Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani has been posthumously awarded ‘Ashok Chakra’, India’s highest peace time gallantry award for his role in a counter-insurgency operation in Kashmir in 2018. The award was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind to his wife Mrs. Mahajabeen at the 2019 Republic Day parade. Wani is the first Kashmiri to be conferred the Ashoka Chakra. He was also awarded Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018 for his acts of valour. Wani was once a terrorist but had later turned in and joined the Army’s 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) in Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004. A resident of Cheki Ashmuji of Kulgam district in J&K, he lost his life in a counter-terror operation ‘Operation Batagund’ against six terrorists in Hirapur village near Batgund in Shopian on 25th November 2018. Ashoka Chakra is the highest peacetime military decoration for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.

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The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) annual flagship event. The 2019 edition of WSDS was held in New Delhi with theme ‘Attaining the 2030 Agenda: Delivering on Our Promise’ on 11th-13th February. It was inaugurated by the Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu. The WSDS brings together Nobel laureates, political leaders, decision-makers from bilateral and multilateral institutions, business leaders, high-level functionaries from the diplomatic corps, scientists and researchers, media personnel, and members of civil society; on a common platform to deliberate on issues related to sustainable development.

Notes:
Pramod Chandra Mody, a 1982 batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre), has been appointed as the new chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top policy making body of income tax department,. He succeeded Sushil Chandra, who was named as an new Election Commissioner (EC) of India. The CBDT Chairperson is ex-officio special secretary and is under the direct charge of the revenue secretary of India. He is placed above the officers of the rank of Lieutenant-General, Vice-Admiral or Air Marshal, CBI Director and Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the Order of Precedence.

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US space agency NASA has recently unveiled a new space telescope ‘SPHEREx’ that would begin a two-year mission in 2023 to map the entire sky in order to understand the origins of the universe. The acronym SPHEREx stands for ‘Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer’. The spacecraft’s objective is to learn about how our universe evolved and how common the essential ingredients for life in our galaxy’s planetary systems. It will survey the sky in optical as well as near-infrared light which, though not visible to the human eye, serves as a powerful tool for answering cosmic questions. It will map the entire sky every six months to create a map in 96 color bands, and will be searching for water and organic molecules like methanol or acetone in regions where stars and being born and new planets are forming. Astronomers will use the mission to gather data on more than 300 million galaxies, as well as more than 100 million stars in our own Milky Way.

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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:
On 19th Feb, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first ever diesel to electric converted locomotive twin engine of ten thousand Horse Power at DLW Varanasi. It’s a complete ‘Make in India’ initiative & the conversion is an Indian R& D innovation for the entire world. The Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) has converted two WDG3A diesel locos into a Twin Electric WAGC3 loco of 10,000 HP. The converted locos will result in less green house gas emissions and better efficient locomotives for the Indian Railways. The feat was achieved in record time with the help of engineers from Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Chittaranjan Locomotive Works(CLW), and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL). According to railway authorities, the conversion of diesel locomotive into electric engine not only created a history but also proved to be cost effective, as it needed half of the rehabilitation cost of old locos. Besides, it would be environment-friendly with enhanced traction power to double the average speed of goods train.

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The Government of India (GoI) has launched a pan-India service of the single emergency helpline number ‘112’ for immediate assistance services from police (100), fire (101), health (108) and women (1090). The response time for the emergency helpline is said to be around 10 to 12 minutes. This is expected to come down to 8 minutes within the next 6-8 months. The Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) is now available in 16 states and union territories across India. These are as follows: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Puducherry, Lakshwadeep, Andaman, Dadar Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from emergency response service, the government also launched Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) and the safe city implementation monitoring portal to improve women safety situation in the country.

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A rare Indian snake species – Red Coral Kukri- has recently sighted in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) after a gap of 82 years. The reptile was first sighted in Dudhwa in 1936 and even its zoological name ‘oligodon Kheriensis’ finds its roots in its Kheri-specific location. According to experts, Red Coral Kukri is a nocturnal non venomous reptile with maximum length of 114 cm. It is known as red coral kukri owing to its red orange colour and its teeth shaped as Nepali ‘khukri’ to break eggs. The species has been sighted in Terai forests of Kheri and Nepal. The Kheri-location specific snake is generally found in the Terai forest, a lowland region in southern Nepal and northern India.

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The Kerala State Police claimed to have created history by becoming one of the world’s first and the very first police force in India to induct humanoid robots called ‘KP-Bot’. KP-Bot is designed to provide round-the-clock service, involving public interface and front office administration and overcome human limitations to avoid, to the extent possible, human error. However, it does not replace any human resources. Rather, it would act as the first contact point and a data collection tool to help improve the overall quality of service and performance levels.