Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
Vishnu Wagh (53), the veteran writer and former deputy speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, has passed away in Panaji on February 14, 2019. Wagh was a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly from St Andre constituency between 2012 and 2017. He was the chairman of the state-run Goa Kala Academy. He has written over 20 plays in Marathi, three sangeet nataks, 18 Konkani plays and 16 one-act plays. He has directed over 50 plays in Konkani and Marathi. Some of his critically-acclaimed plays include”Tuka Abhang Abhang”, “Suvari”, “Teen Poishancho Tiatro”, “Dharmashree”, and”Pedru Poddlo Baient”. He has also written six volumes of poetry. His book of Konkani poems titled ‘Sudhir Sukta’ has been embroiled in controversy since 2017 for its offensive language and content, and for portraying women in a bad light. The book questions Brahmins and has apparently stirred the volatile caste divide between Goa’s dominant Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and the majority Bahujan Goans.

Notes:
Sushil Chandra, an IRS-IT officer of the 1980 batch, has assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India on 15th of February 2019. Prior to joining ECI, he was the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).With his appointment, the Commission now has Sunil Arora as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Ashok Lavasa and Mr Chandra as the two commissioners. The Commission is expected to announce the date and the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls by the end of this month.

Notes:
The expert committee under the Chairmanship Dr Anoop Satpathy has recently submitted its report on “Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage” to the Government of India (GoI). The report has recommended to fix the need based national minimum wage for India at INR 375 per day (or INR 9,750 per month) as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising of 3.6 consumption unit. It has also recommended to introduce an additional house rent allowance (city compensatory allowance), averaging up to INR 55 per day i.e., INR 1,430 per month for urban workers over and above the NMW. Using the nutritional requirement norms as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Indian population, the report has recommended a balanced diet approach which is culturally palatable for fixation of national minimum wage. Accordingly, it has proposed that food items amounting to the level of ± 10% of 2,400 calories, along with proteins ≥ 50 gm and fats ≥ 30 gm per day per person to constitute a national level balanced food basket.

Notes:
The researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) have developed the first ant-like walking robot ‘AntBot’ that can explore its environment and find its way home without Global Positioning System (GPS). The scientists took inspiration from desert ants, which are extraordinary solitary navigators, to design the AntBot. Ants use polarised light and ultraviolet radiation to locate themselves in space. Cataglyphis desert ants in particular can cover several hundreds of metres in direct sunlight in the desert to find food, then return in a straight line to the nest, without getting lost. AntBot copies the desert ants’ exceptional navigation capacities, allowing it to explore without using GPS. The six-legged robot has an optical compass that uses polarised light to determine its direction, and an optical movement sensor directed to the sun to measure covered distance.

Notes:
In badminton, Sourabh Verma has won the Men’s Singles event at the Yonex-Sunrise 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships 2019 in Guwahati. In the final, he defeated Lakshya Sen in straight games of 21-18, 21-13. This is Verma’s 3rd nationals title. Earlier, the second seeded makeshift pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty clinched the men’s doubles title after beating top seeds Arjun M R and Shlok Ramchandran 21-13 22-20 in 33 minutes.

Notes:
The Union Environment Minister, Dr Harsha Vardhan has recently inaugurated the North Karnataka Agromet Forecasting and Research Centre (NKAFC) at the Farmers’ Knowledge Centre on University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Dharwad . It is the first of its kind in India to boost agricultural activities across the country by taking modern technology to farmers. The main purpose of the centre is to give accurate reports on the weather which would enable the farmers to protect the crops and get a good yield. The centre will also forecast on lightning which causes large-scale destruction of livestock and to farmers. About 25 lakhfarmers in the region would be kept updated with information via various platforms like WhatsApp, SMS, social networking sites and community radio stations. The centre has been established by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and the India Metrological Department (IMD), in association with UAS.

Notes:
In badminton, Saina Nehwal won her fourth title at the Yonex-Sunrise 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships 2019 in Guwahati. In the final, she defeated P.V.Sindhu by 21-18, 21-15 in Guwahati. Its her fourth title. Sourabh Verma completed a hat-trick of titles, claiming the men’s singles crown after defeating young Lakshya Sen in straight games of 21-18, 21-13. Earlier, the pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty outclassed top seed duo Arjun M.R and Shlok Ramachandran in straight games of 21-13, 22-20 to clinch the Men’s Doubles title.

Notes:
The 40th edition of International Annual Desert Festival 2019 has started in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on February 17. Thousands of tourists are participating in the colourful event. The 3-day festival, which exhibits rich cultural heritage of the desert state, commenced with a colourful procession from Gadsisar lake fort. It will have interesting events like Mr Desert and Ms Moomal competitions, moustache competitions, turban tying, tug of war, musical and cultural performances, among others. The Border Security Force presented a camel tattoo show on the opening day of the festival. Before the inaugural ceremony of the festival, organisers kept a two-minute silence in respect of the 40 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack on 14th Feb.

Notes:
In cricket, Ranji champions Vidarbha successfully retained their title and defeated Rest of India (RoI) on first-innings basis to win the 2019 Irani Cup tournament in Nagpur. Vidarbha has now become the third team after Mumbai and Karnataka to clinch two Irani Cup titles in a row. Hanuma Vihari from RoI has also become the first player to score 3 consecutive centuries in Irani Cup. Set to chase a target of 280, Vidarbha were well on course at 269 for five, needing only 11 runs for an outright victory. However, the two teams decided to shake hands and settle for a draw. And in a touching gesture, Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal announced that the entire prize money will be donated to the families of the CRPF personnel martyred in Pulwama terror attack.

Notes:
Sunil Chhetri, the all-time leading scorer for India in international football, has been conferred the first-ever ‘Football Ratna’ by Football Delhi, the State Association governing the sport in Delhi. Chhetri was recently named as the 6th Indian Footballer in the elite Padma Shri list of 2019. Popularly known as Captain Fantastic, he scored 2nd highest number of goals in international matches among active players after Cristiano Ronaldo. He has also been named AIFF Player of the Year five times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017.