Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
The Union government has constituted a committee a 13-member committee to upgrade the norms for computation of economic data at states and districts level in the backdrop of plans to revise the base year for National Accounts or GDP calculation. The Committee for Sub-National Accounts will be headed by Ravindra H Dholakia, a retired professor of IIM Ahmedabad. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) will change the base year to 2017-18 for the calculation of GDP and IIP numbers from the existing 2011-12 with an aim to capture changes in the economy. The panel will review the concepts, definitions, classifications, data conventions, data sources and data requirements for preparation of State Domestic Product (SDP) and District Domestic Product (DDP) and to lay down revised guidelines. It will also suggest measures for improving SDP and DDP in the country taking into consideration availability of data and requirements of the Centre and states/union territories.

Notes:
Former India captain Rahul Dravid and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting have been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame for their stupendous achievements in international cricket. Along with Dravid and Ponting, retired England woman wicketkeeper-batter Claire Taylor was also named in the ‘Hall of Fame’ during a ceremony in Dublin, Ireland on July 1, 2018. With this, Dravid became only the 5th player from India to be named in the elite list. The other four Indians are former skippers Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble.

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 Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam has become the first oil public sector undertaking (PSU) to adopt an online legal compliance system by introducing ‘Legatrix’. The cloud-based compliance management system ‘Legatrix’ is a one-stop solution for effectively managing the organisation’s legal and regulatory compliances through monitoring control at different levels. It encompasses the requirements of laws like labour, taxation, IT, commercial, export-import, corporate laws and other industry-specific laws. This initiative augments the NRLs contribution towards the Digital India Mission and induces greater transparency in its operations.

Notes:
The Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP) of Odisha has become the largest habitat of the endangered estuarine crocodiles in India with a record number of their nesting sites spotted in it. Recently, the enumerators have spotted 101 nests of crocodile in Kanika, Gahirmatha, Mahakalapada and Rajnagar wildlife forest range divisions under the park. As per the January 2018 crocodile census report, the water bodies of Bhitarkanika are home to 1,698 saltwater crocodiles. Estuarine crocodiles are also found in West Bengal’s Sundarban areas having the country’s largest mangrove cover. Besides, the mangrove wetlands in Andaman Islands are home to these species, but those cannot match the density and population of crocodile available in the wild habitats of Bhitarkanik National Park (BNP).

Notes:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed Colombia’s Chiribiquete National Park (CNP) on its list of world heritage sites. The park, which straddles the southern provinces of Caquetá and Guaviare, is the country’s largest and has one of the highest rates of plant diversity in the northern Amazon. It is also famous for its table-top rock formations known as tepuis, which rise out of the forest. The national park was established on September 1989, after hundreds of rock paintings dating as far back as 18,000 years BCE were discovered on the vertical rock faces of the area. It is the ninth site in Colombia to be given world heritage status.

Notes:
Major General Vikram Dogra has become the first serving Indian Army officer and the only General across the world to have successfully completed a gruelling ‘Ironman’ competition held in Klagenfurt, Austria on July 1, 2018. The Ironman is an international triathlon consisting of three consecutive events- 3.8 km of swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km of running (a full marathon). It is considered one of the toughest one-day sporting events in the world.The competitors have to complete the events in sequence within 17 hours to earn the title of ‘Ironman’. Maj Gen Dogra completed the event in 14 hours and 21 minutes. More than 3000 athletes from 50 countries participated in the event. Maj Gen Dogra, who is currently posted as Director General Resettlement, was one of the participants.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an outstanding power bill waiver scheme and subsidised power scheme ‘Sambal’ for labourers and poor families. The purpose of the scheme is to make sure that all the households have power facility in the state. One crore 83 lakh workers registered under Sambal Yojana in the state till now. Under this scheme, outstanding electricity bill worth five thousand 179 crores rupees is to be waived off. Under the subsidised power segment of this scheme, registered labourers of the unorganised sector and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families would be provided electricity at a cost of Rs 200 per month while Power connection would be provided free of cost to the beneficiaries. In case the bill is lower than Rs 200, the beneficiary will have to pay the actual bill amount and if the bill amount crossing Rs 200, then the difference amount would be subsidised by the state government.

Notes:
Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, is set to host the Monsoon session of the state Legislature today after a gap of 47 years. This will be the fourth time that the monsoon session of the state Legislature, normally held in Mumbai, will take place in Nagpur. The session will commence in Nagpur from July 4 to 20, 2018. Traditionally, Nagpur hosts the winter session of the legislature in December every year whereas the budget and monsoon sessions are held in Mumbai. According to an official of the Vidhan Bhavan, the monsoon sessions of the state Legislature were earlier held in Nagpur in 1961, 1966 and 1971. As per the Nagpur Pact-1953, the district in the Vidarbha region was accorded the status of second capital of Maharashtra. The pact also required one session of the state Legislature to be held in Nagpur every year.