GK & Current Affairs Quiz: September 15-16, 2018

Notes:
India will hold its first-ever global tourism mart at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi from September 16-18. It is modelled on the ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-B rse Berlin), the world’s largest tourism trade fair. The ten major tourist organisations like FHRAI, HAI, IATO are involved in this mega event. The purpose of the event is to create an annual global tourism mart for India in line with major international travel marts being held in countries across the world. Many tour operators who can’t attend the tourism mart abroad because of the expenses involved, will be able to meet the industry big wigs right here in the country. The mart will see the participation of around 225 international buyers from across the world such as North America, West Europe, East Asia, Latin America and others as well as an equal number of domestic stakeholders. After the event, the visitors will also be taken on familiarization tours of tourist sites of their choice sponsored by the respective state governments and ten such itineraries have already been chalked out.

Notes:
India has been ranked 130 among 189 countries in the latest Human Development Index (HDI) report 2018, which is released by the United Nations Development Programme. As per report, between 1990 and 2017, India’s HDI value saw a 50% increase from 0.427 to 0.640, an indicator of the country’s remarkable achievement in lifting millions of people out of poverty. During the period, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by nearly 11 years, with the average years of children staying in school increased by 4.7 years. India’s gross per capita income increased by a staggering 266.6% between 1990 and 2017. The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany led the ranking, while Niger, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurement of national achievements in health, education and income.

Notes:
The first edition of the World Heritage Cuisine Summit and food festival will be held at the Qila Gobindgarh in Amritsar, Punjab from October 12-14. It will be organise by the World Cultural Culinary Heritage Committee, under the aegis of the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (World Chefs). The summit, hosted by the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations, will celebrate traditional cuisine with live demonstrations, food tasting, presentations, panel discussions, master classes by chefs from around the world in the holy city. It will focus on inculcating appreciation for food culture and traditions, good food habits and sustainable practices.

Notes:
The Delhi government has signed a “Friendship and Cooperation Agreement” with the Seoul Metropolitan Government under which the two cities would exchange expertise for betterment in 12 fields including environment, transport, tourism, solid waste management and public health. As per the MoU, the Delhi government will solicit support of its Urban Development Department and other departments for implementing all the relevant aspects of the agreement. It also requires the Delhi government to set up and operationalise a ‘Twinning Cell’ at the Urban Development Department and a committee to support the cell. Besides, it will support activity related workshops, conduct community participation activities, and maintain documentation. The ‘Twinning Agreement’ will remain in force till three years from September 14, 2018, and it could be amended by written agreement between the two parties.

Notes:
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned indigenously built patrol vessel ‘Vijaya’ in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is capable of carrying limited pollution response equipment to contain oil spill in sea. The 98-metre Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) was designed and built by Larsen & Toubro India at Kattupalli shipyard and is fitted with advanced navigation and communication equipment, sensors and machinery. The ship is designed to carry one twin engine helicopter and four high speed boats, including two inflatable boats for boarding, search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol operations. The vessel is fitted with a 30 mm gun and will be fitted with a 12.7 mm gun with a Fire Control System (FCS). It will be based at Paradip Port, Odisha and be deployed in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for surveillance and other duties.

Notes:
India’s first underwater robotic drone “EyeROV TUNA” was launched and handed over to Kochi-based DRDO lab “Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL)”. The drone can send real-time videos of ships and other underwater structures to help with their repair and maintenance. It will be used by NPOL for research and development activities which in turn would result in a commercial product for defence purposes. The robotic drone can be navigated up to a depth of 50 meters to take real-time HD video images to examine ship hulls or undersea cables or bridge moorings and can eliminate the need for costlier and riskier manual inspection by divers. The first commercial Remotedly Operated Vehicle (ROV)/underwater drone “EYEROVTUNA” was developed by EyeROV Technologies, a company incubating at the Kalamassery-based Maker Village which is said to be the largest hardware incubator in the country.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has recently inaugurated the first lion safari of the state at Nahargarh Biological Park (NBP), which is located about 12 km from Jaipur on the Jaipur-Delhi highway. The visitors will be able to see lions in their natural habitat in the park spanning 38 hectares and enclosed by a fence. They will be taken on a nearly 4 km safari in a closed bus. Though, the Safari will be thrown open for the tourists from October 2018.

Notes:
The scientist at INMAS claim to have developed India’s first indigenous medical kit that may ensure protection from serious injuries and faster healing of wounds resulting from nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage. The medical kit has been developed for the armed, paramilitary and police forces only as they are the first ones likely to get exposed to radiation. It has over 25 items, including radio-protectors that provide 80-90% protection against radiation and nerve gas agents, bandages that absorb radiation as well as tablets and ointments. The kit also has an Ethylene Di-amine Tetra acetic acid (EDTA) injection that traps uranium in the guts and blood of victims during a nuclear accident or warfare. The kit also has Ca-EDTA Respiratory Fluid, which is the inhalation formula for chelation, or grabbing, of heavy metals and radioactive elements deposited in lungs through inhalation at nuclear accident sites. The medicine reduces the body burden of radioactivity by 30-40% in controlled conditions and is highly useful for the rescue teams and victims after a nuclear accident. The acronym “INMAS” stands for “Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences”.

Notes:
The International Day of Democracy is observed every year on September 15 to highlight the values of freedom and respect for human rights as essential elements of democracy. It is an opportunity to look for ways to invigorate democracy and seek answers to the systemic challenges it faces. This includes tackling economic and political inequalities, making democracies more inclusive by bringing the young and marginalized into the political system, and making democracies more innovative and responsive to emerging challenges such as migration and climate change. The 2018 theme is “Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World”.

Notes:
The National Engineer’s Day (NED) is celebrated every year on September 15 in India to appreciate the contributions of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was born on this day in 1861 in a village called Muddenahalli in Karnataka. He patented and installed an irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune to raise the flood supply level of storage in the reservoir to the highest level. This was also installed at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam and Mysuru’s Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) dam, the latter of which created one of the largest reservoirs in Asia at the time. According to the Institution of Engineers India (IEI), he was not only known for his contributions in the field of engineering but was also called the “precursor of economic planning in India”. The 2018 theme is “Engineering Challenges for Knowledge Era”.