Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
Swiss-based NRI scientist Dr Rajendra Joshi, who belongs to Rajasthan, has been conferred with the 2019 Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award (PBSA) by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. Dr Joshi is honoured for his outstanding achievement in the field of Science and in recognition of his valuable contribution in promoting the honour and prestige of India and in fostering the interests of Overseas Indians. He is mainly credited with developing path-breaking medicine Tecfidera (BG12) for multiple sclerosis. The theme of 2019 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention was ‘Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India.’

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South Korea has won the 2019 Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament. In the final, they defeated five time champion India in a penalty shootout 4-2 at Ipoh in Malaysia on April 1. Till the stipulated time both the teams had a score of 1 goal each. Even India was leading with one goal till half time. Simaranjit Singh hit a goal for India. Jang Jong Hyun scored the goal for South Korea. Hosts Malaysia defeated Canada 4-2 and secured the 3rd place. Asian games Gold medalist Japan stood at 5th place, defeating Poland 6-1.

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The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a tribunal to adjudicate if there exists sufficient cause to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JeL) and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front-Yasin Malik (JKLF-Y) faction. The tribunal will be headed by Justice Chander Shekhar of the Delhi High Court. The decision has been taken by the Union Home Ministry exercising the powers conferred under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967. The JeI and the JKLF-Y were declared as unlawful associations on February 28 and March 22 respectively.

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South Korea will launch the world’s first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks on 5th April 2019. Hyper-wired South Korea has a reputation for technical prowess, and Seoul has made the 5G rollout a priority as it seeks to stimulate stuttering economic growth. The superfast communications heralded by fifth-generation wireless technology will bring smartphones near-instantaneous connectivity – 20 times faster than the existing 4G. It is crucial for the future development of devices ranging from self-driving vehicles that send data traffic to one another in real time, industrial robots, drones and other elements of the Internet of Things. 5G’s hyper speed can connect one million devices within a one square kilometre zone simultaneously. Until now, no mobile networks have offered nationwide 5G access. Japan is expected to roll out a limited deployment in 2019 before full services start in time for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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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.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its repo rate under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.0% in its first bi-monthly policy statement of the current financial year FY20, with immediate effect. The move will cheer markets and investors and is the second consecutive rate cut by the RBI. It has also maintained the policy stance neutral and lowered the retail inflation and GDP forecasts. This is the second consecutive rate cut from RBI under new Governor Shaktikanta Das, after a rate cut in February 2019. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.25%. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4% within a band of plus or minus 2% while supporting growth.

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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.

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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.

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The State of the Global Air 2019 report has recently released by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI). The report revealed that 1.2 million Indians lost their lives due to exposure to unsafe air in 2017. Now, in India, air pollution is the third-highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking. This is a combined effect of outdoor fine particles PM2.5, ozone and household (indoor) air pollution. In 2017, exposure to PM 2.5 pollution was found to be the third leading risk factor globally for Type 2 diabetes-related deaths and disability after high blood sugar and excessive body weight. Due to this combined exposure South Asians including Indians are dying early — their life expectancy has reduced by over 2.6 years. In India, early deaths are linked to respiratory diseases, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and diabetes that are influenced by air pollution.

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On April 5, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the National Cardiology Conference 2019 at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of medical sciences in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The 3-day conference will be organized by Dept of Cardiology in which leading national and international experts from Europe, USA, Japan, Singapore South Korea, Indonesia and Australia will deliberate on the latest topics of Interventional cardiology and cutting edge technology. The conference being held for the first time in Uttar Pradesh offers an opportunity to showcase newer innovations in Cardiology that can help deliver cost-effective cardiology care to patients.