Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
In Russia, the first tourist train service traveling through Russia’s Arctic region and on to Norway set off from St. Petersburg station with 91 passengers aboard for the inaugural trial journey on June 5. The tourists came from 7 countries including the US, Germany, Norway and Russia. The train, named Zarengold (“The Tsar’s gold” in German), complete with two restaurant cars will travel from Saint Petersburg through Petrozavodsk, the historic town of Kem and Murmansk. At Murmansk, by far the largest city north of the Arctic Circle, the tourists will get off the train and continue by bus to Kirkenes in Norway before ending their journey with a boat trip to Oslo or by air to the island of Spitsbergen. According to the organisers, the whole trip will take 11 days and allow passengers to discover areas difficult to access by other means.

Notes:
In Nagaland, the scenic Dzukou Valley has been officially declared Plastic Free Zone on the occasion of 2019 World Environment Day (WED). The declaration was made officially by Advisor of Youth Resources and Sports, Zale Neikha. The much-appreciated initiative on declaring this scenic valley as a ‘plastic-free zone’ was taken by Southern Angami Youth Organisation (SAYO) in accordance with its pledge to conserve and protect the environment. The Dzukou valley is situated at an altitude of 2452 m above sea level. It is famous for its wide range of flower in every season. The rare Dzükou Lily is found only in this valley.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia organised a “Gandhi cycle rally for peace” in Riyadh on Friday to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The cycle rally was organized in association with the Diplomatic Quarter Authority and Saudi Cycling Federation. Over 150 participants from all walks of life, cultural and ethnic identities participated in the cycle rally. The rally was flagged off by Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was one of the first events of its kind held at the Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh and reflected the increasingly friendly relations between India and Saudi Arabia especially after the historic visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Kingdom in April 2016 and the state visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to India in February 2019.

Notes:
Former President Jimmy Carter will be bestowed with the George H. W. Bush Award for Statesmanship for his contributions to relations between the U.S. and China. A private award ceremony is scheduled June 12 at the Carter Center in Atlanta. The George H. W. Bush Foundation has said that the award goes to people who have made profound contributions to the development of constructive and mutually beneficial relations” between the U.S and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Notes:
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has recently launched the ‘Pink Sarathi’ vehicles to attend to the complaints of women passengers travelling in city buses. The vehicles are procured by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) under the ‘Nirbhaya’ scheme. The corporation had received Rs 56.07 crore from the Union government under the scheme and had taken up various measures for the safety of women passengers, including the launch of Pink Sarathi vehicles.

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.

Notes:
After linking its short-term loans and large savings deposits rates to the repo rate, the State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to introduce a repo rate-linked home loan product from July 1. The home loans under this product will be priced at 2.65% over the repo rate of 5.75%. So, the home loan interest rate will work out to 8.40%. Currently, SBI offers home loans, which are linked to its marginal cost of funds, at 8.55%. The lender has also reduced the interest rate on cash credit /overdraft customers (limits above Rs1 lakh) after RBI cut its repo rate from 6% to 5.75%. Now the effective Repo-Linked Lending Rate (RLLR) for CC/OD customers is 8%. Repo rate is the key interest rate at which commercial banks borrow short-term funds from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Notes:
Mount Sinabung, on the island of Sumatra, erupted for around 9 minutes on June 9 & send clouds of volcanic ash 7 km into the sky. The volcano has seen a spike in activity since its last major eruption in 2010. Mount Sinabung, which is 2,460m (8,071 ft) high, is among Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, but had been inactive for four centuries before its 2010 eruption. Indonesia has nearly 130 active volcanoes, more than any other country. It follows the eruption of Mount Agung on the Indonesia island of Bali last month, which caused several flights to be cancelled.

Notes:
India’s first dinosaur museum and fossil park has recently inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at Raiyoli village near Balasinor town of Mahisagar district. The new museum will create a prehistoric-like era environment when dinosaurs might have roamed around freely in Raiyoli. As many as 50 sculptures of dinosaurs, including a life-size one of Rajasaurus Narmadensis that was found in Gujarat, have been erected at the museum. The museum would have 3D projection, 360 degrees virtual reality presentations, interactive kiosks, gaming consoles and other facilities. According to government officials, Raiyoli is globally known to be the third largest fossil site and the second largest dinosaur hatchery from where about 10,000 dinosaur eggs have been found.