Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

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The UN members have unanimously elected Iceland to take a seat on the world body’s 47-member Human Rights Council. US had left the UNHRC in June, 2018 calling it a cesspool of political bias for its criticism of Israeli regime’s crimes against Palestinians.

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World Youth Skills Day is celebrated on 15th July every year. This day is celebrated to expand awareness on the importance of investing in youth skills development. The United Nations General Assembly decided in resolution A/RES/69/145 to depute 15 July as World Youth Skills Day.

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India’s first greenfield skill training centre will come up at Baranga near Bhubaneswar in Odisha. For this, the Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan laid the foundation stone of NSTI Bhubaneswar on July 16. The aim of the state-of-the-art institute will be to impart training to the trainers & create a skill-based ecosystem to meet expectations of the industry. The National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) would provide a variety of hybrid skill training programmes, both long and short term, along with advanced diploma programme. The institute would impart training in Systems Applications Products (SAP), Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare and agriculture, mobile repairing, solar technician and technician mechatronics, advanced Diploma in IT Networking and Cloud Computing, Training of Trainers (ToT) in Pedagogy for Sector Skill Councils, ToT for conventional courses including fitter, electrician, plumbing and welding. The Institute will be set up at a cost of Rs. 160 crore, on a 5 Acre land.

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According to the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/ GM Crops in 2017 by International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), India has the world’s fifth largest cultivated area under genetically modified (GM) crops. However, this entire area is under single crop – cotton. Currently, the country with highest area under transgenic crops, at 75 mh, is the United States. US grows GM soyabean, maize (corn), cotton, alfalfa, canola, sugar-beet, potato, apples, squash and papaya.

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Veteran actress Rita Bhaduri (62), who worked extensively in films and television shows, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on July 17, 2018. In her over three decades-long career in the entertainment industry, Rita acted in over 70 movies like Raja, Julie, Beta, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar and 30 TV shows including Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Choti Bahu, Kumkum, Khichdi and many others.

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According to Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s latest report “Asian Development Outlook (ADO)”, India’s GDP growth has been projected to rise 7.3% in current fiscal year FY19 (2018-19). The report, which was published in April 2018, stated that Indian economy’s growth will further accelerate to 7.6% in FY20 (2019-20) because the measures taken to strengthen the banking system and tax reform will boost investment. The report also pointed that South Asia, led by India will continue to be the fastest growing sub-region despite rising tensions between the US and its trading partners. The ADO has also retained the combined growth forecast for the major industrial economies — the US, the Euro zone and Japan — as growth in the US and the Euro area remains robust.

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The Chhattisgarh government has launched an online portal and mobile app ‘Aabhaar-Aapki seva ka (Gratitude-For Your Service)’ to provide transparency in the pension facility. Through this app and the website, 80,000 pensioners of the state will now get all the information related to pension and payment online. The pensioners will get the benefit of senior pension with the State government’s 7th pay scale before January 1, 2016. This pension system was launched by the Online Pension Management System (OPMS) for the pensioners of the state.

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During the monsoon session of Parliament, the Lok Sabha passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2018, which will empower authorities to attach and confiscate properties and assets of economic offenders like loan defaulters & fraudsters who flee the country. The bill will replace an ordinance promulgated by President Ram Nath Kovind in April 2018. It is expected to re-establish the rule of law as the accused will be forced to return to India and face trial for his offences. The bill proposes the formation of a special court under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) to declare a person a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO). A FEO is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. The cases where the total value involved in such scheduled offences is Rs 100 crore or more, will come under its purview.

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On July 22, the official mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been unveiled during a ceremony in the Japanese capital Tokyo. The Olympic mascot “Miraitowa” is a blue-checked pointy-eared figure, which fuses the Japanese words ‘mirai’, which means future, and ‘towa’, which means eternity. Its Paralympic counterpart “Someity” is derived from a type of cherry blossom ‘Somei-yoshino’. It is represented as a pink-checked and wears a cape and is sounds similar to English phrase “So mighty”. The Tokyo Olympics are schedule to run from July 24 to August 9, 2020. The Paralympics will take place between August 25 and September 6.

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The Government of India (GoI) has reduced the minimum annual deposit requirement for accounts under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 250. The move will enable more people to take advantage of the girl child savings scheme. The government has amended the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Rules, 2016 for the purpose. The interest rate on Sukanya Samriddhi account is revised every quarter, just like other small savings schemes and PPF. For the July-September quarter, the rate has been fixed at 8.1%. Under the scheme, a parent or legal guardian can open an account in the name of the girl child until she attains the age of 10 years. As per the government notification on the scheme, the account can be opened in any post office branch and designated public sector banks. The deposits made to the account, and also the proceeds and maturity amount, would be fully exempted from tax under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Deposits can be made up to 14 years from the date of opening of the account. After this period, the account will only earn interest as per applicable rates.