Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
The 4th BIMSTEC Summit 2018 will be held in Kathmandu from 30 to 31 August. The main focus of the summit will be to increase connectivity between the BIMSTEC nations including roads, airways and transmission lines. The Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional economic bloc comprising 7 member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. The group was formed in 1997 and it brings together Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. Nepal is the current chair of BIMSTEC. It focuses on 14 areas of cooperation, including trade and investment, technology, energy, transport and communications, tourism, counter-terrorism and climate change.

Notes:
Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri was named the 2017 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year in the men’s category. Recently, Chhetri became the 2nd Indian footballer to play 100 international games after Baichung Bhutia. He is a star striker for both India and Bengaluru FC. Beside him, Kamala Devi was adjudged the 2017 AIFF Woman Player of the Year and Young Anirudh Thapa was declared as the 2017 Emerging Player of the Year. E Panthoi was named as the 2017 woman Emerging Player of the Year.

Notes:
Fakhar Zaman from Pakistan has become the fastest player to score 1000 runs in One-Day International (ODI) cricket during the 5th match against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on July 22, 2018. He took 18 innings to achieve the feat and broke West Indies great Vivian Richards’ record. Richards was the first crickter to complete 1000 runs in ODIs, in Jan 1980, in his 21st innings. Apart from this, Zaman also became the first Pakistan batsman to score a double ton in ODI cricket history and also stitched a world record partnership of 304 runs for the opening wicket with Imam-ul-Haq. For India, Captain Virat Kohli holds the record for being the fastest Indian to cross the 1000-run mark after he took 24 innings to reach the milestone.

Notes:
The Assam government has recently decided to set up a separate directorate for the Divyangs. The Social Welfare minister, Pramila Rani Brahma said that appointment to Divyangs will be given at around 4500 posts by December 2018. Beside this, the Social Welfare department will also give Rs 1000 per month to all Divyangs as stipend. The minister said that the new Anganwadi centres to be constructed for the benefit of the women and children.

Notes:
The Langshiang Falls is a major waterfall in the Kynshi River near the village of Sangriang, in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. The total height of the falls is generally quoted at around 337m.

Notes:
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) has organized 2nd meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan on 24th July 2018 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Rajiv Kumar, the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog. In it, it was declared that Month of September to be celebrated as National Nutrition Month (NNM) every year. During the meeting, the National Council approved to include 32 new districts in the current year 2018-19 under POSHAN Abhiyaan by which it will saturate all the districts of the UTs which are left to be included under Phase-I and Phase-II. The POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) was launched nationwide from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on 8th March 2018. It aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.

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:
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:
In Tamil Nadu, the tiger population in the reputed Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) has doubled to 60 from 30, due to intensive conservation efforts. The MTR is located in Nilgiri District of the state. On the occasion of International Tiger Day (ITR-2018), forest officials and nature enthusiasts, in and around the Annamalai, Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam tiger reserves in the state were engaged in a door to door awareness programme for tiger conservation. The awareness programmes regarding the importance of preserving the tiger population in the country, were held in various schools.