Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

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:
The US aircraft maker Boeing co and national airports body Airports Authority of India (AAI) have signed a technical assistance agreement for developing a comprehensive roadmap for modernisation of air traffic services in the country. The air traffic services comprise Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) and Air Traffic Management (ATM). The 10-year modernisation roadmap will be undertaken with a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA ). The agreement is aimed at developing a roadmap for AAI to use as guidance in the modernisation of the Indian National Airspace System (NAS) based on global and local best practices to optimally utilize airspace capacity, enhance CNS/ATM. Under the agreement, Boeing will analyse current technologies and processes to identify efficiency improvements that can be implemented while maintaining a practical and safe airspace system.

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:
The Delhi Metro has become the India’s first-ever project to receive power generated from a waste-to-energy plant. According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the project is also in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Mission”. This will also help in creating awareness on the importance of waste management and utilizing waste in a sustainable manner. The DMRC has started receiving 2 MW power from a 12 MW capacity plant in Ghazipur. The DMRC will take approximately 17.5 million units per annum from this plant. However, the energy off-take will depend upon the actual generation of the plant. The waste-to-energy plant set up by East Delhi Waste Processing Company Limited (EDWPCL) is based on a public private partnership (PPP) involving the Delhi government, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and EDWPCL. The waste-to-energy plant will mitigate over 8 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) over the life of the project.

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 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:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently reconstituted the federal policy think-tank National Institution of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog by introducing key Cabinet ministers as members as ex-officio members. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, Home minister Amit Shah, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar are now ex-officio members of the think tank that is headed by Mr. Modi. Rajiv Kumar will continue to be the vice-chairperson, along with full time members—Ramesh Chand, VK Saraswat and VK Paul.On 15th June 2019, Prime Minister will chair the 5th meeting of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council to discuss various issues concerning water management, agriculture and security. The council includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials. This will be the first governing council meeting under the new Modi government. NITI Aayog was constituted via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1st January 2015 & replaced the erstwhile planning commission.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has recently signed a deal worth around Rs 300 crore for buying more than 100 SPICE bombs from Israel. The IAF fighter jets used these bombs to target Jaish-e-Mohammed training camps in Pakistan’s Balakot on 26th February 2019 after the ghastly Pulwama terror attack in which over 44 CRPF jawans lost their lives after a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden SUV into the convoy which was passing from the area. As per the contract, the advanced SPICE bombs would be delivered to the Air Force in the next 3 months as the deal is under emergency powers. SPICE bomb has a standoff range of 60 km and approaches the target as its unique scene-matching algorithm compares the electro-optical image received in real-time via the weapon seeker with mission reference data stored in the weapon computer memory and adjusts the flight path accordingly. Israeli defence firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems manufactures the weapon.

Notes:
The first-ever World Food Safety Day (WFSD) has officially celebrated on 7th June 2019 to strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe. The theme of this year’s inaugural WFSD ‘Food Safety, everyone’s business’ invites us to recognize that food safety is everyone’s business. The day gives us an opportunity to share the outcomes of the two food safety conferences, discuss ways in which food safety can incentivize healthy diets, and discuss how the United Nations in New York can further support the efforts to improve food safety. The day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2018. The UN has designated two of its agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) – to lead efforts in promoting food safety around the world.

Notes:
The ruling National People’s Party (NPP), which is in an alliance with the BJP in Meghalaya, has been granted recognition as a national party by the Election Commission of India (ECI). As per the party’s request, the symbol ‘book’ has been allotted to it. With this, the NPP has become the first party from the North East (NE) to get the national party status. It is a recognized party in four states of the region viz. Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. According to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order of 1968, a political party can be recognised as a national party if its candidates secure at least 6% of votes polled in four or more states in Lok Sabha or assembly elections. In addition, it has at least 4 members in the Lok Sabha. It also has to have at least 2% of the total Lok Sabha seats and its candidates come from not less than 3 states. Third, it is recognised as a state party in at least four states.