Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

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:
Vikram Kirloskar, the CMD of Kirloskar Systems Ltd, has taken charge as the new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He succeeded Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises. Uday Kotak, the founder and MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, is the President-Designate and T.V. Narendran, the CEO & MD of Tata Steel, is the Vice President for 2019-20.

Notes:
The Sri Lankan army has decided to conduct its largest ever military exercise titled ‘Exercise Western Shield’ in July 2019 to provide an opportunity for army trainees to march through areas that are not usually accessible to others, except forest conservation authorities. It will see participation of over 5,000 soldiers and will extend from Mannar to Puttalam, including Kalpitiya, Wilpattu National Park, Mavillu and Thabbowa Forest Reserves and the Western coastal belt. The exercise is coincided with 10 years since the end of the island’s 30-year civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Notes:
Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to undertake joint research and development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy. This will be a collaborative arrangement between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and Indian industry. The MoU would facilitate joint R&D activities in diverse fields of Mechanical, Electronics, Communication, Computer Science, Propulsion systems, Metallurgy and Nanotechnology.

Notes:
Isaak Hayik has set a new world record as the oldest person to play in a professional soccer match at the age of 73. He broke the record after playing as a goalkeeper for Israeli team Ironi Or Yehuda against Maccabi Ramat Gan on April 5, 2019. Hayik was officially recognised in an award ceremony attended by representatives from the Guinness World Record organisation. The previous record was held by Robert Carmona of Uruguay, who in 2015 played a professional match with Uruguay’s Pan de Azucar at the age of 53.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) has been ranked as the top institute in the overall category in the latest edition of National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019 and is followed by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IIT Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, JNU, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati and BHU. The NIRF is a Ministry of HRD initiative and released annually. On the other hand, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore secured the top spot in the management college ranking followed by IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta. The National Law School of Indian in Bengaluru grabbed the top spot under the law category while Indian Institute of Technology was ranked first in the Architecture category. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, followed by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and Christian Medical College, Vellore were ranked as the top three medical colleges.

Notes:
The joint military exercise titled “Bold Kurukshetra-2019” was held between the Indian Army and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) at Babina Cantonment in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh from April 8 to 11. The purpose of the exercise was to develop military technology, enhance the maritime security and bolster the nations’ fight against terrorism.

Notes:
India’s education technology startup ‘Dost Education’ has bagged a 25,000 Next Billion Edtech Prize 2019 for its ability to empower parents to take charge of their child’s early education by creating short, friendly audio content that is sent to them via their mobile phones. Besides India’s Dost, two other winners also receive 25,000 each included Ubongo from Tanzania and PraxiLabs from Egypt. The prize, which is run by UK-based Varkey Foundation, recognises the most innovative technology destined to have a radical impact on education in low income and emerging world countries.

Notes:
In a major boost for the Indian Army, the Government of India (GoI) has recently cleared the procurement of 464 T-90 tanks from Russia in a deal worth over Rs 13,500 crore. Under the new deal, the T-90 tanks would be provided to the Armoured Corps of the force which will use them for deployment along the border with Pakistan. The contract will also include a Make-in-India element for integration at the Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi near Chennai. The T-90 would be equipped with thermal imaging night sights to allow the tank commander to strike enemy locations during night battles. The new inductions will also strengthen the Army’s fire-power along the land border stretch with Pakistan — from Jammu in the north till the western flank in Gujarat. The new deal would increase the number of T-90s in the Army to close to 2,000 along with the remaining T-72 and T-55s.

Notes:
India’s flagship programme, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) (or Namami Gange) was awarded the distinction of “Public Water Agency of the Year” by Global Water Intelligence at the Global Water Summit (GWS) in London on April 9. The GWS was the major business conference for the water industry worldwide. The coveted awards recognize excellence across the entire international water industry and reward those initiatives in the water, wastewater, and desalination sectors which bring remarkable improvements in the lives of people. The Namami Gange programme an integrated conservation mission with a budget of Rs 20,000 crore to accomplish the objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga. The project covers 8 states and seeks to fully connect all 1,632 Gram Panchayats along the Ganga to a sanitation system by 2022. Its mission aims at providing comprehensive and sustainable solutions for major pollution hot spots along the stretch of 97 towns and 4,465 villages on the Ganga stem.