Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
World No.1 Bajrang Punia made India proud once again by clinching the India’s first gold at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2019 in Xi’an, China. Punia logged 10 points in a row in the gold medal bout to reclaim his Asian Championship crown. He defeated Kazakhstan’s Sayatbek Okassov 12-7 in a nail-biting 65kg men’s freestyle final. It is Bajrang’s second gold at this championship, having won one in 2017. Another Indian Parveen Rana, lost to Bahman Mohammad Teymouri of Iran in the final 0-3 in 79kg category securing a silver medal. In 97 Kg category, Satywart Kadian picked a bronze defeating Haobin Gao of China by 8-2.

Notes:
The UN English Language Day is observed every year on 23rd of April to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization. These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. For the English language, 23 April was chosen because it is the date traditionally observed as both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare.

Notes:
Scientists have long been known that Mercury and the Earth have metallic cores. Like Earth, Mercury’s outer core is composed of liquid metal, but there have only been hints that Mercury’s innermost core is solid. Now, in a new study, scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland have found evidence that Mercury’s inner core is indeed solid and that it is very nearly the same size as Earth’s inner core. To explore what the core of Mercury is made of the science team used several observations from the NASA’s MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission looking at the planet’s spin and gravity. The findings of Mercury’s solid inner core not only help scientists better understand Mercury but also offer clues about how the solar system formed and how rocky planets change over time. The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Notes:
Michelin-star chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna has been named as brand ambassador of Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) at the Consulate General of India in New York City. The IAAC will organise the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF -2019) that will showcase 30 Indian feature-length films, including three documentaries. It will also bring to the audience of New York 30 shorts and 19 regional films, including Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Tamil, Malyalam cinema. The fest is the North America’s longest-running and most prestigious Indian film festival from May 7 to 12. It will also showcase the celebrity chef’s film ‘The Last Color’ and Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer ‘Photograph’. Khanna’s ‘The Last has won rave reviews at various international film festivals for its lead actress Neena Gupta, who plays a widow living a life of abstinence and isolation in the ancient Indian city of Banaras.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched India’s first ‘Green Car Loan’ (Electric Vehicle) to encourage customers to buy electric vehicles. The new scheme will offer loan at 20 basis points lesser than the interest rate on the existing car loan schemes. Additionally, borrowers will also get a longer repayment period. The EMI per Rs 1 lakh will be lower at Rs. 1,468 for 96 months against Rs.1,622 for 84 months, based on the maximum tenor, in line with the existing scheme. The move is in line with the Union Government’s endeavour to ensure that India has 30% of EVs out of all vehicles by 2030.

Notes:
Indian Army signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to construct four underground tunnels for storage of ammunition along the China and Pakistan border. This is a pilot project and the tunnels are expected to be completed within two years. The cost of the pilot project is around Rs 15 crore. At Under the pilot project, three tunnels will be built on China border while one will be built along the Line of Control with Pakistan. The project is meant to bolster the Indian Army’s capabilities along the Chinese border where India’s infrastructural development is far outpaced by that of China. Besides strengthening the defensive capabilities, the tunnels will protect the ammunition and other stored equipment from the air-strikes and detection by the enemy satellite. present, ammunition dumps are mostly over-ground and could be targeted by the enemies and their spies.

Notes:
Rama Sengupta Paul (66), the Veteran lady mountaineer, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. She led the first successful all-women expedition to Kedarnath Dome in Garhwal Himalaya which was organized by city-based Himalayan Association to commemorate the International Year of Women in 1975.

Notes:
The Modern Slavery Innovation Fund (MSIF) supports international projects to trial innovative ways of stopping modern slavery, It is in news recently because Britain has pledged £4 million to support global anti-slavery projects. Six organizations – Anti-Slavery International and the United Nations University, Stronger Together, The Freedom Fund , Retrak and Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) – will share the aid money from MSIF. The funding will also be used to run workshops on modern slavery in South Africa, improve support for survivors in India, and develop an online data hub to boost anti-slavery policies. The MSIF was announced in 2016 and previously gave £6 million to schemes such as awareness-raising campaigns in Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam. The Freedom Fund will work in India and Nepal to enhance victim care of frontline workers.

Notes:
The World Day For Safety And Health At Work is observed every year on 28th of April by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote safe, healthy and decent work. The day marks the need and awareness of a safe and healthy environment at the workplace. All of us spend most of our day at our workplaces and it is a necessity that our workplace is safe and secure, and we feel healthy and happy while we are there. It is both the duty of the management and the employees to make sure the best of conditions and environment are provided to the employees to make sure their productivity is always on the rise, and they are healthy throughout the year.

Notes:
The BCCI recommended Indian pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and women’s team spinner Poonam Yadav for the 2019 Arjuna award. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) in New Delhi. Bumrah is currently playing in the IPL for Mumbai Indians (MI). He is a regular across all three formats of cricket for the country. He will be spearheading India’s campaign in the upcoming World Cup in the UK. Pacer Shami has been a crucial cog in the Indian bowling set up. All-rounder Jadeja has also made a comeback in the limited overs team and has been named in the 15-member squad for the World Cup. The 27-year-old leg-spinner, Poonam, is the fourth name to be nominated for the coveted award. She has picked up 63 wickets from 41 ODIs and 74 wickets from 54 T20 games.