Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2019

Notes:
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has celebrated the 159th Income Tax Day i.e. Aaykar Diwas on 24th July 2019. The week preceding the Aaykar Diwas 2019 has been marked by various activities undertaken by the regional offices of the department across the country. The event will include release of departmental publications, e-journal, publicity kit for outreach programmes among other things. It was on 24th July 1860 that Income Tax was introduced for the first time in India by Sir James Wilson to compensate for the losses incurred by the British regime during the first war of independence against British Rule. This is why 24th July is observed as the Income Tax Day.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh has become the first Indian State to reserve 75% jobs for local youths in all private industries. The state assembly has recently passed the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in Industries/Factories Act of 2019, which reserves 75% jobs in industrial units, factories, joint ventures and projects set up under public-private partnership mode. According to the new law, if a company does not find the necessary skills in locals, then it will need to train them in association with the state government. In this way, no company will be able to hide behind the excuse of not finding skilled local labourers. The act will ensure the employment of youth in the state but at the same time, the state will have to ramp up the training centres in order to make them skillful.

Notes:
Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and London Mayor, has officially took over the charge as new British Prime Minister after Theresa May handed in her resignation to the Queen at Buckingham Palace. He promised to leave the European Union (EU) on 31st October 2019 under a “new deal, a better deal” with the 28-member economic bloc. Mr Johnson is expected to use the opportunity to increase the number of women in full cabinet positions and boost the representation of ethnic minorities.

Notes:
India has improved its rank by five places to stand at 52nd in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019 of the world’s most innovative economies and maintained its position as the top exporter of IT services. The list continues to be topped by Switzerland while Israel finds its place in the top ten for the first time. The latest GII ranking shows that India has constantly been maintaining its leadership position as the most innovative country in Central and South Asia region every year since 2011. The GII ranks 129 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications. The rankings are published annually by Cornell University, INSEAD and the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and GII Knowledge Partners.

Notes:
In India, the National Broadcasting day (NBD) is celebrated every year on 23rd of July because on this day, in 1927, the radio broadcasting was started. The first ever radio broadcast in the country went on the air from the Bombay Station under a private company – the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC). It was started by the British Viceroy of India Lord Irwin. Since 1927, radio has been an important part in people’s life in India. On 8th of June 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio (AIR). The AIR has been serving to inform, educate and entertain the masses since it’s inception, truly living up to its motto – Bahujan Hitaya Bahujan Sukhaya. The AIR is one of the largest public broadcasting organizations in the world. It has 414 stations in 23 languages and broadcasts in 179 dialects.

Notes:
Uttar Pradesh has become number one in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) in the country. As per the statement released by state government, 1.95 crores people have been given insurance cover under the scheme till 31 march 2019. The implementation of this ambitious central government scheme started in state from January 2018 under which people between age group of 18 to 70 get accidental insurance cover of Rs. 2 lakh by paying a nominal premium of Rs 12 annually. Beside this, Uttar Pradesh stands second in the country in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJBY). The PMJJBY is a life insurance scheme that provides a life cover of Rs.2 lakh at Rs.330/year. It is available to people in the age group of 18 to 50 years having a bank account who give their consent to join / enable auto-debit.

Notes:
Badri Narain Sharma, a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer of 1985 batch, has been re-appointed as chairman of the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) for next two years. The NAA ensures that consumers get benefit of reduced prices under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The NAA has been constituted under Section 171 of the Central GST Act of 2017 to ensure that the reduction in rate of tax or the benefit of input tax credit is passed on to the recipient by way of commensurate reduction in prices. The NAA has the power to cancel registration of any entity or business if it fails to pass on to consumers the benefit of lower taxes under the GST regime, but it would probably be the last step against any violator.

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The researchers at the IIT Kanpur and the Lucknow-based Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) have designed a novel molecular framework to destroy superbugs, which are becoming increasingly resistant to most known antibiotics. It would help drugs latch on to the germs and prevent them from multiplying. For the study, the scientists used bacteria – Staphylococcus Aureus – which are frequently found in the nostrils, upper respiratory tract and on the skin of nearly 30% of people. According to researchers, a substance called gyrase is essential for bacteria’s survival and multiplication. In most organisms, there are two types of gyrases — gyrase A and gyrase B. The new molecule targets gyrase B, which is more conserved in organisms and hence difficult to mutate. The strategy is very attractive because it makes it possible to destroy these bacteria with the same class of drugs to which they have developed resistance.

Notes:
The scientists at the IIT-Kanpur have developed two-finger robotic hand (exoskeleton) to help paralysed stroke patients. For the exoskeleton, Prof. Ashish Dutta and Prof. KS Venkatesh have partnered with the University of Ulster (based in the United Kingdom) and their teacher Girijesh Prasad, who belongs to Gorakhpur. The exoskeleton uses a four-bar mechanism and has four degrees of freedom (DOF). It can be used by a patient on the hand. It uses brain signals, with the help of the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) that is worn on the head, and helps paralyzed patients to open and close the movement of their thumb, forefinger and middle fingers for physical practice. The exoskeleton is operated by a MEGA microcontroller of 300 Mhz and powered by a battery. The device will cost around Rs 15,000.

Notes:
On 30th July 2019, the Government of India (GoI) has kick off the 7th Economic Census from Tripura. It will be launched in other states and union territories in August and September. The census is being conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) & will be held this year after a gap of five years. The ministry has partnered with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics and Information. The census would also cover all establishments, including household enterprises, engaged in production or distribution of goods and services. The data will be collected through door to door survey of each household and commercial establishment under the provisions of Collection of Statistics Act 2008. The fieldwork is expected to be completed by December and the results at the national level is expected to be available by March 2020. The economic census is the only source of information on the significantly large unorganized sector in the country. As per the last Economic Census conducted in 2013, there were 58.5 million establishments employing around 131 million workers.