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:
The International Day of Tropics is observed every year on June 29 to raise awareness to the specific challenges faced by tropical areas, the far-reaching implications of the issues affecting the world’s tropical zone and the need, at all levels, to raise awareness and to underline the important role that countries in the tropics will play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The day celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the tropics while highlighting unique challenges and opportunities nations of the Tropics face. It provides an opportunity to take stock of progress across the tropics, to share tropical stories and expertise and to acknowledge the diversity and potential of the region.

Notes:
The novel “Eleventh Hour” is authored by Crime writer Hussain Zaidi to pay tribute to the men in uniform. The book is inspired by and derived from real-life events – a vast stash of RDX that has remained undiscovered since the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993 and the agencies totally clueless about it; the jailbreak in Bhopal of five men; the hijacking of an Indian ship and a commercial vessel by Somali pirates and Pakistan’s designs to spread terror in India. The novel is published by HarperCollins India. Zaidi, who has done investigative, crime and terror reporting in various newspapers, is the author of several books including “Black Friday”, “Dongri to Dubai”, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai” and “Byculla to Bangkok”. Several of his books have been adapted into movies including the eponymous “Black Friday”, directed by Anurag Kashyap; “Shootout at Wadala”, based on “Dongri to Dubai”, directed by Sanjay Gupta; and “Phantom”, based on “Mumbai Avengers”, directed by Kabir Khan.

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:
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:
Admiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni (86), the former Chief of the Naval Staff, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on July 2, 2018. He was the 14th chief of the Indian Navy from December 1987 to November 1990. He participated in the Liberation of Goa and played a stellar role in the India-Pakistan War 1965 and in 1971. Nadkarni is a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Nausena Medaland the Vishisht Seva Medal for his distinguished service.

Notes:
The famous cultural festival “Behdienkhlam 2018” was celebrated at the small peripheral town of Jowai, the District headquarters of Jaintia Hills District in Meghalaya with joy and religious fervour. The festival witnessed a colourful display of 12 rots or ‘rath’ at the sacred pool ‘Aitnar’. It is the most celebrated religious festival among the Pnars Tribals. It is celebrated mid-July every year after the sowing is over. The festival ends with a final salutation to the divine powers when the women of the tribe offer sacrificial food to their almighty. The festival is also known as the festival for chasing away the Demon of Cholera.

Notes:
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched user-friendly android app “cVigil” for citizens to report any violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during elections. The unique Internet-based beta version of the application ‘cVIGIL’ stands for “citizens’ vigil”. The app will be active only in States where elections have been announced. The application will be operationalised for the first time from the forthcoming Assembly elections in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan. By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint. The user will get 5 minutes to report an incident after having clicked a picture or a video. To prevent any misuse, the app will not allow uploading of the pre-recorded or old images and videos. The new app is expected to fill in all these gaps and create a fast-track complaint reception and redressal system.

Notes:
Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan has been sworn in as new Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad. Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan administered the oath at a function in the Raj Bhavan on July 7, 2018. Justice Radhakrishnan was Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court before being shifted to Hyderabad. He was the Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court for a brief period.

Notes:
On July 6, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declared the 438 sq. km. of area around Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ). The move will prohibit construction and commercial mining activities and restrict hotels and resorts near the reserve in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. The area supports an ecologically sustainable habitat in the Western Ghats landscape for about 60-65 tigers, 600 to 800 Asian elephants and gaur apart from other animals of significance. This reserve harbours 227 species of birds, 50 species of fish, 21 species of amphibians and 34 species of reptiles. The reserve, comprising the wildlife sanctuary and the national park, extending over an area of 321 sq. km, was declared a core/critical tiger habitat in 2007. The reserve is a critical part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve spread over 5,500 sq. km.