Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

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Indian squash player Ramit Tandon has won the 2019 Seattle Open title by defeating Mohamed El Sherbini of Egypt in the final in USA. It is his fourth title in his career. The Seattle Open is a Professional Squash Association (PSA) challenger squash Tour event.

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The media-savvy former mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) has won a landslide victory in 2019 El Salvador presidential election by winning over 53% of the total vote. With this, he brought an end to a two-party system that has held sway over the violence-plagued Central American country for three decades. Bukele will succeed Salvador Sánchez Cerén , after whom the leadership chair was vacant for a period of time. He will assume office on 1 June 2019.

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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.

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In Rajasthan, the joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise ‘RAHAT-2019’ will be conducted by Jaipur based Sapta Shakti Command on behalf of Indian Army from 11th February. The 2-day exercise will be conducted simultaneously in three places viz. Jaipur in the form of a table top exercise and at Kota and Alwar on-ground capability and coordination. The Joint exercise in coordination with NDMA is being conducted to synergise efforts for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Representatives from Armed Forces, National Disaster Management Response Mechanism (NDMRM), SDMA Rajasthan and DLMAs will be participating in the exercise.

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Dakshayani, an 88-year-old captive she-elephant in Kerala, has died at a care centre at nearby Pappanamcode in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 5th February 2019. She was the oldest captive elephant in Asia and Guinness record holder. She was also called the ‘Gaja Muthassi’ (grandmother of elephants). In 2016, she was conferred the “Gaja Muthassi” (elephant granny) title and entered the Guinness book of records. The Postal department had also brought out a postal cover on the elephant. Dakshayini had been a resident at the Chengallur Mahadeva temple in Thiruvananthapuram for the last 70 years and was owned by Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

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The “Parmanu Tech 2019” Conference was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) at New Delhi on February 6. The conference discussed issues related to Nuclear Energy and Radiation Technologies. Dr Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, delivered the keynote address at the conference. During the conference sector specific sessions were held with Panel discussions on the following topics: 1) Health care: Nuclear Medicine and Radiation therapy – Care to cure, 2) Food Preservation, Agricultural & Industrial Applications: From farms to factories – Serving the National Cause and 3) Showcasing India’s capabilities in Nuclear Energy: Energy Security with environmental responsibility – the Onward March.

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The 2nd edition of India Heritage Walk Festival (IHWF-2019) is a one-of-its-kind month-long festival covering 37 cities has started from February 2. It is organized by Sahapedia in partnership with UNESCO. The fest is also supported by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). This festival offers the opportunity to discover the hidden gems linked to history. The primary objective of the festival is to widen access to various aspects of India’s tangible and intangible heritage. Through 87 heritage walks and over 100 outreach events, the event will explore the cultural fabric of India, focusing on museums, historically significant monuments and markets, natural landscapes, areas known for rich cuisine, and locations that are rooted in women-oriented narratives. For this edition, Sahapedia has collaborated with about 40 local-level partners to conduct its pan-India heritage walk festival. They include the Kerala History Museum, The Kochi Heritage Project, INTACH Srinagar Chapter, Art Deco Mumbai, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation and Oxford Bookstore.

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On 8th of February 2019, the Red Cross called for a total ban on nuclear weapons & also gave warning of the growing risk that such arms could again be used with devastating effect. For this burning issue, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched a global campaign to raise awareness about the rising nuclear threat facing the world. The notonukes.org campaign comes after the United States and Russia announced to abandon the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)Treaty. The campaign aims to encourage people to lobby their governments to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which has so far been signed by 70 nations and ratified by 21.

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The book titled “Let’s Talk On Air: Conversations with Radio Presenters” has been authored by Rakesh Anand Bakshi, which serves as a comprehensive guide on radio-presenting in India. The new book celebrates the lives of 14 popular radio presenters in India – from the legendary Ameen Sayani to present-day RJs who have been entertaining us via the airwaves. Besides Sayani, among those RJs featured in the book are Yunus Khan, Rohini, Mamta Singh, Sayema, Hrishikay Kannan, Anuraag ‘picture’ Pandey and Anmol. This book can help shed light on intricacies of radio as a medium and the RJs behind the microphones, connect fans to their favourite RJs and, eventually attract more talent to be part of the industry. The book, published by Penguin Random House, will be launched on World Radio Day (WRD-2019) on February 13 in Mumbai.

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The 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS 13) will be held at 15th to 22nd February 2020 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Recently, the Government of India (GoI) has announced that the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) will be its mascot for CMS COP-13. It is an environmental treaty under the aegis of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Representatives from 129 Parties and eminent conservationists and international NGOs working in the field of wildlife conservation are expected to attend the COP. India has been a Party to the CMS since 1983. The Conference of Parties (COP) is the decision-making organ of this convention. CMS, also known as the Bonn Convention, recognizes that States must be the protectors of migratory species that live within or pass through their national jurisdictions and aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their ranges.