Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2018

Notes:
Professor Raj Kumar of the Banaras Hindu University has been appointed the new vice-chancellor (V-C) of the Panjab University (PU) in Chandigarh. The term of the appointment will be 3 years with effect from July 23, 2018, or from the date he assumes charge as V-C. He will succeed Arun Kumar Grover. The appointment was made by the Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is chancellor of the university, by exercising powers conferred by Section 10 of the Panjab University Act, 1947.

Notes:
Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri was named the 2017 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year in the men’s category. Recently, Chhetri became the 2nd Indian footballer to play 100 international games after Baichung Bhutia. He is a star striker for both India and Bengaluru FC. Beside him, Kamala Devi was adjudged the 2017 AIFF Woman Player of the Year and Young Anirudh Thapa was declared as the 2017 Emerging Player of the Year. E Panthoi was named as the 2017 woman Emerging Player of the Year.

Notes:
The Odisha police has launched a drive to bust an international syndicate that peddles “endangered” pangolin, one of the world’s most illegally traded mammals. Through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), the Odisha police will crack the international pangolin smuggling racket. MLAT is an agreement between nations to exchange information or provide legal assistance for enforcing laws. Pangolins are the only known mammals with large keratin scales and they use those scales to protect themselves from predators in the wild. They are toothless, nocturnal, live in burrows and feed mainly on ants and termites. Of the 8 species found worldwide, two are found in India: Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla). Both the species are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Hence, hunting, trade or any other form of utilisation of the species or their body parts and derivatives is banned. Beside this, In the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List, Chinese pangolin are listed as “critically endangered” and Indian Pangolin as “endangered”.

Notes:
Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Environment Minister, has launched a state-of-the-art Air Quality and Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting) at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on July 21, 2018. The system, first of its kind in India, was developed indigenously in record time by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune and operationalized by India Meteorological Department (IMD). The new system will be able to track UV-Index, PM1, Mercury and Black carbon in real time. SAFAR will monitor all weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed and wind direction. In addition to regular air quality parameters like PM2.5, PM10, Sulfur Dioxide, Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Monoxide, the new system will also monitor the existence of Benzene, Toluene and Xylene. It will be an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning System operational in Delhi and will strengthen the existing air quality network of SAFAR, Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

Notes:
On July 23, the Lok Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017 that allows a court hearing a cheque bounce case to direct the drawer — the person who wrote the cheque — to pay interim compensation to the person who filed the complaint. The interim compensation, to be paid within 60 days of the court’s order, can be up to 20% of the value of the cheque. The court may direct the payee to repay the interim compensation, with interest, if the drawer is acquitted. Now , the bill will go to the Rajya Sabha for its nod. If bill gets Parliament’s nod, it will preserve the sanctity of cheque transactions by stopping the practice of people trying to deliberately delay cases through filing of appeals and obtaining stay a on proceedings. The bill, which amends the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, is aimed to reduce the number of cheque dishonour cases pending in courts.

Notes:
The ambitious scheme of Chhattisgarh government “Sanchar Kranti Yojna” has been launched by President Ram Nath Kovind at Jagdalpur in the Naxal-affected Bastar region of the state on July 27, 2018. Under the scheme, 50 lakh smartphones will be distributed free of cost to rural households, urban poor and college students across the state. The scheme, at an outlay of Rs 1,467.90 crore, is aimed at increasing mobile penetration in a state, which is the lowest in the country at 29% against the national average of 68%.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has approved a new scheme ” Mahila Shakti Kendra” to empower rural women through community participation. The cost for implementing the scheme from 2017-18 up to 2019-20 would be shared in the 60:40 ratio between the Centre and states, except for North East and Special Category States where the ratio is 90:10. The scheme is envisaged to work at various levels and at the national level (domain based knowledge support) and state level (State Resource Centre for Women) technical support to the respective governments on issues related to women is provided. This information was given by Minister of State for Women and Child Development, DR. Virendra Kumar in reply to an Unstarred Question in the Rajya Sabha on July 26, 2018.

Notes:
Noted litterateur Ramakanta Rath has been conferred with the Odisha’s highest literary award ‘Atibadi Jagannath Das Samman’ for 2018 for his life time contribution to Odia literature. He received the award at a special function organised by Odisha Sahitya Akademi on July 26, 2018. The award carries a citation and cash prize of Rs one lakh. Rath, a Padma Bhusan awaredee, was earlier conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977, Saraswathi Samman in 1992, Bishuva Samman in 1990 and some others.

Notes:
In a unique and first-ever in the country, the Assam government has decided to implement a Pranam Scheme to ensure that government staff take care of their parents & physically challenged siblings. The scheme will part away with 10 to 15% of state government employees’ monthly salary if they are found guilty of not taking adequate care of their dependent elderly parents and physically challenged siblings.

Notes:
On 2018 World Hepatitis Day (WHD), the National Viral Hepatitis Control programme has been launched by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in New Delhi to combat the disease by 2030 in the country. Under the initiative, free drugs and diagnostics for Hepatitis B and C will be provided at all government hospitals. This initiative will provide laboratory testing and management of viral Hepatitis with a de-centralized approach. The aim of the programme is prevention and treatment of Hepatitis which is inflammation of the liver due to a viral infection. It is among the leading causes of liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver and acute failure of the organ. According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-2030), diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases should be eliminated by 2030. Viral hepatitis was included as a focus area in the health related goal Goal 3.3 with world leaders pledging to fight and eliminate it by 2030.