Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
Zuzana Caputova, a liberal environmental activist and a political newcomer, has been elected as the first female President of Slovakia. She framed the election as a struggle between good and evil. With 58% of the vote, Caputova edged out European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, a diplomat backed by the county’s governing Smer-Social Democracy party. She is set to take office on June 15, after the tenure of incumbent Slovak President Andrej Kiska finishes.

Notes:
In tennis, Roger Federer lifted his fourth ATP Miami Open title with an emphatic 6-1, 6-4 win over defending champion John Isner on 31st March 2019 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, States. It is Swiss player’s 28th Masters title and the 101st overall for a player who has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

Notes:
The 13th edition of Earth Hour 2019 was observed on March 30 with theme “#Connect2Earth” to encourage people across the world to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. It calls for greater awareness and more sparing use of resources, especially fossil fuels that produce carbon gases and lead to global warming. On this day, the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-India made an appeal to citizens to join the Earth Hour 2019 to inspire millions across the country to shift to more sustainable practices and minimize negative impacts on the planet.

Notes:
IIT Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA) to develop research and training module for the trainees of the Hyderabad-based sports facility. The thrust area of the collaboration is to promote health and wellbeing of sportspersons and coaches for enhancing the quality of performance and resilience. Players and coaches from PGBA will benefit from these programs. Further, the coaches will also be trained on how to use that knowledge while training players. Under the collaboration, IIT-KGP will also set up a sports academy in collaboration with Gopichand. The academy would promote collaborative research related to happiness in sports in general and badminton in particular, and science and technology in sports training. The scope would also include joint monitoring and use of materials used in general and badminton in particular by IIT Kharagpur and PGBA. A sum of Rs10 crore has been allocated to develop modern sports facilities at IIT-Kgp.

Notes:
Batman will be first inductee into the Comic-Con Museum’s Character Hall of Fame. The honor was announced during the “Happy Birthday Batman!” panel at WonderCon on March 30, when Batman turned 80. The ceremony will take place at the Federal Building in San Diego’s Balboa Park — which is the future site of the Comic-Con Museum, on 17th July 2019. The ceremony will be accompanied by an exhibit of Batman-themed memorabilia and related props and will feature appearances by celebrities and creators whose careers have interacted with the Dark Knight across the years. Batman first appeared in the ‘Detective Comics No. 27’ published on March 30, 1939, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

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Lewis Hamilton, a British racing driver, has won the 2019 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix tournament after an engine problem hit runaway leader Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari late in the race.

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Kandhamal Haldi, a variety of turmeric indigenous to southern Odisha, has finally got the Geographical indication (GI) tag from Intellectual Property India. The recognition coincided with the state’s Foundation Day (Utkal Divas). Odisha, on April 1 1936, was carved out as a separate state in the then British India on a linguistic identity. The golden yellow spice is named after the district where it is produced & has been cultivated since time immemorial and is known for its medicinal value. Turmeric is the main cash crop of tribal people in Kandhamal. More than 60,000 families (nearly 50% of Kandhamal population) are engaged in growing the variety. Apart from domestic use, turmeric is also used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.

Notes:
On March 28, President Ram Nath Kovind became the first-ever Indian President to visit Bolivia. Here, President Evo Morales Ayma conferred the highest State Honour of Bolivia – Condor de los Andes en el Grado de Gran Collar – on President Kovind. Both the countries have agreed to facilitate Bolivian supplies of lithium Carbonate to India and foster joint ventures for Lithium battery / cell production plants in India. This move will make Bolivia, which is known to have one-fourth of the world’s lithium reserves, one of the major provider of metal for India’s e-mobility and e-storage needs. To mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, India offered two busts of Gandhiji to Bolivia. The Bolivian side accepted the offer and is likely to place the busts in its capital La Paz and its largest city Santa Cruz. This South American nation has also joined the International Solar Alliance (ISA) by signing the framework agreement on ISA. In a total, India and Bolivia have signed 8 MoUs in various fields of mining, space, traditional medicine during President’s Kovid three day visit to the country.

Notes:
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has conferred the prestigious Zayed Medal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a “big boost’ to bilateral strategic ties between the two countries. The award comes in appreciation of PM Modi’s role in consolidating the long-standing friendship and joint strategic cooperation between the two countries. The Zayed Medal is the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states.

Notes:
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently released its flagship publication Asian Development Outlook 2019. In its report, ADB has lowered India’s growth by 40 basis points to 7.2% in fiscal year 2019-20. Still, it will be fastest growing economy in the world. The report mentioned that recent policy measures by the Government of India (GoI) to improve the investment climate and boost private consumption and investment will help India to lift economic growth in the next two fiscal years. The growth rate in FY 2020-21 is likely to be 7.3%. India’s growth slowed from 7.2% in fiscal 2017 to 7% in 2018, with weaker agricultural output and consumption growth curtailed by higher global oil prices and lower government expenditure. The report added that sub-region wise, southeast Asia will sustain growth at close to 5% this year and the next one.