GK & Current Affairs Quiz: August 15, 2018

Notes:
On August 14, Film Actor Akshay Kumar has been appointed the brand ambassador for Government of India (GoI)’s special road safety awareness campaign. As part of the campaign “Sadak Suraksha – Jeevan Raksha”, three short films starring Akshay as traffic police inspector has been released to generate public awareness towards road safety. In it, he highlighted the importance of not breaking traffic rules. It is a matter of serious concern that India accounts for 5 lakh accidents annually, the highest in the world, in which 1.5 lakh people lose their lives every year.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has launched a mobility pitch competition “Pitch to MOVE” for budding startups in the mobility field. The competition aims to identify and reward the start-ups offering innovative solutions for shared, connected and environment friendly mobility. It will provide budding entrepreneurs of India a unique opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished jury. The winners of the event will be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Global Mobility Summit 2018, which is scheduled to be held on September in New Delhi. ‘Pitch to MOVE’ is organised by NITI Aayog in collaboration with Invest India and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) as a part of a series of engaging featured events in the run up to the main event.

Notes:
D Bala Venkatesh Varma, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed India’s new ambassador to Russia, which is considered a high-profile posting due to expanse of strategic cooperation between the two countries. Currently, he is serving as Indian envoy in Spain. He will succeed Pankaj Saran, who has been appointed deputy National Security Advisor (NSA). The Union Government also appointed Partha Satpathy as next Ambassador of India to Ukraine.

Notes:
Smitha V. Crishna, a third-generation heir of the Godrej family, has been ranked first in the Kotak Wealth Hurun-Leading Wealthy Women 2018 list with an estimated wealth of Rs 37,570 crore. In 2014, she made news with the purchase of a bungalow that belonged to Dr. Homi J. Bhabha for Rs 371 crore. Roshni Nadar, CEO and executive director at HCL, ranked second in the list with an estimated wealth of Rs 30,200 crore. Indu Jain, the chairperson of the Times Group, ranked third in the list, followed by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Kiran Nadar, Leena Gandhi Tewari, Sangita Jindal and Jayshree Ulla. Industry wise, pharmaceuticals leads with 22 women from that sector on the list. It is followed by Software & Services with 12 individuals, and Food & Beverages with 8 individuals featured in the list.

Notes:
Sunishka Kartik from Bengaluru won the Community Award in the 2018 Junior NBA World Basketball Championship, which concluded at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, USA, on August 12. She had top-scored with 17 points in the team’s impressive win over South America Combined in a pool game. The award recognizes players who are committed to give back to those in need. The tournament featured the best 13 and 14-year-old boys and girls from around the world in 32 teams.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has released 470 million Nepali rupees grant for Terai roads project in Nepal. The amount has been released to maintain fund liquidity for the ongoing construction of 14 road packages under Postal Highway Project. With this payment, 2.35 billion Nepali rupees have been released so far out of total grant assistance of 8 billion Nepali rupees committed by the Government of India for implementing 14 packages under Postal Highway Project. Since 1950, the Indian Government has been supporting infrastructure development of Nepal and has provided financial assistance for construction of various Highways, Roads, Bridges, Airports, etc. as part of its multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme.

Notes:
Ramesh Powar, the former Indian off-spinner, has been appointed the head coach of the Indian Women’s National Cricket team on an interim basis till 30th November 2018. His term will include the tours to Sri Lanka in September, a bilateral series in West Indies in October followed by the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 in West Indies in November. This was informed by BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary. As per the Supreme Court directive, only a Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) – now functional – can appoint a fulltime coach on a long-term basis. Powar has played 31 ODIs and two Tests from 2004 to 2007, picking 34 wickets with a best of 54 in the 50-over format.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has decided to observe September as the “month of nutrition” to create awareness among people living in the state. From September, the students of Class 1 to 8 of government schools will be given milk daily instead of thrice a week for which additional funds of Rs 203 crore will be allocated. Besides, students in the age group of 3-6 years, adolescent girls and pregnant women registered with Anganwadi centres will also be provided milk thrice a week and the government will allocate Rs 100 crore for this. In the month of nutrition, the awareness in rural as well as urban areas will be created for nutrition. It must be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) and Pan India Expansion of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) at a mega event held at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan on the occasion 2018 International Women’s Day (IWD).

Notes:
Chemmanam Chacko (92), the renowned Malayalam poet and Sahitya Akademi awardee, has passed away in Kochi, Kerala on August 14, 2018. Known for his satirical works, Chacko reacted to the contemporary socio-political issues of Kerala through his poems. Chacko had won several awards, including those by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Sanjayan Award, Kunjan Nambiar Kavitha puraskaram, P Smaraka Puraskaram and Mahakavi Ulloor Award. His first published poem titled ‘Pravachanam’ was naturally inspired by the freedom struggle. His other works include Vilamparam, Kanakaaksharangal, Nellu, Innu, etc.

Notes:
On the occasion of 72nd Independence Day 2018, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched three new schemes viz. free life insurance for farmers (Rythu Bima), ‘Kanti Velugu’ eye care scheme and an economic support programme for backward classes. In the ‘Kanti Velugu’ eye care scheme, every citizen of Telangana will be entitle to have free eye care viz. free eye screenings, medicines and spectacles and surgeries. It envisages covering 3.7 crore population. Under the economic support scheme for backward classes, the government would provide a grant of Rs 50,000 to the beneficiaries to start small businesses. Under the ‘Rythu Bima’ scheme, every farmer would get life insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh.