Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
In a remarkable achievement, the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai has been declared as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 30th June 2018. The decision was taken at the 42nd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at Manama in Bahrain. This makes Mumbai city the second city in India after Ahmedabad to be included on the World Heritage List. Now, India has overall 37 World Heritage Inscriptions with 29 Cultural, 07 Natural and 01 Mixed sites. While India stands second largest in number after China in terms of number of World Heritage properties in ASPAC (Asia and Pacific) region, it is overall sixth in the world.

Notes:
Indian Kabaddi team clinched the Kabaddi Masters Dubai 2018 title by defeating Iran 44-26 in the summit clash in Dubai on June 30. In a battle between the top two sides of the world, the three-time world champions did not give Iran any ground to recover with Captain Ajay Thakur and youngster Monu Goyat led the raid charts. India’s defence was also excellent with Surjeet Singh returning with seven tackle points. India inflicted two all-outs on Iran, en route the massive victory. The six-nation invitational tournament was organised by International Kabaddi Federation (IKF). The Indian team will now focus on the Asian games. India is the reigning world champions and they now hold the title of the Kabaddi Masters too.

Notes:
Australian hockey team has won the 2018 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy by defeating India in the final via penalty shoot-off at Breda, the Netherlands on July 1, 2018. It was Australia’s record 15th Champions Trophy title. While India won their second consecutive silver medal, hosts the Netherlands bagged the bronze beating Olympic champions Argentina 2-0 in the third-fourth place match. The 2018 Hockey tournament was the 37th and the last edition of the prestigious Hockey Champions Trophy for men. It will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019.

Notes:
The International Asteroid Day (IAD) is observed every year on June 30 to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat. In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution A/RES/71/90 to proclaim Asteroid Day globally on June 30. The day is an annual global event which is held on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that took place on 30th June 1908, the most harmful known asteroid-related event on Earth in recent history.

Notes:
The Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP) of Odisha has become the largest habitat of the endangered estuarine crocodiles in India with a record number of their nesting sites spotted in it. Recently, the enumerators have spotted 101 nests of crocodile in Kanika, Gahirmatha, Mahakalapada and Rajnagar wildlife forest range divisions under the park. As per the January 2018 crocodile census report, the water bodies of Bhitarkanika are home to 1,698 saltwater crocodiles. Estuarine crocodiles are also found in West Bengal’s Sundarban areas having the country’s largest mangrove cover. Besides, the mangrove wetlands in Andaman Islands are home to these species, but those cannot match the density and population of crocodile available in the wild habitats of Bhitarkanik National Park (BNP).

Notes:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed Colombia’s Chiribiquete National Park (CNP) on its list of world heritage sites. The park, which straddles the southern provinces of Caquetá and Guaviare, is the country’s largest and has one of the highest rates of plant diversity in the northern Amazon. It is also famous for its table-top rock formations known as tepuis, which rise out of the forest. The national park was established on September 1989, after hundreds of rock paintings dating as far back as 18,000 years BCE were discovered on the vertical rock faces of the area. It is the ninth site in Colombia to be given world heritage status.

Notes:
Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei has won the Malaysian Open Badminton men’s singles title for a historic 12th time. In the men’s final in Kuala Lumpur on July 1, he defeated young Japanese shuttler Kento Momota in straight games 21-17 23-21 in 71 minutes. In the women’s singles final, top seed Tai Tzu Ying from Taiwan defeated China’s He Bingjiao by 22-20, 21-11.

Notes:
The Sunil Mehta committee which was formed with a view to tackle Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and creating credit capacity submitted its report with recommendations to Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on July 2, 2018. The Sunil Mehta panel presented project ‘Sashakt’ and has recommended a five-pronged strategy to deal with NPAs in the country’s banking system. The five-pronged strategy includes — SME Resolution Approach (SRA), Bank Led Resolution Approach (BLRA), AMC / AIF led resolution approach, NCLT / IBC approach, and asset-trading platform. The report recommends a five pronged approach for loans from Rs 50 crore, Rs 50-500 crore and loans above Rs 500 crore. The committee has also suggested an asset trading platform for both performing and non-performing assets. The plan focuses on turning around assets in a manner that will create additional jobs by reviving businesses and prevent job losses from foreclosures.

Notes:
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched user-friendly android app “cVigil” for citizens to report any violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during elections. The unique Internet-based beta version of the application ‘cVIGIL’ stands for “citizens’ vigil”. The app will be active only in States where elections have been announced. The application will be operationalised for the first time from the forthcoming Assembly elections in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan. By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint. The user will get 5 minutes to report an incident after having clicked a picture or a video. To prevent any misuse, the app will not allow uploading of the pre-recorded or old images and videos. The new app is expected to fill in all these gaps and create a fast-track complaint reception and redressal system.

Notes:
The Union government has constituted a ministerial panel headed by the finance minister to decide about fund allocation for infrastructure projects from the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) announced in the budget. The 4-member committee will approve recommendations made by the sub-committee headed by the Economic Affairs Secretary on list of infrastructure projects to be financed from the CIRF. Other members of the committee include Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Shipping; Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Railways Minister and Human Resource Development Minister. The 15-member sub-committee has secretaries from different ministries who will examine and evaluate proposals received from ministries on infrastructure projects. Besides, it will prioritize the list of infrastructure projects each year for being financed by the fund. The budget 2018 has amended the Central Road Fund Act, 2000, and has renamed the Central Road Fund as CRIF.