Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

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:
The National Maritime Day (NMD) of India is celebrated every year on April 5 to spread awareness in supporting intercontinental commerce and the global economy. On this day, in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, journeyed to the United Kingdom. It was a crucial step for Indian shipping history when sea routes were controlled by the British. The theme of the 56th edition of the NMD 2019 is “Indian Ocean-An Ocean of opportunity”. According to the Directorate General of Shipping, India now has 43 shipping companies owning 1,401 ships with a combined 12.69 million gross tonnage’ as of December 2018.

Notes:
Tata Steel has been named as the ‘Global Slag Company of the Year’ at the 14th Global Slag Conference and Exhibition 2019 in Aachen, Germany. It is one of the largest global annual slag events, attended by major steelmakers, steel mill service providers & associated companies. The award was presented to Tata Steel for its innovative practices in development of new applications for Steel by-products (Slag). The award demonstrates global recognition of Tata Steels commitment towards sustainability & circular economy principles.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The World Homeopathy Day (WHD) is observed every year on 10th of April to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Homeopathy, Dr Christian Fredrich Samuel Hahnemann. On the occasion, the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) is organizing a two-day convention in New Delhi. The council will take stock of the challenges faced and formulate future strategies for the development of Homeopathy in the country. The theme of the convention is linking research with education and clinical practice. CCRH is an autonomous research organisation of Ministry of AYUSH.

Notes:
Graham Reid from Australia has been appointed as the new chief coach of the India men’s hockey team till the end of 2020. As per industry standards, every international coach’s contract is supposed to be for an Olympic cycle. But his tenure can be extended till 2022 FIH World Cup depending upon his performance. Hence, everything will depend on India’s performances leading upto the Tokyo Olympics. Reid had a decorated playing career for the Australian national team and was part of the silver medal winning team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He also comes with a strong coaching experience, having worked with the Australian and the Netherlands national teams.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
In a bid to further improve the cash position of banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently tweaked Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) norms to provide an additional 2% window to lenders. The move will harmonise the liquidity requirements of banks and release additional money for lending. The LCR indicates the proportion of highly liquid assets held by banks to ensure their ability to meet short-term obligations. In a statement on ‘Developmental and Regulatory Policies’ the RBI has extended the timeline for linking floating interest rates on personal, home, auto and MSEs loans to external benchmarks.

Notes:
To empower AGRI, MSME segment and small businesses, the State Bank of India (SBI) has signed the first co-origination loan agreement with PAISALO Digital Limited. It is the first agreement of its kind in the country that SBI has signed. This will introduce a platform for the last mile customer. Here, the loan ticket is designed at Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh. The company expects to disburse 200,000 loan applications in FY20. The move is to enable the customers to reach with ease and use the platform for smooth loan disbursal and repayment easily. PAISALO Digital Ltd is a systemically important non-deposit taking NBFC registered with the Reserve Bank of India and has been in operations since 1992.

Notes:
Scientists have recently discovered new species of ancient human excavations in Philippines. This newly identified species named Humo Luzonensis after Luzon Island, where bones and teeth from individuals of this species were excavated from Callao Cave. The small size of the bones suggests this archaic human would have been shorter than 4ft tall – possibly even shorter than another ancient species – Homo floresiensis. The specimens of H. luzonensis were dated to 50,000 and 67,000 years old (Late Pleistocene period), which suggests that the species was alive at the same time as several other hominins belonging to the genus Homo, including Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo floresiensis. Thus, this discovery claims finding to be the earliest direct evidence human presence in Philippines.