Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

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 Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) has become the first Indian shipyard to build and deliver 100 warships to the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Mauritius Coast Guard. The 100th Warship “IN LCU L-56” was formally handed over to the Indian Navy. The GRSE is one of India’s leading shipyards, located in Kolkata, West Bengal. It builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels. Presently, GRSE has also started building export ships in a mission to expand its business.

Notes:
The Hump-backed Mahseer, also known as ‘Tor remadevii’ in scientific terms, is a critically endangered species as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This iconic and highly-valued freshwater fish, termed as the ‘tiger of the water’, inhabits the Cauvery river basin, including Kerala’s Pambar, Kabini and Bhavani rivers. The fish earns its megafauna status by reaching up to a measurement of 1.5m and a weight of 55 kg. Its endangered title also accompanies five other species, including two wild orchids, the Arabian scad, and two wild coffee species exclusive to a few locales in the Western Ghats.

Notes:
Vadodra-based artist Raju Baraiya has been chosen as the Glenfiddich’s Emerging Artist of the Year 2019. He will represent India at the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence (AiR) programme where he will spend three months at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Scotland with artists from around the world. Baraiya will also be awarded Rs 10 lakh, which includes an international allowance of Rs 1,20,000 per month and a work allowance of Rs 5,00,000; besides being given a solo show at Art District XIII Gallery in New Delhi. Baraiya’s work takes inspiration from observing and diagnosing the rural in relation to the urban and vice-versa. His practice springs out of this shift from a strong rural background to an urban one. The artist has been deriving imagery from these seemingly ambiguous notions of the urban and the rural, and the complexities between the two spaces create a common meeting ground for him to explore through an impression he holds of them. With his art, he aims to translate the ever evolving image of this convergence.

Notes:
The World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) is observed every year to raise public awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism is a brain disorder that typically affects a person’s ability to communicate with others. It generally begins in childhood and last through adulthood. The day highlights the need to help and improve the quality of life of those with autism so that they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. The 2019 theme “Assistive Technologies, Active Participation” , underscores the importance of affordable assistive technologies to support people with autism to live independent lives and, indeed, to exercise their basic human rights.

Notes:
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:
According to a new collaborative study by the Queen’s University Belfast and Aberystwyth University in the UK, the sun’s magnetic field is ten times stronger than previously thought. Using the Swedish one-metre Solar Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in the Canary Islands, David Kuridze studied a particularly strong solar flare which erupted near the surface of the Sun on September 10, 2017. A combination of favourable conditions and an element of luck enabled the team to determine the strength of the flare’s magnetic field with unprecedented accuracy. The researchers believe the findings have the potential to change our understanding of the processes that happen in the Sun’s immediate atmosphere. The study found that the sun’s corona extends millions of kilometres above the surface, measuring 1,400,000 kilometres across — 109 times larger than Earth — and 150,000,000 km from Earth. Solar flares appear as bright flashes and occur when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. These solar flares can lead to storms which, if they hit Earth, form the northern lights — the Aurora Borealis. They can also disrupt communications satellites and GPS systems.

Notes:
Prof. Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist and professor of global health at Harvard Medical School, has won the prestigious 2019 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award. Mr. Patel has led research generating knowledge on the burden and determinants of mental health problems in low and middle-income countries and pioneered approaches which utilise community resources for the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in India with global impact. Laureates receive a $100,000 cash honorarium and will be formally presented with their awards on October 24, 2019 at the annual Canada Gairdner Awards Gala in Toronto.

Notes:
For the second successive year, Telangana has been ranked first in e-learning training programme of Department of Personal and Training (DoPT) of the Government India. In FY 2018-19, Dr. MCR HRD Institute had enrolled over 20,000 field staff in different districts of the State to impart training on 12 soft skill modules and three domain-specific modules on the RTI, office procedures, and finance and accounts, apart from Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The institute is also mentoring Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, J&K, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat to guide trainers for e-learning training programme and develop modules in regional languages to spread the Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) programme as a national mission.

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.