Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

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:
The United States has recently designated Iran’s elite military force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA). The move, which takes effect on April 15, is part of an effort to put maximum pressure on Iran to end its support for terrorist plots and militant activity that destabilizes the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran has also designated U.S. military bases and their military forces as terrorist bases and terrorist forces in the region. The IRGC is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. It was formed after the 1979 Islamic revolution with a mission to defend the clerical regime.

Notes:
A bench headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel has constituted a committee to look into the alleged erosion of Yamuna floodplain due to movement of heavy vehicles in Haryana’s Sonipat district. The directions came when the green panel was hearing a plea which said that the policy of permitting heavy vehicles in the embankments of the river is “destructing the ecology”. The committee will comprise Principal Secretary of the Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Member Secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board and Director of the Mines and Geology Department. The tribunal said the committee would submit a joint report within one month by e-mail so that matter can be taken up before the monsoon.

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:
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:
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has recently released a State of World Population 2019 report. The report stated that India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2% between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion, which is more than double the annual growth rate of China. According to the report, in India, total fertility rate per woman was 5.6 in 1969, dropping to 3.7 in 1994 and 2.3 in 2019. India also recorded an improvement in life expectancy at birth. The life expectancy at birth in 1969 was 47 years, growing to 60 years in 1994 and 69 years in 2019. As per India’s population composition in 2019, 27% of the population was in the age bracket of 0-14 years and 10-24 years each, 67% in the 15-64 age bracket and 6% was of the age 65 and above. The report noted that Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country dropped from 488 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1994 to 174 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015.

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.

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:
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.

Notes:
Harsheel Dani from India has clinched the 2019 Dutch International badminton title at Hague in Netherlands. In the final, he defeated Mads Christophersen of Denmark by 15-21, 21-12, 21-13.