Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
On July 23, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released the first-ever tribal atlas of Odisha — a set of maps and statistics – to highlight the tribal demography of the state. The atlas has been brought out utilising the data of Census 2011 and other relevant statistics, which is said to be the first of its kind in the country. The atlas has been prepared by the SC & ST Research and Training Institute in collaboration with Academy of Tribal Language and Culture. It has been edited by Prof A B Ota, director of SC & ST Research Institute, and reviewed by development commissioner R Balakrishnan. The atlas displays the salient features of tribal population of Odisha with a series of maps, charts and diagrams. It contains 60 plates pf maps along with corresponding graphs and diagrams which portray the distributional aspects of the Odisha’s tribal population, ecological setting of the tribal habitats, their socio-cultural attributes such as linguistic/dialectical affinity, sex composition and literary levels.

Notes:
The men’s team event of the World Junior Squash Championships 2018 has started in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on July 24. A total of 24 countries, divided into 8 groups, are taking part. India has been seeded 5th and placed in Group ‘E’ with Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. Egypt, which has dominated in the individual events of the world junior championship, has been given the top billing. It had finished runner-up at the last edition in Poland in 2016. Canada has been seeded two and England three. Pakistan, winner of the title in 2016, has been seeded a lowly 11th. The final is scheduled on July 29.

Notes:
Punjab shot-putter Dhanvir Singh set the new record at the 15th National Youth Athletics Championships in Vadodara on July 23, 2018. He clinched gold medal by throwing 19.69m in his 5th attempt to crack the record of 19.34m set by Navtejdeep Singh in 2011. In the event, Dhanvir was declared as the best male athlete while Kerala’s sprint hurdler Aparna Roy won the honours in the girls section. In women’s 400 metre hurdles, Kerala’s Priya won the gold and set the new record by crossing the finish line in a season-best time of 1:02.52 seconds. In doing so, she erased the previous meet record of 1:02.58 seconds set by P O Sanya in Bambolim in 2015. In women’s 200 metre race, Kerala’s Ancy Sojan won the gold in 24.91 seconds. Haryana won the overall title with 165 points while Kerala (150) finished in the 2nd place.

Notes:
South Africa is hosting the 10th edition of BRICS Summit 2018 in Johannesburg on July 25 with theme “BRICS in Africa – collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution”. In it, the heads of the five BRICS nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are participating. They are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others. The five BRICS countries account for 26% of the world’s landmass and are home to 43% of the world’s population. The bloc is composed of emerging markets and the developing world.

Notes:
The 18th UNICEF International Children’s Film Festival 2018 has been inaugurated by West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi in Kolkata on July 25 in which 36 films from 17 countries would be screened. The 2018 theme is ‘Value of Girls’, which will be promoted through films, workshops and discussions. The festival has been organised by Cine Central, one of the oldest cine clubs of the country in collaboration with the UNICEF, Nandan and Talash Society. The inaugural film is Moana from the USA. After screening of the opening film, the 2nd phase of the festival would be held from August 9 to 12 at Nandan, and then the festival will be taken across the state and the films will be screened in different district towns till September 30. Other films to be screened in the festival include Doctor Funes Formula (Mexico), White Bridge (Iran), The Monkey King – Uproar in Heaven (China), The Magicians (Netherlands), The Shamer’s Daughter (Denmark), Giraffada (France), We are the Best (Sweden).

Notes:
The ambitious scheme of Chhattisgarh government “Sanchar Kranti Yojna” has been launched by President Ram Nath Kovind at Jagdalpur in the Naxal-affected Bastar region of the state on July 27, 2018. Under the scheme, 50 lakh smartphones will be distributed free of cost to rural households, urban poor and college students across the state. The scheme, at an outlay of Rs 1,467.90 crore, is aimed at increasing mobile penetration in a state, which is the lowest in the country at 29% against the national average of 68%.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has approved a new scheme ” Mahila Shakti Kendra” to empower rural women through community participation. The cost for implementing the scheme from 2017-18 up to 2019-20 would be shared in the 60:40 ratio between the Centre and states, except for North East and Special Category States where the ratio is 90:10. The scheme is envisaged to work at various levels and at the national level (domain based knowledge support) and state level (State Resource Centre for Women) technical support to the respective governments on issues related to women is provided. This information was given by Minister of State for Women and Child Development, DR. Virendra Kumar in reply to an Unstarred Question in the Rajya Sabha on July 26, 2018.

Notes:
Two Indians, Dr. Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk are named among the six winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2018. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation stated in its citation that Vatwani is being recognised for his tremendous courage and healing compassion in embracing India’s mentally-afflicted destitutes. Wangchuk has been recognised for his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth in Jammu and Kashmir. The others award winners are from Cambodia, East Timor, Philippines and Vietnam. The Magsaysay Award winners will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the image of the late Filipino leader Ramon Magsaysay, and a cash prize. They will be conferred with the Magsaysay Award during a formal presentation ceremony at the Cultural Centre in the Philippines on August 31, 2018. The award is often referred to as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

Notes:
Assamese film “Xhoihobote Dhemalite” (“Rainbow Fields”) has bagged three top awards at the 3rd Love International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Besides the best movie, it also won the awards for best actress (Dipannita Sharma) and best music (Anurag Saikia) at the festival. The film, which is directed by Bidyut Kotoky, deals with the sensitive issue of children of Assam growing up in violent times and witnessing brutality around them. Based on true events, the film also features seasoned actors like Victor Banerjee, Nakul Vaid, Naved Aslam, Nipon Goswami and Nikumoni Barua. More than 150 films from 36 countries were screened during the festival.

Notes:
The World Hepatitis Day (WHD) is observed every year on July 28 raise global awareness of hepatitis — a group of infectious diseases known as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E — and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The 2018 theme is “Test. Treat. Hepatitis”. Hepatitis is a viral infection that causes inflammation in the liver. According to WHO’s official report ‘Eliminate Hepatitis’, “Viral hepatitis affected 325 million people worldwide in 2015, with 257 million people living with hepatitis B and 71 million people living with hepatitis C – the two main killers of the five types of hepatitis.