Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, who retired from the Supreme Court on 7th July 2018, has been appointed the new chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). His tenure as NGT Chairperson has been specified as being for a period of 5 years from the date he assumes office, or till he reaches the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier. He will succeed Justice Jawad Rahim, who is the acting chairperson of NGT. The NGT was established on October 18, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources. The tribunal’s principal bench is located in New Delhi while its zonal benches are in Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai and its circuit benches are in Shimla, Shillong, Jodhpur and Kochi.

Notes:
The International Round Table Conference on “Data for New India’’ has organised by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in New Delhi during 9-10th July, 2018. The Conference was inaugurated by D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The purpose of the Round Table Conference is to identify innovative ideas for improving the statistical system in India, taking cue from the best practices followed in advanced countries like Canada, UK and Australia. Such a Conference is being organized in India for the first time. In the Conference, the experts from National and International agencies would deliberate on key statistical issues, such as data governance structure and capabilities, organizational issues, managing data systems in a federal structure and resource mobilization for ensuring quality statistical products to be produced. The conference is expected to suggest measures paving way for initiating the reform process in the Indian Statistical System.

Notes:
Recently, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry has extended the term of K. Kasturirangan Committee to draft a new education policy till August 31. The committee, which was supposed to submit the report by 30 June, had sought an extension to give final shape to the policy and the minister has approved it. This is the third extension granted to the panel. Initially, it was supposed to submit its report by December 2017. The existing National Education Policy (NEP) was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992. A new National Education Policy (NEP) was part of the BJP manifesto. Apart from Kasturirangan, the committee has 8 members, including mathematician Manjul Bhargava. The committee headed by the former ISRO chief will also take into account the report of a panel headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian. K Kasturirangan headed ISRO between 1994 and 2003 and was awarded the country’s second-highest civilian honour — Padma Vibhushan — in 2000.

Notes:
The 67th plenary meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC) has started at Shillong in Meghalaya on 9th of July, which was chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. NEC is a regional planning body of eight Northeastern states. DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh, Governors and Chief Ministers of all the Northeastern states took take part in the 2-day meeting, which is being held for the first time after the Union Cabinet brought NEC under direct control of the Home Ministry. During the meet, they reviewed various presentations on matters related to all-round development of north-eastern region. Apart from this some of the major issues including transformation of several districts in the region, strengthening livelihood programmes, water resources management, doubling farmers’ income by 2022, road connectivity, Implementation of ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ Ayushman Bharat pertaining to the northeastern states were discussed in the plenary.

Notes:
The Gujarat Government has granted religious minority status to Jewish community living in the state. The GR to this effect was issued on July 6 by the state’s Department of Social Justice and Empowerment. As religious minority members professing the faith of Judaism, they shall get the religious minority rights envisaged in the Constitution and various acts and rules of the state government. They shall also get benefits of welfare schemes formulated for religious minority communities within the jurisdiction of Gujarat. With this, Gujarat has become the 3rd state in India to grant religious minority status to Jews after West Bengal and Maharashtra.

Notes:
The Western Ghats (India) bagged the 4th best tourist spot in Lonely Planet’s top five “2018 Best in Asia” list, a collection of 10 of the best destinations to visit in the continent for the year. The Western Ghats is older than the Himalayas and well known for its rich and unique flora and fauna. It is one of the Hottest Biodiversity Hotspots and UNESCO World Heritage site. It supports the life of 7,402 species of flowering plants, 1814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species. Lonely Planet is considered a Bible by travellers worldwide. The list is topped by Busan in South Korea, followed by Uzbekistan and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).

Notes:
The Rajya Sabha has, for the first time in 76 years since it came into being, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a foreign counterpart for promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue. With this, M. Venkaiah Naidu became the first Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to sign such an agreement. He signed an MOU with the visiting President of the Senate of the Republic of Rwanda, Bernard Makuza, on 10th July 2018. The MOU with 6 articles of cooperation seeks to promote Inter-Parliamentary dialogue, Capacity building of parliamentary staff, Organisation of conferences, forums, seminars, staff attachment programmes, workshops and exchanges, Collaboration in mutual interest in regional and international multilateral parliamentary bodies in furtherance of bilateral relations and friendship between the two nations.

Notes:
Recently, the mycological laboratory of the Department of Botany in Goa University announced the discovery of a new pigment from local wild mushrooms that may help fight against cancer. The result was confirmed after more than two decades of research experience on local wild mushrooms. The chemical nature of the brown or black color pigment in wild edible mushrooms ‘Roen alamis or Termitomyces’ species has a new sulphur-rich melanin pigment with immense bio-industrial, biomedical and biotechnological potential. This may help to fight against cancer and tumors. People of Goa who consume these mushrooms are actually eating sulphur-rich melanin. The Goa University has declared it as world’s first sulphur-rich edible melanin. Its structure is similar to black pigment found in human hair. Basically, the melanin is a protective pigment in the skin that helps in blocking Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from damaging DNA and possibly causing the skin cancer.

Notes:
India’s first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and Light Bullet Proof Vehicles (LBPV) will be set up by DCM Shriram Industries Group on the campus of Shriram Rayons in Kota. These UAVs and LBPVs are likely to be used by defence and para-military forces in the country. The UAVs will help in surveillance, while LBPV will protect defence and para-military forces against light automatic weapon fire, IED blasts and small grenade attack. The UAVs will be able to fly to a height of 500 to 2000 km, while LBPVs can operate in difficult terrains and has off-road abilities. Shriram Rayons, a company of DCM Shriram Industries Group, manufactures rayon tyrecord in Kota for last 54 years.

Notes:
The book “Aluminium: The Future Metal” has been authored by Tapan Kumar Chand, the CMD of NALCO. It gives a comprehensive overview of the strategic metal and its futuristic role in the growth of industry and economy of the country. The book is recently released by Narendra Singh Tomar , the Union Minister of Mines, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.