GK & Current Affairs Quiz: November 14, 2018

Notes:
The Republic of Palau, an archipelago found in the western Pacific Ocean, has become the world’s first nation to ban the use of sunscreens that have been deemed harmful to coral reefs and ocean life. The ban, which will come into force by 2020, has been signed into law by the Palau government. These sunscreens are made from “reef-toxic” chemicals such as oxybenzone, octinoxate and triclosan. These chemicals causes corals to bleach at lower temperatures, and it reduces their resilience to climate change. Palau is home to just 21,000 people but has a booming tourism and fishing industry. It contains approximately 340 islands, forming the western chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia, and has an area of 466 square km.

Notes:
Swati Chaturvedi, an Indian freelance journalist, has won the 2018 London Press Freedom Award for Courage for her work in exposing the “IT cell” within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for keeping an army of angry trolls. She beat shortlisted journalists from Italy, Turkey, and Morocco to wom the award. Swati, who is famous for her investigative reports, is the author of the book title “I am a Troll: Inside the Secret World of the BJP’s Digital Army”. The award was presented at the Getty Images Gallery in London’s Fitzrovia on November 8. The Prize for Courage is given to journalists who show courage in their work or in the defence and promotion of journalism.

Notes:
The US-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has recently published the report titled ‘Mobility and Congestion in Urban India’. In it, Bengaluru has been ranked India’s most congested city followed by Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune. The report further found that Bengaluru was the second slowest city in terms of traffic speeds only behind Kolkata. The report also notes that in terms of traffic speeds, the fastest Indian cities surveyed were slower than the American cities surveyed. The researchers studied 154 Indian cities and measured trips based on the web-mapping service ‘Google Maps’. They particularly studied pairs of trip instances taking place around the same time on different days. The study was conducted by a team of researchers at theUniversity of California, Berkeley and three other U.S. universities.

Notes:
The National Legal Services Day (NLSD) is celebrated every year on 9th of November in India to ensure reasonable fair and justice procedure for all citizens. It was first started by Supreme court of India (SCI) in the year 1995 to provide help and support to poor and weaker sections of the society. The Article 39A of Constitution provides free legal assistance to the poor and weaker sections of the society. It directs the State to ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. The Right to free legal aid or free legal service is an essential fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. It forms the basis of reasonable, fair and just liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which says, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.

Notes:
The book titled “Notes of a Dream The Authorized Biography of A.R. Rahman” has been authored by Krishna Trilok. It is a magical journey of Oscar-winning musician A.R. Rahman. The book captures Rahman’s extraordinary success story with all the rhythm and melody, the highs and lows, of a terrific soundtrack by the man himself.

Notes:
Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, launched the Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT) for higher education faculty in New Delhi on November 13. ARPIT is a unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM. For implementing ARPIT, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase. LEAP is a 3 weeks flagship leadership development training programme for second level academic functionaries in public-funded higher education institutions. The main purpose of LEAP is to prepare the second tier academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.

Notes:
The restoration of an aristocratic house from a state of partial ruin in Ladakh undertaken by the LAMO center has won the 2018 UNESCO Asia-Pacific award for conservation in the category of Award of Distinction. The LAMO (Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation) Center in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region was chosen for its systematic restoration project that used salvaged and local building materials, and indigenous construction techniques while adroitly introducing modern amenities to assure its ongoing use. Apart from this, the 2018 Award of Excellence has been won by the renewal of the early 20th-century Shijo-cho Ofune-hoko Float Machiya of Kyoto, Japan. Beside this, from Mumbai, the restoration projects of the iconic Rajabai Clock Tower of Mumbai University & Ruttonsee Muljee Jetha Fountain, both belonging to the colonial-era have received Honourable Mention.

Notes:
The first-ever bilateral naval exercise ‘Samudra Shakti 2018’ has started between Indian & Indonesian Navy at the port of Surabaya in Indonesia from November 12 to 18. The aim of the exercise is to strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co-operation, enhance interoperability and exchange best practices. From Indian side, INS Rana of the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command is participating in the exercise.

Notes:
Twitter India has recently launched a new social initiative #PowerOf18, which aims to encourage youth to contribute in public debates and participate in civic engagement for the 2019 general elections. The #PowerOf18 will serve as a resource for young Indians to find more information about the elections, support social causes they are passionate about and join the public conversation. The initiative was launched by CEO Jack Dorsey and Maya Hari, Vice-President and Managing Director of Asia Pacific, Twitter during a townhall chat with the students of IIT Delhi.

Notes:
Stan Lee (95), the legendary comic book writer and former chief of Marvel Comics, has passed away in Los Angeles, United States. Lee created the Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics in 1961 and went on to create titles like Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk. In collaboration with several artists—particularly Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko—he co-created fictional characters including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Black Panther, the X-Men, and—with his brother, co-writer Larry Lieber—the characters Ant-Man, Iron Man, and Thor.