Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2017

Notes:
The Nelson Mandela International Day (NMID) is observed every year on July 18 to mark birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela, the former South African President & Nobel Peace Prize winner, for his tireless struggle against apartheid. The day is an opportunity to reflect on the life and work of a legend who embodied the highest values of the United Nations. Mandela was South Africa’s first black president, who spent 27 years in three different prisons and was an anti-Apartheid icon who led a memorable life. His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African President F.W. de Klerk led to the end of the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation. For their efforts, both of them jointly received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a dedicated portal ‘SBI Realty’ that will help home buyers to choose flats from its 3,000 approved projects across the country. The portal will help customers to choose their dream home from 3,000 SBI approved projects, which are spread across 13 states and Union Territories covering 30 cities. At present, there are 9.5 lakh home units available on the website. Customers can compare current and past trends of prices for the properties in various localities in the city. The portal will assist customers in calculating appropriate loan amount a customer should borrow based on income and credit profile. The SBI Realty website “www.sbirealty.in” has been developed by SBICAP Securities in association with PropEquity in terms of data support, project information, etc.

Notes:
The Dachigam National Park (DNP) is located at Umaria district in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and covers an area of 141 km2. The main animal species that Dachigam is known for is the hangul (or the Kashmir stag). Other species include Musk deer, Leopard, Himalayan serow, Himalayan grey langur, Leopard cat, Himalayan black bear, etc.

Notes:
The Telangana government has launched an innovative programme “Janahitha” to receive complaints from public through a special portal. The programme has kick started in Suryapet district on pilot basis and will be implemented across the state in a phased manner. The aim of the programme is to facilitate the public to submit their complaints on line and get speedy redressal. Besides submitting their grievances, the public can also apply for various welfare schemes through this facility. The public, instead of visiting offices, can lodge their grievance through different means like portal, e-mail, WhatsApp or dialling the call centre from their homes. In addition, they can also track the status of their complaints. Officials at the district headquarters and Secretariat in Hyderabad will monitor the redressal of complaints and send SMS to the citizens on their status. Negative marks will be given to the officials if they fail to redress the grievances in stipulated time.

Notes:
Fanaceso Totti, the legendary Italian footballer, has finally confirmed his retirement from professional football on July 17, 2017 and announced that he had accepted an offer from his former team Roma to become a club director. Totti is regarded as one of the most talented Italian players of all time for his vision, technique, and goalscoring ability. He is the second-highest scorer of all time in Italian league history with 250 goals; he also holds the record for the most goals scored in Serie A while playing for a single club.

Notes:
The Arunachal Pradesh State Civil Secretariat has become the India’s first secretariat to be fully under wireless coverage enabling end-to-end wireless connectivity. Chief Minister Pema Khandu has recently inaugurated the Wi-Fi Local Area Network (LAN) at the State Civil Secretariat in Itanagar.

Notes:
Brenda Marjorie Hale, the senior-most judge of United Kngdom (UK) has been appointed as the first female President of the Supreme Court (SC). She will take charge as the head of Britain’s top judging panel in September following the retirement of current President, Lord Neuberger. She has served as Neuberger’s deputy since 2013. Three new justices have also been appointed to the Supreme Court – Lady Justice Black, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Lord Justice Brigg – who will take up the role when Lady Hale is sworn in officially as President on 2nd October. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for civil cases in the UK, and criminal cases from England, Northern Ireland and Wales – which means it considers cases where an order had already been made in a lower court and is being challenged.

Notes:
The 5th edition of South India Writers Ensemble (SIWE) will be held at Chengannur in coastal Alappuza district, Kerala from July 24, 2017 with ‘Tolerance’ as the core theme. The 3-day annual literary will be organised by People for Performing Arts and More, an art-cum-cultural outfit. The purpose of the SIWE is to bring about an enriching interaction between writers from different languages and regions. This year, Hindi has been selected as the main language and related creative writers, journalists, theatre and film personalities and other personalities would take part in it.

Notes:
Dr. Udupi Ramachandra Rao (85), the internationally acclaimed space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, has passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on July 24, 2017. He is credited for contributions to the development of space technology in India and its extensive application to communications and remote sensing of natural resources. Prof. Rao served as the Chairman of ISRO for ten years from 1984-1994. He was the first Indian to be inducted into the Satellite Hall of Fame, Washington and in International Astronautics Federation (IAF). In his career, he published over 350 scientific and technical papers covering wide range of topics including cosmic rays, interplanetary physics, high energy astronomy, space applications and satellite and rocket technology. He also wrote several books on subjects related to space research.

Notes:
Mervyn Rose (87), an Australian tennis player, has passed away in Australia on July 23, 2017. He won 7 Grand Slam titles (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) in his tennis career and represented Australia in the Davis Cup from 1951 to 1957. He coached numerous female and male players, including Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Ernie Ewart, Michael Fancutt, Brett Prentice and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Rose is remembered for his unique character and for great coaching and mentoring to both amateur and professional players.