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:
Chicago has created history by electing an African-American woman as its mayor for the first time. Lori Lightfoot is a former federal prosecutor and practicing lawyer who has never before held elected office. She won the city’s mayoral race by a huge margin. She will also be Chicago’s first openly gay mayor. Lightfoot’s primary proposals include increasing access to affordable housing, creating an office of public safety to reduce crime and reform policing, and pushing through a real estate transfer tax to help combat homelessness. She also backs abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lightfoot will take over office from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who previously served as chief of staff under former President Barack Obama.

Notes:
Chinese scientists have discovered a possible “death switch” mechanism in plant’s immune system that triggers infected cells to self-destruct, thus limiting the spread of the disease and keeping other parts of the plant healthy. This is as per the findings published in the journal ‘Science’. The discovery provides clues to cell death control and immunity for plants. The researchers hope further research can lead to a new generation of disease-resistant crops that use significantly less pesticide and are more environmentally friendly. The research was done by scientists from Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Genetics and Development Biology. The ‘death switch’ is usually harmless to the plant because it only affects diseased cells, which are a tiny portion of the entire plant.

Notes:
The National Maritime Day (NMD) of India is celebrated every year on April 5 to spread awareness in supporting intercontinental commerce and the global economy. On this day, in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, journeyed to the United Kingdom. It was a crucial step for Indian shipping history when sea routes were controlled by the British. The theme of the 56th edition of the NMD 2019 is “Indian Ocean-An Ocean of opportunity”. According to the Directorate General of Shipping, India now has 43 shipping companies owning 1,401 ships with a combined 12.69 million gross tonnage’ as of December 2018.

Notes:
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has said that its Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid Ryugu to make a crater on its surface. The move will pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system. For this, the Hayabusa2 dropped a “small carry-on impactor” made of copper onto the asteroid and the spacecraft safely evacuated and remained intact. Now, JAXA is analyzing data to examine if or how the impactor made a crater. The copper explosive is the size of a baseball weighing 2 kg. If successful, it would be the first time for a spacecraft to take such materials. The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth. Earlier, Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a tiny flat surface on the boulder-rich asteroid in February 2019, when the spacecraft also collected some surface dust and small debris.

Notes:
To counter growing Chinese footprint in Indian ocean region, the Indian Navy has initiated the process to acquire six lethal submarines under the ambitious Project-75 India (I). The project would cost Rs 50,000 crore. Under Project 75-India, the Navy wants to build six conventional diesel-electric submarines which would be almost 50% bigger than the under-construction Scorpene class submarines being built at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited in Mumbai. As per the requirements stated by the maritime force, it wants the submarines to be equipped with heavy-duty firepower as it wants the boats to have at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) along with Anti-Ship cruise missiles (ASCM).

Notes:
The Sri Lankan army has decided to conduct its largest ever military exercise titled ‘Exercise Western Shield’ in July 2019 to provide an opportunity for army trainees to march through areas that are not usually accessible to others, except forest conservation authorities. It will see participation of over 5,000 soldiers and will extend from Mannar to Puttalam, including Kalpitiya, Wilpattu National Park, Mavillu and Thabbowa Forest Reserves and the Western coastal belt. The exercise is coincided with 10 years since the end of the island’s 30-year civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Notes:
Justice Pradeep Nandrajog has recently taken oath as the new Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. He was administered the oath by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan. Justice Nandrajog was serving as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court since March 2017, following his transfer from the Delhi High Court.

Notes:
Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu and star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has been named as female and male sportsperson of the year in the ESPN India Multi-Sport Awards for their achievements in 2018. While Saina Nehwal won the award for the ‘Comeback of the Year’ after bagging the bronze at the 2018 Asian Games. Jaspal Rana, coach of the Indian shooting team, claimed the ‘Coach of the Year’ award after India picked up 16 medals in shooting at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Indian women’s table tennis team took home the award for ‘Team of the Year’ after it clinched its first-ever gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.