Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
Kodi Ramakrishna (69), the veteran Telugu film director, has passed away in Hyderabad on Feb 22. Born at Palakollu in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Ramakrishna made his debut in 1992 with romantic comedy ‘Intlo Ramaiah- Veedhilo Krishnaiah’ starring Chiranjeevi. He was known for championing the use of visual effects (VFX) to enhance cinematic experience in Telugu cinema. His films like ‘Ammoru’ and ‘Arundhati’ were praised for their VFX work. Some of his other popular films include Gudachari No 1, Muddula Krishnaiah, Pelli Pelli Pandiri and Rikshavodu. In 2016, Ramakrishna also commenced work on a biopic on Sathya Sai Baba, and it features Malayalam actor Sreejith Vijay in the titular role. The project still remains incomplete.

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:
An American biographical comedy-drama film “Green Book” has won the Best Picture at 91st Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 25th February 2019. Green Book also won best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali and best original screenplay. In it, British actress Olivia Colman won the best actress award for “The Favourite” for her performance as Queen Anne in the period comedy-drama. Rami Malek won the best actor for a biographical film “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director Oscar for ‘Roma’, which is an American and Mexican drama. ‘Roma’ also won Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography category. Pop diva Lady Gaga got the Best Original Song Academy Award for “Shallow” from her feature debut “A Star is Born”. Marvel’s Black Panther too won 3 Oscars – Best Original Music, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.

Notes:
The horrific forest fire has recently broken out in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. The fire is estimated to have gutted 2,000 hectares of the forest. Hundreds of forest department officials along with local volunteers have been trying to douse the fire. However, strong winds and dry grass have aided the fire to spread towards the roads on National Highway 67. As a result, NH 67 (which connects Ooty to Mysore) had to be closed for vehicles. There have been reports of loss of wildlife, but nothing has been confirmed so far. The Bandipur reserve is one of the first national parks in India and has the highest tiger density anywhere in the world. It has also been declared as an important area for elephant conservation. The reserve covers an area of 87,400 hectares and along with the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and the Nagarahole National Park form one of India’s ecologically diverse regions. It is home to vulnerable species like elephants, gaurs, tigers and Indian rock pythons.

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:
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has recently launched the PRANAM Commission for protection of parents of state government employees. The Commission will look after the issues concerning a PRANAM (Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring) Bill to protect elderly parents of government employees in their times of need. PRANAM Bill, which was approved by the state cabinet in 2018, makes it mandatory for state government employees to look after their parents and unmarried Divyang siblings who do not have their own sources of income. As per the Bill, if the PRANAM Commission gets a complaint that parents of a state government employee is being ignored, and then 10 or 15% of the employee’s salary will be deducted by the government and paid to the parents or differently-abled siblings.

Notes:
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan claimed a hat-trick and became the first-ever bowler to bag four wickets in four deliveries in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) on February 17, 2019. Rashid’s impressive bowling performance in the third and final T20I also helped Afghanistan sweep the T20I series by a margin of 3-0 against Ireland in Dehradun. With this feat, Rashid also became the 7th bowler in the T20I history to bag a hat-trick and in the process also completed his second five-wicket haul in the format. Overall, Khan became the 2nd bowler in the history of the sport to do so in international cricket after Sri Lankan veteran Lasith Malinga pick up 4 wickets in 4 balls. Malinga achieved the milestone during the 2007 Cricket World Cup against South Africa.

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.

Notes:
The World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20 to recognize the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment. The day focuses on the plight of social injustice throughout the world and presses for improvements and solutions. The 2019 theme is “If You Want Peace & Development, Work for Social Justice”.