Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2019

Notes:
On 26th August 2019, the 10-day annual festival of the famous Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple has started in Tamil Nadu with a formal flag hoisting ceremony in the sprawling temple premises. The main ceremony of the crowning of Lord Sundareswara will be held on 7th of September, after which Lord Sundareswar will accept the reign of Madurai for six months. One of the interesting aspects of the festival is the enactment of various incidents in the lives of Lord Sundareswara and Goddess Meenakshi. In one of the important incidents enacted during the annual festival, Lord Sundareswar disguises himself as a labourer to help a poor old woman called Pittu. Music and dance performances as well as processions will be held in the brightly lit temple premises including the famous Golden Lotus pond and the Thousand Pillared Hall. It is notable that the Golden Lotus pond was thoroughly cleaned recently and natural water resources underneath the pond were revived using eco friendly geo carpeting technology.

Notes:
India will host the Conference Of Parties (COP 14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 2nd to 13th of September 2019 at the India Mart and Expo in the Greater Noida area of New Delhi. The event will see participation of over 3000 representatives from over 200 countries which will include Ministers from around 100 countries. The focus of the conference will be on desertification and degradation of land.

Notes:
Prabhakar Singh, Director General (DG) of Central Public Works Department (CPWD), has been chosen for the ‘Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2019’ by the Institution of Engineers (India) for his distinguished and exemplary Service in the field of Engineering and Technology. This Elite and Prestigious Award shall be conferred to him on the ‘Engineers Day’ on September 15, 2019 in New Delhi. Singh is an IIT Graduate and MBA from one of the Premier Business Institute of the Country. His enormous contributions and dedicated Service to the Nation as an Eminent Technocrat has been instrumental in transforming the Premier Engineering Organisation of the Central Government – CPWD.

Notes:
Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya was the India’s first woman Director General of Police (DGP) who passed away in Mumbai on 26th August 2019. Hailing from Amritsar in Punjab, she made history in 2004 when she was appointed as the DGP of Uttarakhand & become the first woman in the country to hold such position. Bhattacharya was also the 2nd woman IPS officer in the country, the first being Kiran Bedi. After retirement in 2007, she took a plunge into politics by contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha election on an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s ticket from Haridwar constituency. Though, she could not make it to the lower house of Parliament.

Notes:
Despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region, Russia has launched the world’s first floating nuclear reactor – Akademik Lomonosov – across the Arctic. It was loaded with nuclear fuel from the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000km voyage to voyage to Pevek in northeastern Siberia. The reactor’s trip is expected to last between four and six weeks, depending on the weather conditions and the amount of ice on the way. The vessel weighs 21,000 tons and has two reactors with a capacity of 35 megawatts each, close to that of those used by nuclear icebreakers. It has a crew of 69 and travels at a speed of 3.5 to 4.5 knots. However, environmental groups have warned dangers of unprecedented project & dubbed it a potential “Chernobyl on ice” and a “nuclear Titanic”. Though, Russia claims the project will provide clean energy to the remote region and allow authorities to retire an ageing nuclear plant and a coal-burning power station.

Notes:
From 1st September 2019, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to launched a mega 10-week anti-mosquito campaign against dengue and chikungunya that aims to increase the participation of residents in preventing their spread. The initiative titled ‘10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute – Har Ravivar, dengue par war’. As part of the campaign, the government has asked the people of Delhi to give 10 minutes every Sunday at 10 a.m. to check all sources of stagnant water at their homes as the dengue mosquitoes breed only in clean water.

Notes:
On 30th August, the 2019 edition of Malayala Manorama New Conclave was held in Kochi. It is the Kerala’s first and only news conclave deals with the most contemporary and compelling theme―New India; New government; New aspirations; New challenges; New frontiers; New avenues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the conclave via video-conference from New Delhi. During the conclave, discussions were held on varied topics like new Indian nationalist, politics, new boundaries of belief, youth, and opportunities for Kerala. On this occasion, Shashi Tharoor launched a language challenge on twitter – #LanguageChallenge – to help people learn one word each from languages other than their mother tongue. The initiative began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the media to unite India with the help of language.

Notes:
The Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019 has been released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Tokyo has been ranked first in the SCI index, followed by Singapore and Osaka. The index ranks 60 countries worldwide across five continents and measures the multi-faceted nature of urban safety, with indicators categorized as digital, infrastructure, health and personal security. From India, Mumbai has been ranked as the 45th safest city on the SCI, while Delhi stood at the 52nd position.

Notes:
On 2019 National Sports Day (NSD), Gagan Narang and Pawan Singh have been honoured with the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar for their Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (GNSPF) at the Arjuna Awards ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The award recognizes their contribution in the growth of their favourite sport and a reward for sacrifices they have made to realize their dream. In 2011, Narang and co-founder Pawan Singh founded GNSPF to nurture budding talent and provide them training in a systematic and structured and also education to help carve out future champions. The Gun For Glory Shooting Academy — formed under the aegis of GNSPF — has 16 centres spread across India and has over 50 shooters getting international level coaching. The academy shooters have won over 165 international medals and many of them are a regular feature in the national team.

Notes:
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 5th edition of Aqua Aquaria India 2019, which is organized by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The event was held at HITEX exhibition center in Hyderabad from 30th August to 1st September. The theme of the 2019 edition is “To take Blue Revolution to India’s hinterland”. The event showcased the recent advances in aquaculture and ornamental fish breeding / rearing technology for encouraging diversification and promotes intensification in a sustainable manner. It is a biennial exhibition. Aqua Aquaria also showcased the diversification of potential species like sea-bass, Tilapia, Mud crab, which will boost the export-oriented aquaculture.