Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
The 10th edition of National Science Film Festival of India (NSFFl) is scheduled to be held in Agartala, Tripura on January and February 2020. The aim of the fest is to raise awareness about science and environment through films. This the second time the show will be held in a North Eastern city. The film festival is being held with the objective of highlighting science, technology, innovation, energy, environment, agriculture and traditional knowledge in a simple way that would bring science closer to common people through simple ways of explanation. The film festival would include films produced by UNICEF, UNESCO and filmmakers from different countries. It will also include entries from Tripura and other states.

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In a strong reaction, the Government of India (GoI) has recently rejected the reference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in its final communique at the 14th Islamic summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on May 31, 2019. The Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that the OIC has no locus standi in matters relating to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. It is reiterated that OIC should refrain from making such unwarranted references. Earlier, at the 2019 Mecca Summit, the OIC reiterated its support for the legitimate rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and also appointed a special envoy for the state. The OIC is an international organization consisting of 57 member states & 53 of them Muslim-majority nations. It is not for the first time that OIC has made references on J&K, and India has slammed the 57-strong grouping of Muslim countries each time. Pakistan has been behind such anti-India references in the OIC communiqués / resolutions.

Notes:
Enoplotrupes tawangensis is a new species of dung beetle that has been discovered in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The species is shining dark blue in colour and, measuring up to 27 mm, is relatively bigger than most of the dung beetles. The specimens were first collected and studied by two scientists from the Zoological Survey of India: Kailash Chandra and Devanshu Gupta. From India, approximately 65,000 species of insects are known, of them, more than 22,000 species are beetles. Dung beetles belong to the super family scarabaeoidea. They are the one of the fascinating group of insects because of their ability to bury dung deep in the soil and are indicators of the ecological health of an ecosystem, having clubbed antennae and pro-tibiae (pro-legs) modified for burrowing dung inside the soil. Often referred to as little recyclers, these scavenger beetles require mammalian dung to survive.

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In United States, Google’s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai and Nasdaq President Adena Friedman have been chosen for the prestigious Global Leadership Awards 2019 by business advocacy group USIBC in recognition of the two companies’ contribution as the leading technology-driven platforms. The award by Washington-based US-India Business Council (USIBC) would be conferred upon them during the 2019 India Ideas Summit. Given annually since 2007, the USIBC Global Leadership Awards recognise top corporate executives from the United States and India whose companies play a major role in catalysing growth in the US-India commercial corridor.

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The Indian junior women’s hockey team clinched the 2019 Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations title after beating Ireland 1-0 in the final at Dublin, Ireland on June 4. The win meant India ended the tournament with an unblemished record. With three goals in four games, Mumtaz Khan finished as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.

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Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, the renowned scientist and cyclone warning specialist, has been appointed as the chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD). Popularly known as the ‘Cyclone man of India’, he will take charge of his new assignment on August 1 for a period of five years. Mohapatra and his team at the Cyclone Warning Division (CWD) of the IMD have earned praise for their accurate forecasts on cyclones, its wind-speed and likely impact on life and property including during the recent cyclone ‘Fani’, when their timely warnings enabled the authorities to ensure early evacuation of millions of people. Over the last six years, the CWD has given accurate forecasts on cyclones including when Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014) and Titli (2018) hit the eastern coast. The IMD is responsible for weather and climate-related forecasts in the country. It is also mandated to issue warning to people about severe weather phenomenon like cyclones, dust storms, heavy rain and snow, cold and heatwaves, among others.

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India has notified a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the Marshall Islands, which enables a bilateral sharing of banking & ownership information and allows officials of one country to undertake tax examinations in the other. The TIEA for exchange of information with respect to taxes was signed on March 18, 2016 at Majuro, the Capital of the Marshall Islands. India notified the TIEA on May 21, 2019. The TIEA is based on international standards of tax transparency and exchange of information and enables sharing of information on request. The agreement will enhance mutual cooperation between India and the Marshall Islands by providing an effective framework for exchange of information on tax matters which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance. The Marshall Islands are a sprawling chain of volcanic islands and coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and the Philippines.

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Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs and be part of the all-important panel on political affairs headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Singh was also made a member of two new committees set up by the Modi government — the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development, to propel growth and investment. Both the committees will be chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah.

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The TomTom Traffic Index 2018, carried out by location technology specialist TomTom, covered 403 cities in 56 countries and defined congestion as the extra time added to road travel when traffic doesn’t flow freely. Mumbai topped the list of cities with drivers expecting to spend an average of 65% extra travel time stuck in traffic. New Delhi ranked 4th with a congestion rank of 58%. Bogota (63%) in Colombia and Lima in Peru (58%) were ranked second and third on the list respectively, while the Russian capital Moscow (56%) ranked fifth. The study found that in 2018, the best time to drive in Mumbai was between 2 am and 5 am, when traffic flowed freely.

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The Sinai Peninsula is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Africa. Recently, it is in news because the Egyptian security forces has killed 14 suspected militants during a raid carried out in the restive Sinai Peninsula in response to a deadly checkpoint attack. The Islamic State extremist group had claimed responsibility for attack in which 8 Egyptian police officers have been killed in a militant attack on a checkpoint in the northern Sinai peninsula. The attack took place west of the city of El-Arish, as local people celebrated the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr on 5th June 2019.