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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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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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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The United States has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters to India under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion. The multi-mission helicopters can detect, track and attack submarines and surface ships at sea. They are designed to operate from frigates, destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers. Thus, these are considered the world’s most advanced maritime helicopters. The choppers will provide the Indian defence forces with the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay. Hence, the Lockheed Martin-built helicopters would replace India’s aging fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters. The proposed sale will support US foreign policy & national security by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner.

Notes:
C R Anandavally (67), the well-known dubbing artist in the Malayalam film industry, has passed away on April 5, 2019. She began her film career doing small roles in various Malayalam films beginning with “Eanippadikkal” in 1973 and lent her voice to actress Rajasri in the film “Devi Kanyakumari” in 1974. The 1980 movie ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’ in which she dubbed for actress Poornima Jayaram became a turning point in her career and she was flooded with offers and had been active since then. Among the leading heroines she has lent her voice are Geetha, ‘Silk’ Smitha, Sumalatha, Madhavi, Menaka, Ambika, Urvasi, Jayapradha, Karthika, Parvathy, Gauthami, Suhasini, Sobhana, Revathi, Nanditha Bose and Khushboo. Anandavally won a Kerala State Award for the Malayalam film ‘Aadharam’ in which she dubbed for actress Geetha. Hailing from Kollam, Anandavally had also acted in Kerala Peoples Arts Club (KPAC) dramas.

Notes:
Chinese badminton ace Lin Dan clinched the 2019 men’s singles Malaysia Open at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on April 7. After an electric performance , he beat countryman Chen Long 9-21, 21-7, 21-11. The title is Lin’s first win this year, and also his first major success since taking the Malaysia Open in 2017.

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Indian swimmer Kushagra Rawat made the ‘B’ time standard for the 2019 FINA World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after clocking 08.07.99 in the 800m freestyle category at the Speedo Thailand Age Group Championships at Bangkok. The B timing for men’s 800m freestyle for World Championship 2019 is 08:10.91 and Tokyo Olympics is 08:08.54. Not only in 800m freestyle, Kushagra has made the B standard for the World Championships in the 400m freestyle with a time of 03:56.10. The B standard qualifying time for the World Championships in 400m freestyle is 03.56.14. In the Olympics and World Championships, if the full quota of swimmers to take part in a particular event are not filled by those who crossed the A standard, those who achieved B standard will be called upon to compete.

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In a setback to the ruling Pinarayi Vijayan government, a 49-page report submitted by an Amicus curiae to the Kerala High Court (KHC) on April 3 recommended a judicial probe into the cause of the worst-ever floods to hit the state in August 2018 after it found that faulty dam management led to the flooding. In a report, amicus curiae Jacob P. Alex said that none of the 79 dams in the State were operated or used for the purpose of flood control and moderation, despite the obligation to utilise them for flood control as per the stipulations under the National Water Policy, National Disaster Management Authority guidelines on flood and RTIO (real-time integrated operation). It seemed that high reservoir storage and sudden release of water had resulted in worsening the floods. Various alerts (blue/orange/red) were issued not in accordance with the EAP (Emergency Action Plan) guidelines. No proper follow-up action and effective precautionary steps, especially for evacuating people and accommodating them in safe locations, were taken after the issue of red alert. Hence, this was a matter to be inquired into.

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Scientists from University of Michigan in the United States have found that dangerous airborne viruses can be rendered harmless on-the-fly when exposed to ‘cold plasma’ – a stream of energetic, charged fragments of air molecules. The researchers have measured the virus-killing speed and effectiveness of non thermal plasmas – the ionised, or charged, particles that form around electrical discharges such as sparks. A non thermal plasma reactor was able to inactivate or remove from the air stream 99.9% of a test virus. The researchers hope to one day harness this capability to replace the surgical mask.

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The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) has been ranked as the top institute in the overall category in the latest edition of National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019 and is followed by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IIT Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, JNU, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati and BHU. The NIRF is a Ministry of HRD initiative and released annually. On the other hand, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore secured the top spot in the management college ranking followed by IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta. The National Law School of Indian in Bengaluru grabbed the top spot under the law category while Indian Institute of Technology was ranked first in the Architecture category. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, followed by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and Christian Medical College, Vellore were ranked as the top three medical colleges.