GK & Current Affairs Quiz: July 31, 2018

Notes:
In first of its kind event held by any government organization, the Indian Railways launched a program “Mission Satyanishtha” on ethics in public governance for its employees at National Rail Museum in New Delhi on July 27. The aim of the program is to sensitize all railway employees about the need to adhere to good ethics and to maintain high standards of integrity at work.

Notes:
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has designated India as a nodal centre for preparing flash-flood forecasts to Asian nations including Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. That means the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will have to develop a customized weather model that can issue advance warning of floods. Using a combination of satellite mapping and ground-based observation, this system — called the Flash Flood Guidance System — aims to provide forecasts six hours in advance. Like India, several south-east Asian countries depend on the monsoon and are prone to its vagaries. The proposed model will provide forecasts by computing the likelihood of rainfall and the soil moisture levels to warn of possible floods. The WMO has estimated that flash floods account for 85% of flooding incidents across the world, causing some 5,000 deaths each year.

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.

Notes:
The Unified Commanders’ Conference (UCC) for the year 2018 has started at New Delhi on July 30 to review external security challenges as well as the country’s preparedness. The 2-day annual conference will provide a platform for discussions at the Apex Level on all ‘Joint Issues’ among the three Services & Ministry of Defence. The scope of this conference is to enable the forum to facilitate joint stock taking of the previous year’s performance of all Services & Departments of Ministry of Defence and jointly chart the course for the next year. The conference will be attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force among others.

Notes:
On July 30, the second and final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) has been officially published bearing the names of 2 crore 89 lakh 83 thousand 677 citizens of the state. The NRC will feature the names, addresses and photographs of all Indian citizens, who have been residing in the North-eastern state before 25th March 1971. Out of 3,29,91,385 applicants 2,89,83,677 have been found eligible for inclusion in complete draft of NRC. That means, the names of 40,07,708 people did not appear in the NRC draft. The Registrar General of India, Mr Sailesh stated that persons whose names are not included in the list will be informed individually about the reasons for non-inclusion. Apart from this, the persons who do not find their names in the draft have the legal right to apply again by filing claims on the NRC website or by visiting a NRC Seva Kendra from the 30th of August to 28th of September.

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a 2-member monitoring committee to oversee the Yamuna rejuvenation project. The committee, comprising former Delhi Chief Secretary Shailaja Chandra and retired NGT expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan, has been directed to submit the first action plan by September 2018 and report by December 2018. The green panel also directed the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to assist the committee on the project. The Tribunal directed the authorities to take strict action against encroachments on the Yamuna floodplains. It also directed the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Jal Board to hold a meeting on July 30 for identifying land for setting up of a sewage treatment plant on a drain which falls under phase-II of the Yamuna cleaning programme. The current chairperson of the NGT is Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, retired Supreme Court Judge.

Notes:
The International Tiger Day (ITD) is celebrated every year on July 29 to spread the message to protect these endangered species and assist in maintaining ecological integrity. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia with the goal to bring worldwide attention to the dwindling numbers of tigers and their plight. According to World Wildlife Fund and Global Tiger Forum (GTF), the total number of wild tigers has risen to above 3,000 in 2016. The number is expected to increase in the new tiger counting, which started in January 2018. India is home to 70% of tigers in the world.

Notes:
The Egypt squash team has won the boy’s title at the 6th WSF-World junior squash team championship 2018 by defeating England by 2-0 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on July 29. Egypt’s Marwan Tarek, who lost the individual championship final, defeated Nick Wall of England in straight games. Czech Republic and USA finished third and secured the bronze medal. Host India finished 11th overall.

Notes:
Wrestler Bajrang Punia has clinched gold in the 71kg freestyle at the 2018 Yasar Dogu International in Istanbul, Turkey. It was his second consecutive gold medal, after he recently won gold at the 2018 Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia. Meanwhile, Sandeep Tomar finished with silver after losing 2-8 in the 61kg final against Iran’s Mohammad bagher Yakhkeshi. In the women’s competition, Pinki was the lone gold medallist in the 55kg category with her 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Olga Shnaider. Beside this, Sangeeta Phogat (59kg) and Geeta (65kg) won bronze medals in their respective categories. Overall, Indian wrestlers returned with 10 medals, including 7 by women in the event.

Notes:
Acclaimed Bengali writer Ramapada Chowdhury (95), whose story ‘Abhimanyu’ was made into a Hindi movie ‘Ek doctor ki maut’, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on July 29, 2018. ‘Abhimanyu’ was based on the life and work of Dr Subhas Mukhopadhyay who created India’s first and the world’s second test-tube baby in 1978. Director Tapan Sinha turned the story into a award winning Hindi film ‘Ek doctor ki maut’ in 1990. Mrinal Sen’s Hindi film ‘Ek din achanak’ (1989) was also based on Chowdhury’s story ‘Beej’. Chowdhury had penned famous literary works such as ‘Pratham Prahar’ (1954), ‘Banpalashir padabali’ (1960), ‘Ekhoni’ (1969), ‘Kharij’, ‘Bari badle jay’ (1988), ‘Abhimanyu’ (1982). His last book ‘Harano Khata’ was published in 2015. He was conferred the Sahitya Academy award for ‘Bari badle jay’ in 1988 and was also the recipient of Rabindra Puraskar, Ananda Puraskar and Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize.