GK & Current Affairs Quiz: July 7-8, 2018

Notes:
Sunita Parmar, a Hindu woman in Sindh province, has created history by becoming the first from the minority community to contest the provincial assembly elections in Pakistan that are scheduled to be held on July 25. Parmar, who is from the Meghwar community will contest as an independent candidate for the Sindh Assembly constituency from Tharparkar district which has the highest number of Hindus in Pakistan. Sunita vowed to improve standards of education for women and poor health facilities in her constituency.

Notes:
Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan has been sworn in as new Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad. Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan administered the oath at a function in the Raj Bhavan on July 7, 2018. Justice Radhakrishnan was Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court before being shifted to Hyderabad. He was the Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court for a brief period.

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:
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will set up a state-of-the-art Civil Aviation Research Organisation (CARO) at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad to find indigenous solutions to meet the challenges posed by the growing air traffic and for enhancing safety, capacity and efficiency of aircraft operations in the country. Union aviation minister Suresh Prabhu has recently laid the foundation stone for CARO which will be spread over 27 acres and cater to air navigation services and airport/engineering research. It will houses latest infrastructure and be equipped with simulators. The CARO will take up research work on 4 priority areas: increasing airport throughput with the existing infrastructural limitations; airspace optimization; cost-effective infrastructure solutions for the upcoming 56 RCS airports and integrating drones in civil airspace.

Notes:
Uday Kumar Varma, the former Information and Broadcasting secretary, has been appointed as new member of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), a self-regulatory body for general entertainment channels. Varma, who is former IAS officer of 1976 batch from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, succeeded Wajahat Habibullah. The 13-member council, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Vikramajit Sen, has actor Sharmila Tagore, theatre person Arundhati Nag and JNU professor Ira Bhaskar as some of its members, besides representatives of the National Commission for Women, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and the National Commission for Minorities, among others. The BCCC is an independent self-regulatory body set up by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) in June 2011 to look into complaints pertaining to all non-news general entertainment channels in India.

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:
On July 6, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declared the 438 sq. km. of area around Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ). The move will prohibit construction and commercial mining activities and restrict hotels and resorts near the reserve in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. The area supports an ecologically sustainable habitat in the Western Ghats landscape for about 60-65 tigers, 600 to 800 Asian elephants and gaur apart from other animals of significance. This reserve harbours 227 species of birds, 50 species of fish, 21 species of amphibians and 34 species of reptiles. The reserve, comprising the wildlife sanctuary and the national park, extending over an area of 321 sq. km, was declared a core/critical tiger habitat in 2007. The reserve is a critical part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve spread over 5,500 sq. km.

Notes:
The International Round Table Conference on “Data for New India’’ has organised by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in New Delhi during 9-10th July, 2018. The Conference was inaugurated by D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The purpose of the Round Table Conference is to identify innovative ideas for improving the statistical system in India, taking cue from the best practices followed in advanced countries like Canada, UK and Australia. Such a Conference is being organized in India for the first time. In the Conference, the experts from National and International agencies would deliberate on key statistical issues, such as data governance structure and capabilities, organizational issues, managing data systems in a federal structure and resource mobilization for ensuring quality statistical products to be produced. The conference is expected to suggest measures paving way for initiating the reform process in the Indian Statistical System.

Notes:
J N Sadhu (94), the Veteran journalist, has passed away in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. He worked with The Indian Express for nearly 35 years. Sadhu retired from The Indian Express over three decades back and settled down in Shimla. After retirement, he was into active writing as freelance journalist.

Notes:
Kabutari Devi (70), the famous Kumaoni folk singer, has passed away in Pithoragarh , Uttarakhand on July 7, 2018. Devi, whose songs depicted the struggles in the life of Pahari women, shot to fame after her maiden performance at All India Radio, Lucknow in the 1980s. The folk singer has received several honours, which includes the Ministry of Culture, Government of Uttarakhand for her outstanding contribution which echoed the sound of Kumaon hills. Devi is remembered by folk historians as an original voice that represented the culture of the hills.