Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel was sworn in as new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Lt Governor Anil Baijal administered the oath of office to Justice Patel at a function held at Raj Niwas. Earlier, Justice Patel was posted at the Jharkhand High Court. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended his name for the appointment as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. With an approved strength of 60, the Delhi High Court has a shortage of around 24 judges.

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 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 women members of Telangana-based Deccan Development Society (DDS) sanghams (groups) have bagged the prestigious United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Equator Prize for 2019. They have been selected for standing as ‘an outstanding example of a local, nature-based solution to climate change and sustainable development. The women farmers have been building their own seed banks and growing millets in the predominantly rain-fed villages of Sangareddy district. The women farmers of DDS are the first group in the Telugu states to have been selected for the prestigious award which will be presented at a ceremony in New York in September 2019. The US$10,000-prize is given annually for nature-based solutions to climate change as well as sustainable development. The award recognizes local and indigenous community initiatives.

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:
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:
Dr. Romila Thapar, the well-known historian and writer, has been elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society (APS), the oldest learned society in United States (US). Dr. Thapar, a Professor Emerita of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, was among 1,013 members elected to the society at its Annual Spring Meeting.

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.