GK & Current Affairs Quiz: June 29, 2018

Notes:
The NITI Aayog released the First Delta Ranking (incremental progress) of the Aspirational Districts Programme in New Delhi on June 29, 2018. The ranking measured the incremental progress made by districts between 31st of March and 31st of May, 2018. The Dahod district of Gujarat with 19.8 points ranked first in the Delta ranking, while West Sikkim district in Sikkim stood second with 18.9 points. The districts have been ranked in a transparent basis on parameters across Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development and Basic Infrastructure through 49 key performance indicators. The purpose of this ranking is to spur a sense of competition among the dynamic teams in the districts. The knowledge partners of NITI Aayog – Tata Trusts, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (ID Insights) – are expected to provide data on 13 survey indicators and have validated values for 29 data-points. The next ranking will take into account these inputs and will be released soon thereafter.

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh government has been awarded for reducing maternal mortality under Prime Minister’s Safe Motherhood Campaign. The award ceremony was held in New Delhi on June 29, 2018. As per the report of the Registrar General of India, Madhya Pradesh has been registered an unprecedented 48-digit decline in maternal deaths from 2014 to 2016. The maternal mortality rate was 221 in the year 2011-13, which has now dropped down further to just 173. There has been a significant decline of 22% in the last 3 years in the state. The results of the various awareness programmes like institutional delivery, ANM, Anganwadi workers, knock-out campaigns etc. have now started showing fruitful result. The State government official claimed that this decline will be more noticeable in the coming years.

Notes:
Forward Rani Rampal has been named as the captain of India’s 18-member squad for the prestigious 2018 women’s hockey World Cup tournament, which is slated to begin in London on July 21. Indian team has been placed in Pool B alongside hosts and world no.2 England, world no.7 USA and world no.16 Ireland. India’s defence will consist of Sunita Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Deepika, drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur and Reena Khokhar. In the midfield, Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz, Monika, Neha Goyal, Navjot Kaur and Nikki Pradhan will hold fort.

Notes:
India has been ranked 35th in the 2018 Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI), according to a report by real estate advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL). The ranking is expected to improve further in the GRETI 2020 survey, on the back of several government initiatives such as Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), GST and Benami Transactions Act. In it, India’s real estate market is currently placed in the ‘semi-transparent’ zone. According to the survey, UK is at the top position followed by Australia and the US. France, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland and Sweden are in top 10 in the list of 100 countries. Sri Lanka is at the 66th position and Pakistan at 75th among south Asian countries. Venezuela is the least transparent market with 100th rank. The index measures transparency based on factors such as data availability, authenticity and accuracy; governance of public agencies as well as stakeholders of the realty sector; transaction processes and costs associated with those; and the regulatory and legal environment.

Notes:
The 12th National Statistics Day (NSD-2018) is celebrated on June 29 at the National level in India with theme “Quality Assurance in Official Statistics” to create public awareness about the importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation, and to acknowledge the contribution of Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation and Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) jointly celebrated 12th Statistics Day and the closing ceremony of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis on 29th June 2018 at Kolkata. On the occasion, Vice President of India released a commemorative coin of Rs 125 and circulation coin of Rs 5 denomination as a mark of respect to Prof. Mahalanobis. The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) at Kolkata, set up by Prof. Mahalanobis in 1931, and was declared an autonomous “Institute of National Importance” through an act of Parliament in 1959.

Notes:
On June 29, Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, launched a mobile application “ReUnite” in New Delhi to track and trace missing and abandoned children in India. The app is multiuser where parents and citizens can upload pictures of children, and provide detailed description like name, birth mark, address, report to the police station, search and identify missing kids. The photographs will not be saved in the mobile phone’s physical memory. Amazon Rekognition, web facial recognition service, is being used to identify missing kids. The app is available for both Android and iOS.

Notes:
According to Mercer’s 24th annual Cost of Living Survey 2018, Mumbai (55) is India’s most expensive city, followed by New Delhi (103) and Chennai (144). Kolkata (182) and Bengaluru (170) are the least expensive Indian cities ranked. As per survey, the factors like instability of housing markets, low inflation, and fluctuating prices for goods and services are impacting the cost of doing business in various cities around the world. This year, Hong Kong is emerged as the most expensive city for expatriates both in Asia and globally as a consequence of Luanda’s drop in the ranking due in part to the downward trend in the city’s housing market. Hong Kong is followed by Tokyo (2), Singapore (4), Seoul (5), Shanghai (7), and Beijing (9).

Notes:
The United Nations’ (UN) International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is observed every year on June 26 to speak out against the crime of torture and to honor and support victims and survivors throughout the world. The day is an opportunity to call on all stakeholders including UN Member States, civil society and individuals everywhere to unite in support of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been victims of torture and those who are still tortured today.

Notes:
The book “Vedvigyan Alok” (Maharishi Aitareya Mahidas Praneet – Aitareya Brahmina ki Vaigyanik Vyakhya) has been authored by Acharya Agnivarat Naishthik. It is recently received by M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India. The book is the scriptural verse in Vedas’ prose. The Brahman textbooks are placed second in order of preference of Vedic literature. These texts were composed only by the Brahmin community; hence their names are called “Brahmins”. Their language is Vedic Sanskrit which has been considered extremely complicated. All these are written according to the Vedas that means all the four Vedas get different Brahmins.

Notes:
The Raneh Falls is a natural water fall located in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh on Ken River. It is situated about 20 km away from world famous heritage site Khajuraho. The waterfall is also close to Panna Tiger Reserve and Ken crocodile sanctuary. It was awarded the Best Holiday Award for 2017.Tourists from all over the country and abroad come here every year to enjoy the natural beauty. The Ken River here runs through a narrow gorge of igneous rocks rich in Granite and Dolomite. The Pandav Falls in Panna National Park is also located nearby.