Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2017

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:
Amit Saroha of India has won silver in the club throw event in the F-51 category (below waist paraplegic category) at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, United Kingdom (UK). The event is the equivalent of the hammer throw, only para athletes throw a wooden club. Saroha is the former national-level hockey player, who has been wheelchair-bound, after a horrific a road accident in 2007.

Notes:
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has recently selected the Russian city of Kazan and Budapest (the capital of Hungary) to host the 2022 and 2024 World Short Course Swimming Championships, respectively. The 25-meter pool championships are staged every two years in December and include hosting the FINA World Aquatics Convention. Apart from this Hangzhou in China in 2018 and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020 are due to host the World Short Course Championships and Convention.

Notes:
Recently, Indian junior judokas won a gold and three bronze medals in the ongoing 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Nassau, Bahamas. Antim Yadav of Madhya Pradesh won a bronze in the below 48Kg weight category, surpassing Russelll Jasmine of Bahamas in Repechage bout. Soni from Haryana won the gold medal in the below 73Kg Weight Category, after beating Nikolic Uros of Australia in the final bout, while Ashish won a bronze in the below 60Kg weight category, defeating Zain Prosser Harry of England in bronze medal bout. Manipur’s Rebina Devi Chanam also won a bronze medal in the below 57Kg Weight category after getting the better of Saskia of Australia. The Organising Committee of the Games that would conclude on July 24, 2017 had allowed the participation of only four weight categories Judo players (2 Boys & 2 Girls) from each country, and all the Indians won medals.

Notes:
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the UAE Minister of State for Tolerance, has topped a poll of the most powerful Arab women in government 2017, according to latest Forbes Middle East report. Ms Qasimi was followed by Sahar Nasr, Ghada Wali, Hind Subaih Barrak Al-Subaih, Iman Houda Feraoun and Iman Houda Feraoun. Forbes has also released a list of the top 100 most powerful Arab businesswomen for 2017, and the UAE represents the highest number of women, with 18, followed by Egypt, with 16. As per the report, women in the Arab world were pioneering in the banking sector and women in this industry represents 28% of the 2017 businesswoman list. The rankings were compiled by taking into account scope of the role or ministry, years of experience and company revenues, or GDP in the case of government.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently given ex-post facto approval for insurance regulator IRDAI’s admission as a signatory to IAIS Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) due to increasing integration of financial markets. The MMoU is a statement of its signatories’ intent to cooperate in the field of information exchange as well as procedure for handling information requests. The MMoU provides a formal basis for cooperation and information exchange between the signatory authorities regarding the supervision of insurance companies where cross- border aspects arise. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) is a global framework of cooperation and information exchange between insurance supervisors. The MoU provides a formal basis for cooperation and information exchange between the signatory authorities regarding the supervision of insurance companies where cross- border aspects arise.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has recently approved the proposals for climate adaptation projects submitted by Rajasthan, Gujarat and Sikkim. The three projects approved by the National Steering Committee on Climate Change (NSCCC), under the Chairmanship of Secretary MoEF&CCm Ajay Narayan Jha, will receive funds under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC). The current projects address a range of climate change vulnerabilities in the states, which are not addressed under the ongoing schemes of the Central and State governments. The projects in Rajasthan and Sikkim are targeted at water security, while in Gujarat, the project will focus on increasing the adaptive capacity of communities dependent on natural resources in the Kachchh district. The NAFCC is a flagship Scheme of Government of India, which provides 100% grant to the State Governments for implementing climate change adaptation projects

Notes:
The 5th North East Connectivity Summit- 2018 will be held in Arunachal Pradesh. This was informed by Ranjit Barthakur, the Chairman of North East Advisory Council (NEAC) of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The summit organised by the FICCI is one of the most important forums for action oriented deliberations on sub-regional economic integration and connectivity between North East India and South East Asia. The 4th North East Connectivity Summit will be held in Nagaland in the month of September 2017.

Notes:
Sanjay Kothari, a 1978 batch IAS of Haryana cadre, has been appointed as Secretary to President elect Ram Nath Kovind. Currently, he is the Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). Beside this, Bharat Lal, a forest service officer, has been appointed as Joint Secretary to the President. Ashok Malik, the senior journalist and distinguished fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), will be Press Secretary to the President.

Notes:
Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Petroleum Minister, has launched the India’s first petroleum Research & Development (R&D) facility for testing high-end BS-VI quality fuel emissions in Faridabad in the National Capital Region (NCR). The R & D facility will be operated by state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and is designed to test all types of fuel including petrol, diesel, ethanol-blended petrol, bio-diesel, CNG, LNG, hydrogen-CNG and 2G-ethanol blends to ensure they meet the superior BS-VI norms that are to be implemented across the country by April 2020. In addition to generating emission data, the facility will also evaluate the fuel blends for energy-efficiency and engine durability.