Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2017

Notes:
Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, has recently declared his government’s full independence from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, after announcing last year that Bolivia will no longer respond to their demands. Most of the protests in Bolivia have targeted the policies of the international money lending organizations that have focused on privatisation and austerity measures to combat corruption in the country

Notes:
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has signed MoU with Govt. of Uttarakhand for development for aviation sector in the state. The scope of the MoU is to identify relevant factors influencing the development of civil aviation infrastructure in Uttarakhand, assessing commercial potential of various airports of the state, identifying technical considerations for airport operations in the state, evaluating site related technical and engineering parameters for development of projects, making estimate of the capital outlay for the future projects and development of master plan for existing and future civil aviation infrastructure in the state. AAI will also assist UCADA in obtaining necessary clearances for airport operations starting with the upgraded airport at Pithoragarh and later at Chiniyalisaur.

Notes:
The veteran actress Shakuntala Barua has been honoured with the 2017 Mahanayak Samman at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata for her contribution to the world of cinema. Awards were also presented to Prosenjit Chatterjee, Nusrat Jahan, Arindam Sil, Bickram Ghosh, Soumik Halder and Padmanabha Dasgupta in various categories. Suparnokanti Karati for Bisarjan and Shiboprasad Mukhopadhyay of Windows Productions for Praktan were among awardees for the Best Film and Best Producer categories. The Mahanayak Samman is the highest film award given by the West Bengal government. The awards were instituted in the year 2012 in the memory of the legendary actor ‘Mahanayak’ Uttam Kumar.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently inaugurated the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam memorial at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on July 27, 2017. The event coincides with the second death anniversary of Dr Kalam. The memorial has been designed and established by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and has been built at a cost of about 20 crore rupees. The memorial will reflect India’s diversity and various cultures and will pay homage to Kalam’s life, displaying replicas of rockets and missiles that the late ace scientist worked on. On this occasion, Prime Minister Modi has flagged off the mobile science exhibition bus “Kalam Sandesh Vahini” which shall travel across various States of the country and reach Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on October 15, which marks the birth anniversary of the former President.

Notes:
Mumbai Metro One will launch the India’s first Mobile Ticketing System ‘OnGo’ which will help commuters pass the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) gates using their mobile phones. The system is in the final advanced stage of testing and will be implemented by mid-August. The commuters will be able to buy tickets or monthly passes using the Mumbai Metro app on their smartphone. Once they make the payment using their mobile wallet or e-wallet, a QR code will be generated. The gate’s sensor will then scan this code and let them access the platform. The ‘OnGo’ will be particularly convenient for those commuters wanting to book their journey through tokens or passes at their own convenience even from outside the Metro stations and avoid queues before ticketing windows.

Notes:
Microsoft India has officially launched ‘Kaizala’ a Made for India app for businesses and organizations, which is powered by Azure Cloud platform. It is designed for large group communications and work management, and works even on 2G networks. The app would help organisations communicate, collaborate and complete tasks and bring together desktop users and mobile-only users who may be within or outside their organisations.

Notes:
The Telangana prisons department has come up with first of its kind offer to rent out its jails to other states to lodge their convicts from 2018. The department has proposed to accommodate prisoners from overcrowded prisons in India at a monthly rent of Rs 10,000 per person that includes food, accommodation, security, mulakhat (meeting family members of visitors) and also skill development trainings. Currently, accommodation is available for 800 prisoners. However, the prisons will lodge convicts in non-grievous and non-serious offences but not under trials and hardcore criminals. Once the Telangana prisons department’s proposal gets the state government nod; Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh which have overcrowded jails, are expected to be its potential client. Presently, Norway is the only country that is shutting down its jails or leasing them out to other countries to lodge their prisoners.

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The Delhi Metro has become the world’s first completely ‘green’ Metro system for adhering to green building norms for its residential colonies. Delhi Metro has secured the platinum rating for adherence to green building norms for its 10 residential colonies from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

Notes:
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Minority Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs, has launched “Jiyo Parsi Publicity Phase-2” in Mumbai, Maharashtra under the Jiyo Parsi scheme. The main purpose of the “Jiyo Parsi” scheme (or Central Sector Scheme) is to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions, stabilize their population and increase the population of Parsis in India.

Notes:
The Indravati National Park (INP) is located in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh and covers an area of approximately 2799.08 km2. It is home to one of the last populations of rare wild buffalo. The flora in the Indravati National Park is mainly comprises tropical moist and dry deciduous type with predominance of the sal, teak and bamboo trees. It is also home to tigers, leopards, Indian bison, nilgai, blackbuck, chausingha , sambar, chital, Indian muntjac, Indian spotted chevrotain, etc.