Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
The Spain government has recently conferred Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with a prestigious award ‘Grand Cross of Order of Civil Merit’. The award was conferred in recognition of India’s support in evacuating 71 Spanish nationals through Operation Maitri from Nepal in April 2015 during the disastrous earthquake, which killed nearly 9,000 people and injured as many as 22,000 people.

Notes:
An international team of more than 200 astronomers from 18 countries has published the first phase of a major new radio sky survey at unprecedented sensitivity using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The survey discovered 3,00,000 hidden galaxies using radio astronomy in a tiny corner of the northern hemisphere at low radio frequency. It is believed that these findings will help shed new light on some of the Universe’s deepest secrets. This includes the physics of black holes as well as research into how galaxy clusters evolve. The LOFAR telescope is operated by ASTRON in The Netherlands and is considered to be the world’s leading telescope of its type. It is made up of a network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-km diameter satellite dish. It is capable of detecting light source beyond the power of optical instruments. Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

Notes:
The 12th edition of the country’s biennial air show and aviation exhibition – Aero India 2019 – has been launched by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bengaluru on 20th Feb. The chiefs of the three Armed Forces — Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Admiral Sunil Lanba and General Bipin Rawat — were in attendance at the show organised by the Ministry of Defence. The 5-day aero show is themed ‘The Runway to a Billion Opportunities’, to communicate India’s value proposition in addressing the immense opportunities in the aerospace and aviation sectors in the country today. This year, there are 403 registered exhibitors, of which 238 are Indian companies and 165 foreign companies. Around 60 aircraft are on display, including Rafale jet, Boeing planes, Airbus A330, Super Hercules and HAL’S Light weight helipcopter. The logo for Aero India 2019 is inspired by the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

Notes:
The Supreme Court has appointed former apex court judge Justice DK Jain as the first court-appointed ombudsman for the BCCI under the terms of newly approved constitution of the cricket board. The role of the ombudsman would be to resolve the disputes relating to the players within the state cricket associations as also financial issues. The ombudsman will have to hold hearings at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai. It must be noted that Article 40, chapter nine of the BCCI constitution deals with the issue of appointment of ombudsman for the purpose of providing an independent dispute resolution mechanism. The types of disputes that come under the ambit of ombudsman pertain to members, associations and IPL franchisee.

Notes:
‘Period. End of Sentence’, a documentary that tackles the stigma around menstruation in rural India, has won the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The film has been co-produced by Indian producer Guneet Monga and directed by Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi. The film is about women in India fighting against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation and delving upon the work of real life ‘Pad Man’ Arunachalam Muruganathan. The documentary feature is set in Hapur village outside Delhi, where women lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation. For generations, these women did not have access to sanitary pads, which lead to health issues and girls dropping out from schools. When a sanitary pad vending machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering their community. They name their brand “FLY”.

Notes:
On 26th Feb 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the International Gandhi Peace Prize for 2015, 16, 17 and 18 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. For 2018, Japan’s Yohei Sasakawa was given the prize for his contribution in Leprosy Eradication in India and across the world. Ekal Abhiyan Trust was conferred the award for 2017 for its contribution in providing Education for Rural and Tribal Children in remote areas pan India, Rural Empowerment, Gender and Social Equality. For 2015, Vivekananda Kendra (Kanyakumari) was given the award for its contribution in Rural Development, Education and Development of natural resources. For 2016, the award was presented jointly to Akshaya Patra Foundation for its contribution in providing mid-day meals to millions of children across India and Sulabh International for its contribution in improving the condition of sanitation in India and emancipation of manual scavengers. The award comprises a cash award of Rs. 1 crore, a citation in a scroll, a plaque and a traditional handicraft item.

Notes:
The book titled “ India in Distress” has been authored by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which is scheduled to be launch in the National Capital on February 27. Banerjee has so far published 87 books. Among the seven books that Banerjee has penned this time, there are ones for children, of poems in Bengali, Urdu and English and a couple of books on politics – in Hindi and Bengali.

Notes:
Bihar has become the first state in India which has raised its own dog squad to detect liquor consignment. All these dogs were imparted nine-month training at Hyderabad-based Integrated Intelligence Training Academy before being inducted in the Bihar Police. The total strength of the Bihar Police’s dog squad stands at 68. On each dog, the state police spent around Rs 1.71 lakh and two handlers have been deputed. Notably, Bihar had banned liquor in the state in 2016.

Notes:
The Indo-Bangladesh joint military exercise ‘Sampriti-2019’ is scheduled to be held at Tangail in Bangladesh from 02 March to 15 March 2019. It will be the 8th edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries. The 14-day exercise is aimed to strengthen and broaden the aspects of inter-operability and co-operation between the Armies of both countries. The exercise will involve tactical-level operations in a counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism environment under the UN mandate.

Notes:
In Rajasthan, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has recently inaugurated the ‘Titanwala Museum’ in Bagru that showcases the Chhipa community’s hand-block printing. The museum will be open from Monday to Sunday between 9 am and 6 pm. The Bagru hand-block printing is one of the traditional techniques of printing with natural colour followed by the chippas of a remote place of Rajasthan. It uses vegetable dye colors such as indigo/dabu (a mixture of mud resist dabu and indigo dip dyeing techniques) and harda (which is a yellow base color). The art of block printing is a labor intensive process which requires lot of skillfulness, time and tolerance power of artisan. The wooden blocks of teak-wood are used for printing the design which are soaked in oil overnight and then washed before put to use. These collections of block are considered to be the wealth of Chhipa’s that they have collected over a period of time. The cloth to be printed is soaked in the solution of clay and other chemicals to make the fabric soften and then dried before used for printing. Neat stamping is foremost to get the appealing prints.After printing, cloth is left for drying in sun for final touch-up. Different types of motifs used in Bagru printing are Aath Kaliya, Chopad, and Kamal.