Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
The National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD) is observed every year on 11th of April to raise awareness about the proper healthcare of women and maternity facilities to pregnant and lactating women. This day also raise awareness for the prevention of child marriages that may be an indirect cause of maternal deaths. The 2019 theme is “Midwives for Mothers”. India is the first country in the world to have officially declared a National Safe Motherhood Day.

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Alice G. Vaidyan, the CMD of the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) of India, has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of her work to promote insurance ties between India and the UK. The Freedom of the City of London dates back to the 13th century and has since developed into an honour bestowed upon individuals who make an impact in the financial hub of London, referred to as the City or the Square Mile. The Freedom of the City of London is a very special and ancient tradition.

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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.

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On 13th April 2019, the nation paid homage to the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on the centenary of the incident. On this day in 1919, hundreds of innocent Indians were killed by troops under British Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, during a peaceful meeting on Baisakhi at the park in Amritsar, Punjab. Here, the civilians had assembled for a peaceful protest to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. The massacre is one of the darkest chapters of India’s freedom struggle against the British occupation. The official death toll by the British government was put at 379, but Indian figures put the toll at closer to 1,000. Even after 100 years, the British government has only regretted the massacre but stopped short of apologizing for the killing of so many innocent people.

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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.

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The world’s foremost Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre in UAE from April 30 to 1st May, 2019. The aim of the inaugural ‘AI Everything (AIE)’ is to empower global dialogue on the future of government, business and society. The two-day event will bring together world leaders to define the underlying pillars of governance, business and society – augmenting the world’s happiness. It will be hosted by the UAE National Programme for Artificial Intelligence, with the support of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and in strategic partnership with Smart Dubai. The AIE will unravel real-world use cases across industries, and forge collaborations and partnerships, hosting over 130 influential speakers.

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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.

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Bibhu Kalyan Nayak from Bhubaneswar has become the first Indian to be appointed Chair of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Health and Safety Committee by the world governing body. He will serve a two-year term lasting till the first executive board meeting after Congress 2020. He has extensively trained in Sports Traumatology and Sports and Exercise Physiology from National Institute of Sports Medicine at Havana, Cuba & National Sports Centre at Madrid, Spain. Nayak also served as a medical officer for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. He was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps of the Indian Army in 1995 and has worked in the Army Sports Institute, Pune for six years.

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The International Day of Human Space Flight is observed every year on April 12 to mark the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes. On 12th April 1961 the first human space flight was carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen. This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity.

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UN cultural experts have recently offered to help in rebuilding the iconic structure of the famed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The cathedral is a universal symbol and the centre of France and its devastation has left people across nations shocked. UNESCO World Heritage Centre Director Mechtild Rossler said that the Cathedral is part of the World Heritage site officially known as “Paris, Banks of the Seine”, inscribed on the World Heritage List, in 1991’. The Notre Dame represents a historically, architecturally, and spiritually, outstanding universal heritage. It is also a monument of literary heritage. The cathedral, where construction began in the 1160s extending for more than a century, is considered to be the finest example of the French Gothic style of architecture, with its groundbreaking use of rib vaults and buttresses, stained glass rosettes and sculpted ornaments.