Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2017

Notes:
Internationally-acclaimed senior kathak dancer Dr. Pandit Nandakishore Kapote has recently conferred with a fellowship by the Department of Culture, Government of India (GoI). Kapote is the only male senior kathak dancer in the country to receive the honour. Through this fellowship, Kapote will carry out a detailed study on ‘Hand Gestures and Kathak Dance in Abhinaydarpan’. Earlier, Kapote was awarded with scholarships by the central government, cultural department of Maharashtra, Dr Ambedkar Dalit Mitra Award, Balgandharva Award by PMC, Nehru Award, among others.

Notes:
Recently, Indian junior judokas won a gold and three bronze medals in the ongoing 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Nassau, Bahamas. Antim Yadav of Madhya Pradesh won a bronze in the below 48Kg weight category, surpassing Russelll Jasmine of Bahamas in Repechage bout. Soni from Haryana won the gold medal in the below 73Kg Weight Category, after beating Nikolic Uros of Australia in the final bout, while Ashish won a bronze in the below 60Kg weight category, defeating Zain Prosser Harry of England in bronze medal bout. Manipur’s Rebina Devi Chanam also won a bronze medal in the below 57Kg Weight category after getting the better of Saskia of Australia. The Organising Committee of the Games that would conclude on July 24, 2017 had allowed the participation of only four weight categories Judo players (2 Boys & 2 Girls) from each country, and all the Indians won medals.

Notes:
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has recently launched mAadhaar app for mobile users that will allow users to carry unique identification profile on mobile. A user can download Aadhaar number profile through their smartphones and will therefore not require hard copies of the card, wherever applicable. It allow users to carry their Aadhaar demographic information, i.e. name, date of birth, gender, address and the photograph linked with their Aadhaar number, on their smartphones. Currently, the app is available for Android users and will soon be available for iOS users. A user can not only carry Aadhaar data on their mobiles as an identification proof, but one can also lock/ unlock their biometric details linked to Aadhaar to secure their personal data. Besides this, mAadhaar app users can also update their profile via QR code and share eKYC details with service providers such as telecommunications companies.

Notes:
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani has received the Lifetime Achievement (LTA) award for his contributions as a parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha (LS). JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav got the Lifetime Achievement Award as a Rajya Sabha MP. The award was given by the Vice President Hamid Ansari at a function organised by the Lokmat Media Group. The other awardees from the Lok Sabha included Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N.K. Premachandran (Best Parliamentarian), Congress leader Kumari Sushmita Dev (Best Woman Parliamentarian) and BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi (Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian). The awardees from the Rajya Sabha included CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury (Best Parliamentarian), Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan (Best Woman Parliamentarian) and Congress MP Rajni Patil (Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian). The awardees were selected by a jury, headed by former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil.

Notes:
Sanjay Kothari, a 1978 batch IAS of Haryana cadre, has been appointed as Secretary to President elect Ram Nath Kovind. Currently, he is the Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). Beside this, Bharat Lal, a forest service officer, has been appointed as Joint Secretary to the President. Ashok Malik, the senior journalist and distinguished fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), will be Press Secretary to the President.

Notes:
Brenda Marjorie Hale, the senior-most judge of United Kngdom (UK) has been appointed as the first female President of the Supreme Court (SC). She will take charge as the head of Britain’s top judging panel in September following the retirement of current President, Lord Neuberger. She has served as Neuberger’s deputy since 2013. Three new justices have also been appointed to the Supreme Court – Lady Justice Black, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Lord Justice Brigg – who will take up the role when Lady Hale is sworn in officially as President on 2nd October. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for civil cases in the UK, and criminal cases from England, Northern Ireland and Wales – which means it considers cases where an order had already been made in a lower court and is being challenged.

Notes:
Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, has launched an online complaint system ” Sexual Harassment e-box (SHe-Box)” for registering sexual harassment complaints at workplace in New Delhi on July 24, 2017. Initially, this online portal is open for central government women employees only and later on, complaints from private sector will be entertained effectively. The complaint management system has been developed to ensure the effective implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (SH Act). This portal will provide a platform to women working or visiting any office of Central Government to file complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace under the SH Act. Beside this, the Ministry will soon conduct a national level survey to examine the magnitude of sexual harassment at workplace.

Notes:
India and Bangladesh have signed a pact to connect both the countries by waterways. The waterways will facilitate movement of passengers and goods between India’s northeast and West Bengal with Bangladesh. Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya has stated that infrastructure for the services would be set up along the major rivers in Bangladesh, West Bengal and Brahmaputra in Assam. The services are expected to start by the end of year 2017.

Notes:
The National Broadcasting Day (NBD) is celebrated every year on July 23 because on this day, in 1927, the radio broadcasting was started in India. The first ever radio broadcast in India went on air from the Bombay Station on July 23, 1927 under a private company, the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC). It was by the British Viceroy of India Lord Irwin. On June 8, 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio (AIR).

Notes:
India bagged two medals in the high jump at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London on July 22, 2017. In it, Varun Bhati bagged bronze medal in the T42 event by successfully jumping in the final at 1.77 metre. While Sharad Kumar won a silver medal by recording his career-best performance with a jump of 1.84 metre. Earlier, Sundar Singh Gurjar from India clinched gold in the men’s javelin throw event, Amit Saroha won silver medal in the club throw event in the F-51 category. And, India’s discus thrower Karamjyoti Dalal claimed a bronze medal in the Women’s F55 category. With that, India have increased their medal tally to five in the Championships.