Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
Antonio Vitorino, a lawyer and politician from Portugal, has been elected Director General of International Organization for Migration (IOM). He will succeed William Lacy Swing on 1st October 2018. IOM is the UN Migration Agency and is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration with over 10,000 staff serving in over 400 offices across more than 150 countries. It provides services and advice to Governments and migrants, such as humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.

Notes:
In a remarkable achievement, the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai has been declared as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 30th June 2018. The decision was taken at the 42nd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at Manama in Bahrain. This makes Mumbai city the second city in India after Ahmedabad to be included on the World Heritage List. Now, India has overall 37 World Heritage Inscriptions with 29 Cultural, 07 Natural and 01 Mixed sites. While India stands second largest in number after China in terms of number of World Heritage properties in ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region, it is overall sixth in the world.

Notes:
The conference of Ministers for Power, New & Renewable Energy of States & Union Territories will be held on 3rd July at Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The purpose of the conference is to review the implementation of various ongoing Schemes/ Programmes & deliberate on a host of issues pertaining to Power and Renewable Energy sectors. The excerpts of the issues to be discussed on the conference are as follows: 100% Household Electrification (under Saubhagya) by December 2018, UDAY performance assessment, shifting to prepaid system in three years and 24X7 Power for All – From 1st April 2019. The delegates will also discuss the proposed draft amendments in the provision of Captive Generating Plant in Electricity Rules, 2005 and flexibility in utilization of Coal. The conference will be inaugurated by R K Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy.

Notes:
NITI Aayog and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GNFC) have signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) to implement fertiliser subsidy disbursement through Blockchain Technology. Both will work on implementing a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) application for using the technology in subsidy disbursements. They will jointly develop the use case, under take research, interact with multiple stakeholders, develop Blockchain solutions, exchange learnings, organise forums, and disseminate learnings across their networks. It must be noted that approximately Rs 70,000 crore of subsidy is disbursed to manufacturing units every year for selling around 31 million MT of fertilisers below cost and the fertilizer subsidy disbursal takes two to three months’ time. With the implementation of Blockchain Technology, it is expected that the distribution will become effective and efficient, and subsidy transfer could be automated and made real time.

Notes:
Australian hockey team has won the 2018 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy by defeating India in the final via penalty shoot-off at Breda, the Netherlands on July 1, 2018. It was Australia’s record 15th Champions Trophy title. While India won their second consecutive silver medal, hosts the Netherlands bagged the bronze beating Olympic champions Argentina 2-0 in the third-fourth place match. The 2018 Hockey tournament was the 37th and the last edition of the prestigious Hockey Champions Trophy for men. It will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019.

Notes:
Anjolie Ela Menon, the well known muralist, has recently been conferred with the prestigious National Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh government in Delhi for her contribution in visual arts. The award was conferred in recognition of her insightful and sensitive portrayal of the identity and spirit of women through her meaningful paintings in a variety of media. Beside her, Artist A. Ramachandran was also conferred with the Kalidas Award. Menon is counted among India’s most accomplished artists and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards including the Padma Shri. She recently received a doctorate from Rabindra Bharati University.

Notes:
The International Asteroid Day (IAD) is observed every year on June 30 to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat. In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution A/RES/71/90 to proclaim Asteroid Day globally on June 30. The day is an annual global event which is held on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that took place on 30th June 1908, the most harmful known asteroid-related event on Earth in recent history.

Notes:
On July 2, the first meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) will be held at Central Water Commission (CWC) office in New Delhi to resolve disputes over sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. The meeting of the 9-member Authority will be chaired by the CWC Chairman S Masood Hussain, who is also heading the Cauvery Authority. The meeting will discuss the issues including water storage in Cauvery basin reservoirs, the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from Karnataka as per the schedule and duly complying with all aspects of the judgement of the Supreme Court in this regard. As per Supreme Court’s direction, the Central Government constituted CWMA on 1st June 2018. The CWMA is an umbrella body, which will monitor water management on a day-to-day basis, including the water level and inflow and outflow of reservoirs in all the basin states.

Notes:
Milan Shankar Tare, a fisherman from Maharashtra’s Palghar district, has been selected for the 2018 National Maritime Search and Rescue Award. The award recognises Tare’s act of bravery at sea and selfless duty in sync with the highest traditions of maritime fraternity. On 9th May 2018, Tare saved the lives of 12 people from a sinking fishing boat named Shivneri. He used his judgement to locate the distressed boat in the dark. He also alerted other boats to join the rescue operation off the Satpati coast. The prestigious award consisting of a commendation certificate and cash prize will be presented to Tare in New Delhi on 5th July.

Notes:
India’s first-ever state-of-the-art e-waste recycling unit will come up in Bengaluru, which produces an estimated one lakh tonne of electronic waste a year. The Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), a research institute that comes under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, will set up the unit in the next four months. The purpose to set-up an e-Waste recycling unit is to provide a complete solution for recycling of plastics wastes generated from Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipments (WEEE). Bengaluru, which accounts for about a third of India’s software exports and is home to about 7,000 startups, occupies 3rd place in the country in producing e-waste after Mumbai and Delhi. Currently, e-waste generation in India is estimated to reach 52 lakh tonnes in 2020, with India being ranked as one of the top five generators of e-waste.