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:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the 3rd Indian cricketer to reach the coveted milestone of playing 500 international matches. He achieved this feat during the second T20 International against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on July 6, 2018. Today’s T20 International was Dhoni’s 92nd in the shortest format. Apart this, the former India captain has played 90 Test matches and 318 One Day Internationals. Dhoni is now the 9th player in the history of cricket and only the third Indian player, after Sachin Tendulkar (664 matches) and Rahul Dravid (509), to complete 500 international games. Some of the other names to feature on this list are – Mahela Jayawardene (652), Ricky Ponting (560), Shahid Afridi (524) and Jacques Kallis (519).

Notes:
Mundakkal Mathew Jacob (90), popularly known as M. M. Jacob, has passed away in Pala near Kottayam on July 9, 2018. He was the senior Congress leader and former Meghalaya Governor MM Jacob. Jacob, a former Union Minister, had also served as deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha in the 80s. Hailing from Ramapuram in the Kottayam district, Jacob had served as a general secretary and treasurer of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and the Chairman of the Kerala State Seva Dal Board. He was also a member of the AICC for many years.

Notes:
The book “Winning Like Sourav: Think & Succeed Like Ganguly” has been authored by Abhirup Bhattacharya. As per the book, Ganguly’s mantra was simple: If he believed that a youngster was talented, he would have enough opportunities to prove his worth. This provided a much-needed calmer atmosphere for the young player as it was certain that he will not be dropped after one failure. Ganguly is credited with nurturing players such as Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and building concept of ‘Team India’ and ‘Men in Blue’. It was Sourav Ganguly’s gamble on talented youngsters waiting for the opportunity that helped India from losing one of its greatest cricketers of all times – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ganguly had taken over the reins of the Indian cricket team from Sachin Tendulkar after the match-fixing exposes in 2000. Bhattacharya says the book, replete with statistics and anecdotes, is not a biography but attempts at drawing management lessons and inspiration from the life of an exemplary skipper like Ganguly.

Notes:
Indian lifter Jhilli Dalabehera from Odisha bagged the bronze medal in the 48 kg category at the 2018 IWF Junior World Weightlifting Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan on July 7, 2018. She lifted 167 kg (75 kg + 92 kg) in 48kg to finish third on the podium. With this, Jhilli has become the second woman lifter after Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (in 2013) to win a medal in the Junior World Championships.

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 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched ‘The Eat Right Movement’ to empower the citizens by improving their health and well-being. It is a platform to provide credible information to help make informed and healthful eating choices. It is built on two broad pillars – “Eat Healthy and “Eat Safe”. “Eat Healthy” is about making healthy food choices. “Eat Safe” is about ensuring food safety from procurement to consumption and disposal of food. Led by the FSSAI, it is a collective effort, to nudge the citizens towards making right food and dietary choices. The aim of the programme is to cut down salt/sugar and oil consumption by 30% in three years.

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:
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:
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).