GK & Current Affairs Quiz: July 22-23, 2018

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has developed an online tool “TreadWill” to help people cope with issues related to mental health. The tool has been developed by a team with collaborative support from the Computer Science and Engineering and Humanities and Social Sciences, HSS (Psychology) departments. TreadWill is a website designed to help people deal with stress, low mood, lethargy and other depressive symptoms through different online exercises, questionnaires and games. It will help in overcoming depressive symptoms and becoming more resilient against stressful events in the future.

Notes:
Professor Raj Kumar of the Banaras Hindu University has been appointed the new vice-chancellor (V-C) of the Panjab University (PU) in Chandigarh. The term of the appointment will be 3 years with effect from July 23, 2018, or from the date he assumes charge as V-C. He will succeed Arun Kumar Grover. The appointment was made by the Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is chancellor of the university, by exercising powers conferred by Section 10 of the Panjab University Act, 1947.

Notes:
Lakshya Sen from India has clinched historic men’s singles gold at the Asia Badminton Junior Championship 2018 in Jakarta on July 22. In the final, he defeated top-seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand by 21-19, 21-18. With this, he became the 3rd Indian shuttler to win singles gold at the competition after Gautam Thakkar and Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu. Sindhu, who is an Olympic silver medalist, won the title in 2012 while Thakkar won gold all the way back in 1965.

Notes:
Recently, Australia announced plans to explore concepts such as firing salt into clouds and covering swathes of water with a thin layer of film in a bid to save the embattled Great Barrier Reef. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef, about the size of Japan or Italy, is reeling from two straight years of bleaching as sea temperatures rise because of climate change. The site contains the world’s largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc. Experts have warned that the 2,300-kilometre long area could have suffered irreparable damage. To resolve the issue, the Australian Government offered US$1.5 million to attract innovative ideas to protect the site. Out of 69 submissions, 6 schemes has been shortlisted that will be tested to see if they are feasible. The short-listed projects include mass producing coral larvae with the aid of 3D-printed surfaces to support new growth, and large-scale harvesting and relocation of larvae.

Notes:
A young Afghan basketball player, Samira Asghari has been nominated for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) membership. She is among 9 candidates for membership of the body in a move to boost women’s rights. Regarding to this, IOC President Thomas Bach stated that the nomination of Samira Asghari will send a message not only to men and women in Afghanistan but also in all those countries where women are facing serious obstacles to pursue sport. For membership, 5 of the 9 candidates due to be voted in October are “Individual Members” proposed by a special committee, 3 of those are women. The other four represent either National Olympic Committees (NOCs) or international sports federations (IFs) which are entitled to representation. All four are men.

Notes:
In the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships 2018, Indian wrestler Mansi Ahlawat had to settle for a Silver after she lost to Japan’s Akie Hanai in the 57 kg category final in New Delhi on July 20. In the 53 kilogram category, the Bronze medal was won by Swati Shinde after she defeated Thailand’s Duangnapa Boonyasu in the play-off. Earlier, India had clinched a Silver medal through Divya Kakran in the 68 kg category, while the two Bronze medals came through Reena in 55 kgs and Karuna in 76 kgs.

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:
In a major initiative to connect all the North-East (N-E) states to the National Gas Grid, the 5 central oil PSUs – IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL, and NRL – have signed a joint venture agreement for executing the North – East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid (N-ENGPG) in Guwahati on July 19, 2018. As per the agreement, a Joint Venture (JV) company will develop, build, operate and maintain the Natural Gas Pipeline Grid (NGPG) connecting Guwahati to the other major North -Eastern cities and major load centres such as Numaligarh Refinery and integrating it with gas producing fields in the region. The project will connect the state capitals of all the 8 NE states – Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh with an expenditure of Rs 6000 crore for 1500 Km length gas pipeline in a tentative four years time schedule. The project will be implemented in 3 phases.

Notes:
On July 21, the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has launched the Student Police Cadet Programme to build a bridge between the Police and the larger community through school students by inculcating values and ethics in them. The programme focuses on students of Class 8 and 9th and special care has been taken to ensure that it does not lead to increase the workload of students. The programme does not have any prescribed text book nor is any exam envisaged. Only one class in a month is proposed. The programme seeks to cover broadly two kinds of topics: Crime prevention and control, and Values and ethics. Under the first part, the topics covered are – Community Policing, Road Safety, Fight against Social Evils, Safety of Women & Children, Fight against Corruption and Disaster Management. The topics covered under the second part are – Values & Ethics, Respect for Elders, Empathy & Sympathy, Tolerance, Patience, Attitude, Team Spirit and Discipline. The programme will first be implemented in government schools in both urban and rural areas.

Notes:
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.