opened in Mumbai, shortly after Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. The museum relocated several times before moving to Rajghat, New Delhi in 1961, next to the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. The museum is in news because Dr. Y P Anand, the former Director of National Gandhi Museum (NGM), has authored the book ‘Historical Background to the Imposition of Salt Tax under the British Rule in India (1757-1947) and Mahatma Gandhi s Salt Satyagraha (1930-31) against the British Rule Background’. The book is recently launched by the Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism, at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi on July 13, 2017. This book is extremely important for India, especially in the present times, wherein there is a need for humanity in the world.