Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the South East Asia’s first-ever Centre for Climate Change (CCC) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The purpose of the centre is to accelerate concerted climate action by various stakeholders in government, private, financial and non -government actors. The Lucknow Centre would help NABARD in increasing its capacity building efforts manifold. Besides, the new institution would also extend professional support to stakeholders for designing climate related projects and take up collaborative studies and action research projects in area of climate change. It would also support capacity building and project preparation effort in developing countries in the region as also in Africa.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
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.

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:
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 National Traders Conclave 2018 has been organized by Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in New Delhi from July 23 to 25 to address various grievances of the trading community and focus on effective solutions. A speaker of CAIT informed that among the rising problems in trades in recent times, FDI in both multi and single-brand retail and merger of Walmart and Flipkart are posing huge challenges on Indian Market. Regarding to this issue, CAIT demanded that the Centre stop the Walmart-Flipkart deal saying it would encourage predatory pricing and benefit only investors and promoters. The conclave, which is being attended by 1,500 trade leaders, had decided to launch a nationwide movement against the deal. The traders’ union also demanded that the government form a policy for e-commerce and constitute a regulatory authority for such businesses. The headquarters of CAIT is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
Mohammed Ayazuddin Patel, a Kalaburagi-based artist, has bagged the Senior Fellowship Award for 2016-17 instituted by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training Centre, an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Culture. The fellowship, which carries a cash of Rs 4.8 lakh, is offered to those eligible to work on a particular subject in the field of art and culture for two years. Mr. Patel is selected to work on Deccan Heritage with a special reference to Bahmani Sultanate through his digital painting. He is the only artist from Karnataka selected for the fellowship for the year. Mr. Patel has extensively travelled across the globe and exhibited his artworks in 24 countries. He is also the recipient of National Lalitkala Academy award in 2014. As a freelance artist, he is currently serving as member of the Karnataka Lalithakala Academy.

Notes:
Swapan Sarkar (67), the Veteran sports journalist, has passed away in New Delhi on July 26, 2018. He was a versatile sports writer and covered football, tennis, cricket, badminton, table tennis and athletics for his publications. He worked for a number of dailies and was also the Delhi sports correspondent of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) from mid 1990’s. Earlier, he had worked for Kolkata’s english daily Amrita Bazar Patrika (ABP) and Northern India Patrika. He has briefly worked for Gujarat Samachar. Sarkar was a regular in the Delhi sports circuit having covered events like 1982 Asian Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games along with tournaments like Nehru Cup, Federation Cup, Durand Cup and DCM. He has also covered events like Davis Cup, National Athletics meet.

Notes:
The book ‘Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World (1914-1948)’ has been authored by Ramachandra Guha, the renowned historian and author. It will be published by Penguin Random House India and will come in public domain in September 2018. As per sources, the book will not only narrate the story of Gandhi’s life, from his departure from South Africa to his dramatic assassination in 1948, but also the history of our freedom movement and its many strands. The book will also include new readings of Gandhi ji’s arguments with B.R. Ambedkar, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Subhas Chandra Bose, among others.

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.