GK & Current Affairs Quiz: August 29, 2019

Notes:
For the first time, the researchers have sighted a critically endangered species of tarantula – Peacock Parachute Spider (or Gooty Tarantula) beyond its known habitat in the Eastern Ghats. The spider belongs to the genus ‘Poecilotheria’. The spider was spotted by a team of researchers of the Puducherry-based Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee in Villupuram district. The spider was first sighted in 1899 by Reginald Innes Pocock on the basis of a single female specimen in Gooty. The known habitat of Peacock Parachute Spider is in degraded forests near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh. Tarantulas are biological pest controllers and there is a huge demand for them by collectors in the pet trade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorised it as Critically Endangered.

Notes:
In a bid to boost employment in the coastal shipping sector, India has become the first country in the world to issue a Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID) to its seafarers. The new document will give a foolproof identification to Indian seafarers which will facilitate their movement, provide ease of getting jobs and help in identifying them from any location in the world. The BSID has the dimensions of a smart ID card. It introduces modern security features like an embedded biometric chip, as well as optical security features such as micro prints / micro texts and Unique Guilloche pattern. The new card is in confirmation of the Convention No. 185 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on BSID. India ratified the Convention in October 2015. The total number of existing Indian seafarers who will be required to be issued BSIDs is around 3, 50,000. All the existing seafarers will be given BSID within the next two years. After this, it is estimated that around 15,000 new seafarers will be issued BSIDs annually.

Notes:
For the first time, the 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship is scheduled to be held in Arunachal Pradesh from 10th to 24th September 2019. The tournament will be held in the oldest town of the state Pasighat in East Siang District. A total of 30 teams from across the country, representing various States, Union Territories and Indian Railways will participate in the tournament. The teams have been divided into 8 groups — A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir and Telangana is in group H. The inaugural match will be played between Railways and Mizoram.

Notes:
The India Child Well-Being Index is a tool designed to measure and track children’s well-being through 3 dimensions of healthy individual development, positive relationships and protective contexts. The index has been prepared by NGOs World Vision India and IFMR LEAD. The researchers used a total of 24 indicators to create the score instead of just considering income poverty. The 24 indicators are divided into three categories: Healthy individual development, positive relationships and protective contexts. As per index, Kerala (0.76) has acquired the topped spot due to its exceptional performance in health, nutrition and education facilities. Tamil Nadu (0.67) bagged the 2nd spot, followed by Himachal Pradesh (0.67) . Though, Meghalaya (0.53), Jharkhand (0.50) and Madhya Pradesh (0.44) featured at the bottom of the index. Among the Union territories, Puducherry led the way with a score of 0.77 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli featured at the other end with a score of 0.52.

Notes:
On 29th August 2019, the 12th India Security Summit (ISS) was held in New Delhi on the theme “Towards New National Cyber Security Strategy”. During the conference, the various issues discussed such as protection of critical national infrastructure, emerging cyber threats: Incidents, Challenges and Response. The Government of India (GoI) has taken various measures to combat cyber threats. To combat cyber crime, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has already rolled out a scheme ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ in the country. Beside this, “Cyber Swachhta Kendra” which is a part of the Government of India’s Digital India initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is also in force.