Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently released the report titled ‘The Safety and Health at the Heart of the Future of Work – Building on 100 years of experience’. In it, the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands of people is among the world’s “major industrial accidents” of the 20th century (after 1919). In December 1984, at least 30 tons of methyl isocyanate gas was released from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Madhya Pradesh capital and it affected more than 600,000 workers and nearby inhabitants. Apart from the Bhopal gas tragedy, its list included the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in the erstwhile Soviet Union, the 2011 Fukushima disaster and the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2013, which killed 1,132 people.

Notes:
Iran and Pakistan have decided to set up a Joint Border Reaction Force (JBRF) following a number of deadly attacks by militant groups on their frontier. The announcement comes following tensions between the two countries who have in recent months accused each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border. The The Iran-Pakistan border skirts the volatile southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan which has been the scene of frequent attacks on Iran’s security forces.

Notes:
The ‘Utkarsh Bangla’ scheme of the West Bengal government has won the prestigious 2019 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) award of the United Nations. The scheme aims to create a pool of skilled candidates industry ready. Out of 1062 nominations in 18 categories from all over the world, Utkarsh Bangla emerged No 1 in the Capacity Building category to win this prestigious award of WSIS. 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. 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:
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:
The World Malaria Day (WMD) is observed every year on 25th of April to raise awareness and funds for the treatment and prevention of the disease. The day also highlights the need for sustained investment and political commitment for malaria prevention, control and elimination. As part of the WMD 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched grassroots campaign ‘Zero malaria starts with me’ to keep malaria high on the political agenda, mobilize additional resources, and empower communities to take ownership of malaria prevention and care.

Notes:
On 26th April, Divyansh Singh Panwar bagged silver in 10m Air Rifle event with 249.0 points in the 2019 ISSF World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters in Beijing. He also secured a quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In the ongoing tournament, Divyansh had bagged a gold in 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event along with Anjum Moudgil. This is India’s fourth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota after Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle women) and Saurabh Choudhary (10m Air Pistol men) had secured berths in the earlier World Cups and last year’s World Championship.

Notes:
The Indian Council of Medical Research has launched the ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA) India’ to eliminate malaria from India by 2030. The initiative is a conglomeration of partners working on malaria control. The principal activity of the alliance is to prioritise, plan, conduct, scale up and translate relevant research in a coordinated and combinatorial way in order to have a tangible impact of this research on the population at risk for malaria. The MERA India does not intend to duplicate international efforts rather complement this on a national scale while contributing to the broader global agenda. The alliance will facilitate trans-institutional coordination and collaboration around a shared research agenda which responds not only to programmatic challenges and addresses gaps in available tools but also pro actively contributes to targeted research. It aims to harness and reinforce research in coordinated and combinatorial ways in order to achieve tangible impact on malaria elimination.

Notes:
In shooting, Abhishek Verma secured India’s fifth Olympic quota place by winning the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup at Beijing, China on April 27, 2019. He clinched the top spot with a total score of 242.7. This is India’s fifth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota after Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle women), Saurabh Choudhary (10m Air Pistol men) and Divyansh Singh Panwar had secured berths.

Notes:
Bajrang Punia is set to become the first Indian wrestler to fight at iconic Madison Square Garden in New York. Punia, who won the 65kg men’s freestyle gold at the recent 2019 Asian championships, will be among top wrestlers selected by the American governing body for the May 6 tournament. Bajrang will take on two-time US champion Yianni Diakomihalis in the 65kg category in the “Grapple at the Garden” Beat the Streets event, which since 2010 has become a major showcase for international wrestling.

Notes:
The researchers at Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi) have developed an ultrasensitive quantum thermometer using graphene quantum dots. The thermometer can precisely measure a wide range of temperature: 27 degree C to –196 degree C. It has high sensitivity when measuring different temperatures and can measure very minute (micro Kelvin) changes in temperature. It showed extremely quick response time of just about 300 milliseconds to register a change in temperature from 27 degree C to –196 degree C. And, the time taken to return to its initial temperature value was as little as about 800 milliseconds. It also showed excellent repeatability with negligible variation in sensing response when tested for over 50 cycles during a one-year period. The thermometer is developed by a team led by Prof. Saikh S. Islam, Director of the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The results of the study were published in the journal Nanoscale Advances.