Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
Two schemes of the West Bengal government for skill development and distribution of bi-cycles to students have won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS-2019) awards under the aegis of the United Nations in Geneva. The schemes are “Utkarsh Bangla” and “Sabooj Sathi”. Out of 1062 nominations in 18 categories, Utkarsh Bangla got the topmost award and emerged a winner in Capacity Building category. Sabooj Sathi ranked in the first five as a champion project under ICT application: E-Government category. The “Utkarsh Bangla” project aims at creating a pool of skilled candidates who are industry ready, while under the “Sabooj Sathi” scheme, bi-cycles are distributed to students between class IX and XII studying in government run and government aided schools and madrashas of the state. Earlier, in 2017, the West Bengal government had received another UN award for its ‘Kanyashree’ project, a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at promoting education among girls. The WSIS Prizes is an international contest to create an effective mechanism to evaluate and recognise individuals, governments and private bodies for outstanding success in implementing development oriented strategies that leverage the power of ICTs as an enabler of the development.

Notes:
Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik has been named the recipient of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for 2019 in recognition of her inspiring achievements. She will travel to New Zealand as a Sir Edmund Hillary Prime Minister’s Fellow and meet with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as well as visit Paralympic sporting organizations. Here, she will work to promote sporting, cultural as well people-to-people relationship between India and New Zealand. Till date, she has won 58 national and 23 international medals and has been honoured with the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award. Deepa won the silver in shot put F53 event in 2016 Rio Paralympics. Athletes in F53 category can do only seated throws and they have full muscle power on their shoulder, elbow and wrist in the throwing arm. She recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Notes:
Professor Najma Akhtar has become the first-ever woman Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMI) for a period of five years or until she attains the age of 70 years, She is also the first lady vice chancellor of any central university in Delhi. Ms. Akhtar has four decades of academic scholarship in educational leadership. She is known for spearheading international educational administrators’ course for senior officials from 130 countries for more than 15 years at National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in New Delhi.

Notes:
Shiv Das Meena, an IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre of 1989-Batch, has been appointed as the CMD of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC). He will succeed Dr. Anoop Kumar Mittal. The NBCC is a blue-chip Government of India (GoI) Navratna enterprise and is headquartered in New Delhi.

Notes:
On April 12, the Russia government announced its decision to confer the Order of St Andrew the Apostle – the highest state decoration of the country on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decoration is being given to Mr Modi for his exceptional services in promoting special and privileged strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and India and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian people. The Order was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great, in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia. This is the 7th international award conferred on Mr Modi since he became the premier in 2014. The others are the Zayed Medal of the UAE (2019), the Seoul Peace Prize, UN Champions of the Earth Award, Grand Collar of the State of Palestine (all in 2018), Amir Abdullah Khan Award of Afghanistan and King Abdullaziz Sash of Saudi Arabia (both in 2016). Four of the awards are from Islamic states.

Notes:
To make Google Pay more useful for Indian customers, Google has partnered with MMTC-PAMP India to introduce buying and selling of gold through the app. Through this partnership with India’s only London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)-accredited gold refinery, Google Pay users will be able to buy 99.99% 24-karat gold. Google Pay users can now purchase gold for any value, which will be stored on behalf of the user in secure vaults by MMTC-PAMP. Users can buy and sell this gold any time at the latest price, refreshed every few minutes on the Google Pay app. Other mobile wallet providers such as Paytm, MobiKwik and PhonePe too provide the facility of buying gold from their wallet apps.

Notes:
India will be the Guest of Honour country at the 29th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF 2019), which is scheduled to be held from April 24th to 30th. The fair aims to highlight the UAE’s rich heritage, showcasing its authenticity and modernity, as well as its cultural and literary output. India’s participation in the fair is expected to attract significant increase in the number of visitors with various events and activities which will be held throughout the entire duration of ADIBF. The Indian Pavilion will host Indian writers, authors and literary scholars who will serve as ambassadors for the literature and art of their country.

Notes:
Meena Kumari Maisnam from Manipur clinched gold in the 54 kg category at the 2019 Boxing World Cup in Cologne, Germany. Reigning youth world champion Sakshi (57 kg) and India Open champion Pwilao Basumatary (64 kg) lost their final bouts and finished with silver medals. Hence, India completed a haul of five medals from this prestigious European tournament following Pinki Rani (51kg) and Parveen (60kg)’s bronze medal wins on 13th April 2019.

Notes:
In Kerala, people are celebrating the Malayalam New Year “Vishu” with traditional gaiety and fervor on 15th April 2019. The word Vishu means ‘equal’ in Sanskrit, and it marks the sun’s transit to the Mesha rashi (the first astrological sign in the zodiac). The day begins with people taking Kani darshanam (or Vishu kani) soon after waking up. The elders or women in the family prepare the Vishu Kani a day before by using edible stuff like rice grains, cucumber, pumpkin, coconut, mangoes, betel leaves, flowers, coins and fruits and a metal vessel called “urali” in front of a mirror that reflects the image of their deity. A special yellow flower named Konna is a must in the Kani. Elders gift money ( kaineettam ) to younger members. They also exchange gifts with their loved ones and wear new clothes. On this day, devotees visit temples and offer their prayer to Lord Krishna, who is worshipped on this day. People also visit Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple, Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple or the Kulathupuzha Sree BaalaShastha Temple to have a ‘Vishukkani Kazhcha’viewing in the early hours of the day. And like all other festivals, Vishu is incomplete without an elaborate meal. There will a delicious meal -the Sadya which consists of different varieties of preparations.

Notes:
Forbes has recently compiled a first-ever list of the World’s Best Bank 2019 in terms of customer services and technological advancements. The private lender, HDFC Bank, was ranked at the top of the Forbes list of Indian banks, followed by ICICI Bank, DBS, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC Bank. However, India’s largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), did not even make it to top 10 of the list and was ranked 11th by the customers.Forbes had partnered with Statista, a market research company, to measure the best banks in 23 countries. Interestingly, this survey ignored any financial performances like P&L statements and balance sheets in favour of a customer’s opinion. The survey compiled data from around 40,000 customers around the world for their opinions on their banking relationships. The banks were rated on the basis of 5 key attributes – trust, digital services, financial advice and fees.