Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
The Thai parliament has recently elected ex military government chief Prayuth Chan-ocha as its new Prime Minister. He beat the popular billionaire leader of the anti-junta Future Forward Party, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, with 500 votes to 244 after a 12-hour session that included 10 hours of fierce debate in Parliament on June 5. Prayuth will now head a coalition government led by the pro-military Palang Pracharat Party. Prayuth’s appointment becomes official when it is endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has not had a royal run for frontline office since 1932.

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:
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:
Crazy Mohan (67), prominent theatre artiste and ace scriptwriter for Tamil films, has passed away in Chennai on 10th June 2019. Born in 1952, as Mohan Rangachari, ‘Crazy’ was an epithet that he acquired after his popular play ‘Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam’. An engineer by profession, Mohan started writing stage plays and established his own drama troupe called “Crazy Creations” in 1979. He entered the film industry after a long and successful career as a theatre personality. He penned the scripts for several super hit films, including Kamal Haasan-starrer “Avvai Shanmugi”, “Vasool Raja MBBS”, and “Michael Madhana Kamarajan”, besides acting in many.

Notes:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has recently announced that harmful single-use plastics will be banned in the country from 2021 to reduce ocean waste. He declared it a global challenge to phase out the plastic bags, straws and cutlery clogging the world’s oceans. Currently less than 10% of plastic used in Canada gets recycled. The Canadian government said that one million birds and over 100,000 sea mammals worldwide are injured or die each year when they mistake plastic for food or become entangled. Single-use items represent some 70% of the plastic waste littering the marine environment. Canada’s move follows one by the European Union (EU), which late last year announced a similar ban. Canada, France, Germany, Britain and Italy, along with the European Union, subscribed at 2018 G7 summit in Quebec to a new charter against pollution in the world’s oceans. The non-binding Ocean Plastics Charter called on participating countries and the EU to commit to making all plastics reusable, recyclable or recovered by 2030.

Notes:
India has been designated as the Guest of Honour at the 33rd Guadalajara International Book Fair (GIBF) 2019 in Mexico, which is scheduled to be organized from Nov 30 to Dec 8. The book fair will be the largest book fair in the Spanish speaking world. The dedicated India pavilion at the fair will showcase over 35 Indian authors and artists, along with 15 publishing houses. Ancient and rare manuscripts including “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana” will be put on exhibition, along with photo books, handicrafts and paintings. India’s participation at the fair will also include a film festival showing movies like “Dangal”, “Chennai Express” and “Omkara”.

Notes:
Ashleigh Barty, an Australian professional tennis player and former cricketer, has clinched the women’s title at the 2019 French Open tennis tournament. In the final, she defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6–1, 6–3 at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris. Barty is the first Australian player ( male or female) to win a French Open singles title since Margaret Court in 1973. The 2019 French Open was the 123rd edition of a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts.

Notes:
A team of scientists from Delhi University (DU) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in collaboration with researchers from Indonesia and the US, have discovered a new species of ‘paddy frog’ from Northeast India, primarily Assam. The frog belongs to the microhylid genus Micryletta. It is a group of narrow-mouthed frogs that is primarily and widely distributed in Southeast Asia. Currently, there are only four recognized species in this group. The newly discovered Micryletta frog from Northeast India was confirmed as a new species by detailed comparison of both DNA and morphology with all previously known members across Southeast and East Asia. The new species has been named ‘aishani’, derived from the Sanskrit word ‘aishani’ or aisani (meaning North – east), referring to the Northeast regions of India where this frog was discovered. The frog has reddish-brown coloration on the back, prominent dark streaks and ash-grey mottling on the lateral sides, shape of snout and no web on its feet.

Notes:
Dr. I V Subba Rao, a 1979 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh, will continue as secretary to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on a contract basis in the rank and pay of a secretary of the Government of India (GoI). His tenure will be co-terminus with the tenure of the vice president.

Notes:
The ‘Mela Kheer Bhawani’ is one of the biggest religious festivals of the displaced community of Kashmiri pundits, and is associated with Hindu Goddess Ragnya Devi. It is recently celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety at Tulmulla area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Kupwara with thousands of Pandith devotees participated in the function. The annual festival is held on Jesht Ashtami (May-June) when Kashmiri pandits visit the place in large number to offer prayers to seek the blessings of the deity. The devotees carry rose petals, walk barefoot and offer tribute to the goddess, and also offer milk and kheer (pudding) at the sacred spring. It is believed that the colour of the water in the spring, which flows below the temple, is an indication of the valley’s well-being. Black or darkish colour of the water is believed to be a sign of inauspicious times for Kashmir. However, the water in the spring this time was clean and milky white. The mela has become a symbol of communal harmony as Muslims in the locality make all the arrangements for the devotees, including setting up of stalls for flowers and other offerings.