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:
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 book titled “Kundan: Saigal’s Life & Music” has been penned by Sharad Dutt, documentary filmmaker and former DDG of Doordarshan. The genius of legendary singer K L Saigal, his timeless compositions and the golden era of Indian cinema have been brought alive in a book. The book has been trans-created in English by Jyoti Sabharwal of Stellar Publishers and will be released on April 4, the 115th birth anniversary of Saigal. Some of Saigal’s all time hits are ‘Jab dil hi toot gaya’, ‘Ek bangla bane nyara’, ‘Dukhake din aab bitat nahin’, ‘Duniyamen hun duniyaka talabgaar nahin hun’ and ‘So ja rajkumari so ja’.

Notes:
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has conferred the prestigious Zayed Medal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a “big boost’ to bilateral strategic ties between the two countries. The award comes in appreciation of PM Modi’s role in consolidating the long-standing friendship and joint strategic cooperation between the two countries. The Zayed Medal is the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states.

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.

Notes:
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has said that its Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid Ryugu to make a crater on its surface. The move will pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system. For this, the Hayabusa2 dropped a “small carry-on impactor” made of copper onto the asteroid and the spacecraft safely evacuated and remained intact. Now, JAXA is analyzing data to examine if or how the impactor made a crater. The copper explosive is the size of a baseball weighing 2 kg. If successful, it would be the first time for a spacecraft to take such materials. The asteroid, named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) from Earth. Earlier, Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a tiny flat surface on the boulder-rich asteroid in February 2019, when the spacecraft also collected some surface dust and small debris.

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.

Notes:
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has tied up with IIT Delhi to collaborate in the field of standardisation and conformity assessment. Under the MoU, the two have agreed to set-up a Centre of Excellence in the field of Standardisation, Testing and Conformity Assessment with the BIS branding at IIT-Delhi campus. Both have also agreed to appoint a Chair in the field of standardisation and conformity assessment. According to the MoU, IIT Delhi will provide infrastructure support for research and development projects of relevance to standardisation and BIS will provide financial support to IIT Delhi for projects. Initially, the MoU will remain in force for a period of five years and can be extended further.

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:
To counter growing Chinese footprint in Indian ocean region, the Indian Navy has initiated the process to acquire six lethal submarines under the ambitious Project-75 India (I). The project would cost Rs 50,000 crore. Under Project 75-India, the Navy wants to build six conventional diesel-electric submarines which would be almost 50% bigger than the under-construction Scorpene class submarines being built at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited in Mumbai. As per the requirements stated by the maritime force, it wants the submarines to be equipped with heavy-duty firepower as it wants the boats to have at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) along with Anti-Ship cruise missiles (ASCM).