Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
Zuzana Caputova, a liberal environmental activist and a political newcomer, has been elected as the first female President of Slovakia. She framed the election as a struggle between good and evil. With 58% of the vote, Caputova edged out European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, a diplomat backed by the county’s governing Smer-Social Democracy party. She is set to take office on June 15, after the tenure of incumbent Slovak President Andrej Kiska finishes.

Notes:
On April 1, ISRO has successfully launched India’s latest EMISAT defence satellite from the Sriharikota spaceport. In today’s mission, the rocket PSLV-C45 flew in a new configuration called “QL”. In this configuration, the rocket is fitted with four longer versions of strap-on motors that provide the vehicle the required additional thrust. Earlier, the rocket used to be in “XL” version with six strap-on motors or two or with no strap-on motors known as core alone configuration. The PSLV-C45 successfully injected EMISAT in a 748-km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 28 international customer satellites in a 504-km orbit. Of these, 24 are from the US, two from Lithuania, and one each from Spain and Switzerland. EMISAT is a satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus weighing about 436 kg. The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.

Notes:
The 13th edition of Earth Hour 2019 was observed on March 30 with theme “#Connect2Earth” to encourage people across the world to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. It calls for greater awareness and more sparing use of resources, especially fossil fuels that produce carbon gases and lead to global warming. On this day, the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-India made an appeal to citizens to join the Earth Hour 2019 to inspire millions across the country to shift to more sustainable practices and minimize negative impacts on the planet.

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:
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:
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:
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.

Notes:
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.

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:
Vipin Anand Monday has recently taken charge as the new Managing Director (MD) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Prior to this, he was in charge of LIC’s western zone, comprising of 23 divisions, covering the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Union Territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. During his service of more than 35 years, Anand has handled several important assignments in various capacities and departments. He was instrumental in setting up LIC’s operations in Singapore and Bangladesh.