Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
IIT-Madras has entered into an agreement with Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) to address public health issues and predict adverse pregnancy outcomes using technology. The aim of the pact is to bring physician-scientists, biologists, engineers and data scientists together to solve public health problems related to maternal and child health. The objective is to apply advanced analytical approach for prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes, evaluate maternal and childhood consequences of exposure to environmental pollutants, among others. The THSTI is an autonomous institute of Department of Biotechnology (DBT). DBT is a department under Ministry of Science and Technnology.

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Acclaimed actress Kareena Kapoor Khan has become the brand ambassador of the Swasth Immunised India campaign to spread awareness among parents about child vaccination to help prevent the future generation from life-threatening diseases. The nation-wide vaccination and immunisation campaign has been launched by Serum Institute of India (SII) in association with Network18. The primary aim of the campaign is to raise awareness about the importance and benefits of vaccine administration, advocating its acceptance and building a strong immunization outreach in the country. Working alongside the government, the campaign will strive to reach full immunization coverage through continuous education and awareness.

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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.

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In Chess, Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta lifted the 2019 Cannes International Open trophy with 7.5 points. He took an easy draw with Pier Luigi Basso of Italy in the ninth and final round. It was a clear point lead over nearest rivals Nikita Maiorov of Belarus, Nasuta Grzegorz of Poland and Yuri Solodovnichecko of Ukraine.

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Zimbabwe has recently introduced its new currency, dubbed as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) dollar, after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced measures to try and resolve a chronic monetary crisis. The new currency replaces electronic bank savings called digital dollars and the bond notes, and was named after the RTGS system that banks use to transfer money between each other. The currency was launched at an initial rate of 2.5 RTGS dollars per US dollar. The RTGS dollar is supposed to bring together bond notes and debit card and mobile money payments to make sure that they are all worth the same.

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In Kerala, the International Advertising Association (IAA) hosted the 44th edition of IAA World Congress 2019 at the Grand Hyatt Lulu International Convention Centre in Kochi from February 20 to 22. The theme of the IAA World Congress was ‘Brand Dharma’ which enlightened the delegates about the basic principles a brand has to follow to connect with its customers and society at large. Around 2,000 delegates from India and abroad participated in the event. The New York-based IAA has a presence in 55 countries, and consists of advertisers, advertising agencies and the media. The World Congress is held every alternate year in various destinations around the world.

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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.

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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.

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Bengaluru-based Semiconductor Company “SignalChip” has launched India’s first indigenous semiconductor chips for 4G /LTE and 5G NR modems in New Delhi. The SCBM34XX and SCRF34XX/45XX series of chips, code-named ‘Agumbe’, are the result of over 8 years of relentless and deep R&D by Signalchip engineers. The RF sections cover all LTE/5G-NR bands upto 6GHz. These chips also support positioning using India’s own satellite navigation system, NAVIC. The Agumbe series builds up on SCRF1401: India’s first RF transceiver chip for high performance wireless standards like 3G/4G and WiFi, created by Signalchip in 2015. The combined multi-standard system-on-chip (SoC) can serve as a base station chipset for a wide range of form factors from low-cost indoor small cells to high performance base stations. These are optimally designed to support evolving network architectures like Open RAN/CRAN with flexible interface configurations. Through the IPs created for this device, the company now has the potential to design products for multiple related fields and is currently forging ahead with additional chipsets for advanced 5G NR features.

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The Afghanistan cricket team has created history by posting the highest-ever T20 international score at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on 23rd Feb 2019. They posted 278 runs from their 20 overs in the second T20I against Ireland.. Here, Afghan batsman Hazratullah Zazai scored the 2nd highest individual score (162 runs off 62 balls) in T20Is, behind Australian cricketer Aaron Finch’s 172. His innings also included a record 16 sixes and his first-wicket partnership with Usman Ghani was also a record for any wicket in a T20I, with 236 runs scored. With this feat, Afghanistan broke Australia’s record score of 263/3 which they achieved back in 2016 against Sri Lanka.