GK & Current Affairs Quiz: August 09, 2019

Notes:
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has recently released a report card on “Breastfeeding & Infant & Child feeding Practices” with data from the State and UTs on 8th August in New Delhi. In it, Manipur has topped the rankings in the Breastfeeding report card in the country. National capital Delhi is also among the worst-performing States. It has been developed by devising a composite score based on three indicators namely early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for six months and complimentary feeding at 6-8 months of child’s age. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are at the bottom positions in the report card.

Notes:
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (or World Tribal Day) is observed on August 9 to front-up and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population. The 2019 theme is ‘Indigenous Languages’. It was reported in the year 2016 that about 2680 indigenous languages were in danger and on the verge of getting extinct. To safeguard the loss of these indigenous languages, the United Nations (UN) has designated 2019 to be the International Year of Indigenous Languages. This will help in persuading, convincing and creating awareness to people about the Indigenous Languages.

Notes:
In Meghalaya, the 22nd National Conference on e-Governance 2019 was held at Shillong on August 8-9, 2019 with theme “Digital India: Success to Excellence”. It was inaugurated by Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. The Conference is a part of the DARPG’s 100 days initiatives in the new Government. This is the first time the event was organized in North-Eastern region of the country. This Conference provides a platform to disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable e-Governance initiatives to provide end-to-end Digital Services, exchange experiences in solving problems, mitigating risks, resolving issues and planning for success. A total of 28 states and all the Union Territories (UTs) participated in the Conference.

Notes:
The Kerala government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to support its efforts in promoting Space Technology vertical in the State. The agreement will facilitate VSSC to support the Kerela’s project to set up India’s first state-of-the-art Space Systems Park at Knowledge City in Thiruvanathapuram to attract global start-ups in the space sector and make it a major manufacturing hub for space-related technology, research and development. Through the MOU, VSSC will support Kerala Space Park in the technical and leadership responsibility and promote the SMEs, startups and other partner entities in developing products and services for the Space Industry. The MOU also states VSSC’s interest in providing opportunities for companies operating out of the Space Park to participate in its procurement process.

Notes:
On 8 August 2019, Pakistan suspended the Lahore-Attari Samjhauta Express train service following the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu And Kashmir (J&K). Though, Indian Railways has clarified that the train has not been suspended & will run normally. The Samjhauta Express (also called the Friendship Express) consists of 6 sleeper coaches and an AC three-tier coach. The train service was started on 22nd July 1976, under the Shimla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations. On the Indian side, the train runs from Delhi to Attari and from Lahore to Wagah on the Pakistan side. The word Samjhauta means “agreement” in both Hindi and Urdu.