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 Hongkou district of Shanghai has recently claimed to have the world’s first district with 5G coverage and a broadband gigabit network. It conducted trial runs of the 5G network, backed by telecom services provider China Mobile. Shanghai also aims to build over 10,000 5G base stations by the end of this year and the number of 5G base stations could cross 30,000 in 2021. 5G is the next generation of cellular technology with download speed 10 to 100 times faster than the 4G LTE networks.

Notes:
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.

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:
J Mahendra (79), the veteran filmmaker, screenwriter and actor, has passed away in Chenai, Tamil Nadu on 2nd April 2019. He was known for infusing realism in Tamil cinema and for giving superstar Rajinikanth his career breakthrough with “Mullum Malarum”. He started his journey in the movies as a screenplay writer and made his directorial debut with 1978 film “Mullum Malarum”. The director’s popularity peaked with his movies “Uthiri Pookkal” (1979) and “Nenjathai Killathey” (1980). In the past few years, Mahendran had switched to acting. He played pivotal parts in “Kamaraj” (2004), “Petta” opposite Rajinikanth and Vijay’s “Theri”. He was last seen in Tamil film “Boomerang”, which released on March 8. Mahendran was also the founding member of Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy here.

Notes:
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:
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:
In Kerala, the group of science experts of the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology has decided to launch ‘Café Scientifique’ to promote science among public in an interesting way. It is the first such initiative in the state to popularise the subject. It envisages to bring science back into popular culture by demystifying scientific research for the public and empowering non-scientists to comfortably assess science and technology issues, particularly those that impact social policy making. The project is also aimed at making science relevant, powerful and important to the public, especially the younger generations. Here, various topics such as universe, climate change, evolution, genetics and human-animal relations will be discussed in every monthly gathering. It is a grassroots public science initiative based on the French Café Philosophique model.

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:
The Indian Army has constructed the 260 feet long cable-suspension bridge ‘Maitri Bridge’ over Indus river at Choglamsar village in Leh in a record time of 40 days. It is the longest suspension bridge over the river and is built by combat engineers of the ‘Sahas aur Yogyata’ regiment of the Indian Army’s ‘Fire and Fury Corps’. The name of the bridge, “Maitri”, is meant to symbolise the amity and solidarity between soldiers and locals. The bridge is expected to improve connectivity in remote regions of Leh and Ladakh. It will connect the remote areas of Choglamsar, Stok and Chuchot, which are said to be the largest villages in the region.