Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
Global watchdog Transparency International (TI) has recently released 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. The index uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. Here, India has improved its ranking and jumped three positions to 78th with a CPI score of 41 at the 2018 index. Denmark has topped the index with 88 points, followed by New Zealand (with 87 points) and Finland with 85. Sudan was the worst with a score of 10 points, while Somalia and Syria followed it up with 13 points each. Overall, more than two-thirds of countries score below 50 in the 2018 CPI, with an average score of only 43. The 2018 index revealed that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis in democracy around the world. While there are exceptions, the data shows that despite some progress, most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption.

Notes:
The World Leprosy Day (WLD) is observed every year on the last Sunday of January to spread awareness about the disease, the impact of discrimination and social stigma attached to it and how these negative effects hamper the efforts to stop the spread of the disease. This year, in 2019, it falls on 27 January and its theme is ‘Ending discrimination, stigma and prejudice’. Leprosy (or Hansen disease) is one of the oldest recorded diseases in the world. The disease is caused by the bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae and is contagious. It is an infectious chronic disease that targets the nervous system, especially the nerves in the cooler parts of the body – the hands, feet, and face. This chronic disease can be passed on from one person to another or even by breathing airborne droplets from the affected individuals. Even cough and sneezes, or coming into contact with the affected individual nasal fluids could lead to leprosy. The infection can be contracted at any age.

Notes:
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has been renamed as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade with a mandate to deal with matters related to start-ups, facilitating ease of doing business among others. The move comes amidst demand by traders’ body CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) for forming a separate ministry for internal trade. The newly-named department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will look into matters related to promotion of internal trade, including retail trade, welfare of traders and their employees, facilitating ease of doing business and start-ups. Earlier, the matters related to internal trade were under the domain of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Notes:
Vani Kapoor has become the first Indian golfer to earn a card for the Australian Ladies PGA Tour (LPGA) after coming through its first-ever Qualifying Tournament at the Ballarat Golf Club. Vani shot rounds of 71, 78 and 69 to finish at two-over 218 and was tied-12th with three others. Vani has also qualified for Vic Open, co-sanctioned by the Australian LPGA and the US LPGA.

Notes:
As per latest survey conducted by Transparency International (TI), Assam has occupied the top slot in the ranking of best practices followed by states in Budget formulation and is followed by Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The states which figured lower in the ranking were Meghalaya, Manipur and Punjab. The survey was carried out on the basis of four parameters – public disclosure, budgetary process, post budget fiscal management and efforts to make budget more transparent and citizen friendly. Transparency International has stated in its survey report that Assam is the only state out of the 29 states and two union territories which has published a Citizens Budget in the public domain. It also stated that the Assam Government is the only government that has conducted budget awareness campaigns across 17 districts.

Notes:
As per the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO’s) periodic labor force survey (PLFS), India’s unemployment rate hit a 45 year high of 6.1% in 2017-18. The latest data on unemployment in India is the first comprehensive survey on employment conducted by a government agency after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation move in November 2016. The report, which is yet to come in public domain, stated that this level of unemployment was last seen in 1972-73. According to the survey, the rate of unemployment among rural males in the age group of 15-29 years was at 17.4%, more than three times the 2011-12 rate of 5%. A similar trend was seen in females in the same age group, where the rate jumped from 4.8% in 2011-12 to 13.6% in 2017-18. The rate of joblessness for urban youths was a whopping 18.7% for males and 27.2% for females.

Notes:
The World Heritage Centre (WHC) housing ‘spiritual camps’ of 45 countries would be set up at Mayapur in Nadia district, Kolkata. The camp of each country would reflect its culture, dress, lifestyle, food and ambiance. The process for setting up the centre got momentum after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inquired about the project at a recent administrative meeting in Nadia district. The proposed project would also showcase traditional Bengali handloom and craft as suggested by the chief minister. The estimated project cost of the proposed centre has been fixed at Rs. 3,000 crore. Mayapur is the global headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

Notes:
An acclaimed cinematographer and screenwriter and filmmaker, Govind Nihalani will be honoured with the Kalamaharshi Baburao Painter Award for his contribution to the film industry at the 2019 Kolhapur International Film Festival (KIFF). The 7th edition of the film festival is scheduled to be held from February 7 to 14. The award is named after Painter, a native of Kolhapur who was a painter, sculptor and a filmmaker of the silent film era. More than 50 feature and short films, including those from Japan, South Korea, France and Iran, among others, will be screened at a well-known multiplex here as part of the 2019 KIFF. The country focus will be on Hungarian cinema.

Notes:
In Keonjhar district, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched the new ‘KALIA Chhatravritti Yojana’ to facilitate the children of the farmers, who are the beneficiaries of the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme. Under this scholarship scheme, the beneficiaries will be provided scholarships for pursuing higher education in professional courses free of cost. Children of farmers who have taken admission at Government Professional colleges on merit basis will be eligible for the scholarship scheme. The state government has also launched drinking water projects worth Rs 1,050 crore to supply safe drinking water in the district. Patnaik also launched Mission Shakti Conclave dedicated the development projects worth Rs 45 crore.

Notes:
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has made an unexpected discovery of a new dwarf galaxy in our cosmic neighborhood. Named Bedin 1, the galaxy is approximately 30 million light-years away and 2 million light-years from the nearest plausible large galaxy host ‘NGC 6744’. The object is classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy because it measures only around 3,000 light-years at its greatest extent, and it is roughly a thousand times dimmer than our own Milky Way Galaxy. The galaxy is named after discovery team leader Dr. L. R. Bedin of the INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova in Italy. The dwarf spheroidal galaxies are not uncommon, Bedin 1 has some notable features. Not only is it one of just a few dwarf spheroidals that have a well established distance but it is also extremely isolated. This makes it possibly the most isolated small dwarf galaxy discovered to date. The Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are defined by their small size, low-luminosity, lack of dust and old stellar populations. 36 galaxies of this type are already known to exist in the Local Group, 22 of which are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The researchers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study white dwarf stars within the globular cluster NGC 6752. The aim of their observations was to use these stars to measure the age of the globular cluster, but in the process they made an unexpected discovery of Bedin 1.