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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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:
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.

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:
China has successfully launched the first of its new-generation ‘Tianlian II-01’ data relay satellite into orbit by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan Province. This is the first of China’s second-generation data-tracking and relay satellites. It will provide services like data relay, measurement and control, and transmission to manned spacecraft, satellites, carrier rockets and non-spacecraft users. The Tianlian II network will be markedly more advanced in mission planning, system management and operations than the first-generation network composed of Tianlian I satellites. The satellite is developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

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:
Researchers led by Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Japan has put a theory speculated by the late Stephen Hawking to its most rigorous test to date, and their results have ruled out the possibility that primordial black holes smaller than a tenth of a millimeter make up most of dark matter. They used the gravitational lensing effect to look for primordial black holes between Earth and the Andromeda galaxy. However, gravitational lensing effects are very rare events because it requires a star in the Andromeda galaxy, a primordial black hole acting as the gravitational lens, and an observer on Earth to be exactly in line with one another. In order to maximise the chances of capturing an event, the researchers used the Hyper Suprime-Cam digital camera on the Subaru telescope in Hawaii, which can capture the whole image of the Andromeda galaxy in one shot. Taking into account how fast primordial black holes are expected to move in interstellar space, the team took multiple images to be able to catch the flicker of a star as it brightens for a period of a few minutes to hours due to gravitational lensing. The team’s results showed primordial black holes can contribute no more than 0.1% of all dark matter mass. Therefore, it is unlikely the theory is true.

Notes:
India has recently signed an agreement with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Consultancy Service (NABCONS) for setting up India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD) in Malawi. The agreement is a part of India’s efforts to enhance capacity in the areas of agro-financing and entrepreneurship development for African countries. IAIARD will be a Pan-African Institute wherein trainees not only from Malawi but also from other African countries, will receive training to develop their human resources and build their capacity. The entire expenditure on faculty from India, the travel, logistics and training course expenses for students from other African countries will be borne by the Government of India (GoI) for an initial period of 3 years. This institute will be the first of its kind developed in an African country by India. This will further strengthen the bilateral relations with Malawi and India’s relations with African Union.

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The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is observed every year on April 4 to raise awareness about landmines, explosive remnants of war, and progress toward their eradication. The 2019 Theme is “United Nations Promotes SDGs – Safe Ground – Safe Home”.

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On April 5, Telecom giant Samsung Electronics released the Galaxy S10 5G in South Korea. It is the world’s first available smartphone with built-in fifth-generation communications. Earlier, South Korea became the first country to roll out a super-fast 5G mobile network nationwide, which allows users to download entire movies almost instantaneously. Three South Korean carriers – SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus – — held launch events across Seoul for the Galaxy S10, whose base version costs 1.39 million won ($1,200). Thus, commercializing 5G gives South Korea the chance to build around the technology, which is crucial for the future development of devices such as autonomous vehicles and the Internet of Things (IoT).