Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
India has been ranked 95th out of a total 129 countries in the first-ever SDG Gender Index, which measures strides made in achieving gender commitments against internationally set targets. The index has been developed by Equal Measures 2030, which is a partnership among global and regional organisations from the civil society and the development and private sectors. It includes The African Women’s Development and Communication Network, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, International Women’s Health Coalition and Plan International. The overall index scores are based on a scale of 0–100. A score of 100 indicates the achievement of gender equality in relation to the underlying indicators. A score of 50 would indicate that a country is about halfway to meeting its goal. India’s score of 56.2 means that it is among 43 countries that fall in the ‘very poor’ category. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany, Canada, Ireland, and Australia rank as the top 10 countries in the index.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
American author Tayari Jones has won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel “An American Marriage”. The book portraits a young African American’s wrongful conviction and how it affects his marriage. It is a story of love, loss and loyalty, the resilience of the human spirit painted on a big political canvas – that shines a light on today’s America. Jones wins £30,000 and the “Bessie” – a limited edition bronze figurine. The prize is one of the biggest international celebrations of women’s creativity.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The World Oceans Day (WOD) is observed every year on June 8 to celebrate the majesty of the world’s oceans and raise awareness about their preservation. Oceans are important for mankind because they generate an estimated 70% of the earth’s oxygen. They regulate the globe’s climate and weather. They support marine life. They provide us with food, and ingredients for many of our medicines. But our oceans and marine life are under threat: from pollution and overfishing. Hence, the day aims to address these challenges. The 2019 conservation action theme “Gender and Oceans” reflects on equalizing the representation of women and men in marine fields. It highlights the important role gender equality has to play in ensuring effective conservation of our oceans, seas and marine life. The focus of the day is to inspire a worldwide fight against plastic pollution.

Notes:
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has instituted the first Antarashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman (AYDMS) for 2019 to mark the contribution of media in spreading the message of Yoga. The AYDMS will be conferred to print and electronic media houses. The contribution of the media in popularizing Yoga would be assessed by six juries. A total of 33 awards, under three categories, will be conferred. The award will comprise a special medal, plaque and trophy and a citation. The duration of the coverage for AYDMS would be from June 10 to June 25. Yoga has been universally acknowledged by the United Nations (UN) and is now practiced globally around 200 countries on June 21 every year.

Notes:
In Tennis, World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has lifted the French Open Men’s Singles title for the 12th time. In the summit clash played at Paris on June 9, he defeated Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to win at the Roland Garros for the third straight year. Hence, Nadal became the first player to win 12 Singles titles at the same Grand Slam and has now won 18 majors overall. Nadal is now just two titles behind Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 majors and is three ahead of world number one Novak Djokovic. Nadal also took his Paris record to an astonishing 93 wins and just two losses. The win also gave Nadal an 82nd career title and 950th match win.

Notes:
Girish Karnad (81), well-known writer, playwright, actor and public intellectual, has passed away on June 10 in Bengaluru. Born in May 1938, he was one of the most prominent theatre personalities of the 60s and 70s, a period regarded as the Renaissance of Indian theatre. He worked with mythology and history and gave them a contemporary resonance in plays such as Nagamandala, Tughlaq and Hayavadana. He wrote his first play Yayati in 1961 when he was a Rhodes Scholar in England. Karnad translated most of his plays himself. His last play was ‘Rakshasa Tangadi’, published in 2018, set in the last years of the Vijayanagar empire. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award — the highest literary honour conferred in India. He was also conferred the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, and had won several accolades for direction in Kannada cinema. He predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. In 2012, he played the role of RAW chairman, Shenoy, in Salman Khan-starrer ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. He reprised his role of Shenoy in ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’. Karnad was also a presenter of award-winning TV series – Turning Point on Doordarshan National during the 1990s. The show was based on science and new discoveries.

Notes:
India has partnered with Portugal to set up a national maritime heritage museum at the ancient Indian site of Lothal in Gujarat. It is likely to come up on the lines of a similar museum at Lisbon, which is administered by the Portuguese Navy. The Government of India (GoI) has allocated a grant for building the maritime museum and the foundation stone for the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2019. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Shipping through its Sagarmala programme, with the involvement of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the State government and other stakeholders.