Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
Kabutari Devi (70), the famous Kumaoni folk singer, has passed away in Pithoragarh , Uttarakhand on July 7, 2018. Devi, whose songs depicted the struggles in the life of Pahari women, shot to fame after her maiden performance at All India Radio, Lucknow in the 1980s. The folk singer has received several honours, which includes the Ministry of Culture, Government of Uttarakhand for her outstanding contribution which echoed the sound of Kumaon hills. Devi is remembered by folk historians as an original voice that represented the culture of the hills.

Notes:
The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the 17th World Sanskrit Conference (WSC) in Vancouver, Canada on July 9, 2018. More than 500 scholars and delegates from over 40 countries are participating in the 5-day conference and will exchange their knowledge by presenting papers on various subjects. There will be a special panel discussion on over a dozen topics like – History and Education of Women in Vedic Literature, Sanskrit Buddhist Manus, introducing Bhagavata Purana Commentaries and research on the Gargiyajyotisa. Over 500 papers on various themes are likely to be presented during the conference. The purpose of this conference is to promote, preserve and practice the Sanskrit language all over the world by the people. The World Sanskrit Conference is being held in various countries across the globe once in every three years and so far it has been held thrice in India.

Notes:
The International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) is observed every year on first Saturday of July to recognize and reaffirms the role of cooperatives in economic, social and cultural development and in the achievement of social policy objectives. The 2018 IDC was celebrated on the 7th of July with theme ‘Sustainable societies through cooperation’. The 2018 theme is to create an opportunity for cooperatives to show how they run successful businesses while respecting our natural environment and the resources it offers.

Notes:
The first-ever ‘India Tourism Mart (ITM)’ will be hosted by the Ministry of Tourism in New Delhi from 16th to 18th September 2018. Regarding to this, the Tourism Ministry has partnered with the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) to organize the event. The purpose of the event is to create an annual Global Tourism Mart for India in line with major international travel marts being held in countries across the world. The Mart will provide a platform for all stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industries to interact and transact business opportunities.

Notes:
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has launched a mobile help centre “‘Saathi'” to reach out to people undertaking the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath. The initiative ‘Saathi’ was launched by Abhay Vir Chauhan , the Inspector General of CRPF (Jammu Sector). The purpose of this initiative is to provide help and information to yatris staying in camps outside the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu. The CRPF personnel of the mobile help centre will be visiting various camps in Jammu and apprising the pilgrims about the security measures to be kept in mind. In addition , the trained CRPF personnel of the centre would provide first aid treatment to people in need and would also be distributing medicines. Beside this, a help desk of the CRPF is already functional at the Bhagwati Nagar Base Camp and another named ‘Madadgaar’ (helper) at the Jammu Tawi Railway Station and other information centres.

Notes:
India has been ranked 57th most innovative nation among 130 countries in the 11th edition of Global Innovation Index (GII-2018), which is developed jointly by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). GII is a leading bench-marking tool for business executives, policymakers and others seeking insight into the state of innovation around the world. The ranking is constantly being used to evaluate progress on a continual basis. The GII ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators. It is now in its 11th edition and has become a major input for policymakers on innovation around the world. On the global front, Switzerland maintained its number one position in the Global Innovation Index rankings. Other countries that fell in the top 10 list were Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, the US, Finland, Denmark, and Germany.

Notes:
State-run telecom firm BSNL has become the India’s first Mobile operator to launch Internet Telephony Services. The facility will allow users to dial any telephone number in India through its mobile app. Now, BSNL Customers will be able to make calls using BSNL’s mobile app “Wings” to any phone number in the country and even from abroad. The app can be activated using internet anywhere in the world and calls can be made. The fee of Rs 1,099 includes unlimited calling within India. Before this, phone calls on mobile apps were possible within users of a particular app and not on telephone numbers. Using this service, BSNL customers will be able to make calls on any network in the country even by using BSNL wi-fi or any other service provider. The services will be activated from July 25 onwards.

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:
The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has granted “Institutions of Eminence” (IoEs) status to IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the public sector, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, BITS Pilani and Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation in the private sector. The Jio Institute has been selected under the Greenfield Category. The aim of this move is to improve the level of educational institutes in the country, so that they can compete with foreign institutions. The goal is to bring them into the top 500 institutions in the world within the next 10 years, and eventually in top 100. The Government will grant Rs 1,000 crore funds to the three public institutions in the next five years though; the private institutes will not be eligible for government funding.

Notes:
Satyarup Siddhanta (35) has become the 2nd Indian mountaineer after Malli Mastan Babu to climb Mt Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in the world. Satyarup is also set to be the first Indian to climb Mt Sidley, the highest volcano of Antarctica. Mount Ojos del Salado is a stratovolcano (a volcano built up of alternate layers of lava and ash) in the Andes on the Argentina-Chile border and the highest active volcano in the world at 6,893 metres (22,615 ft).