Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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 is planning to conduct its first-ever simulated space warfare exercise titled ‘IndSpaceEx’ in the last week of July under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Staff of the defence ministry. All military stakeholders, including those from the scientific community, will participate in it. The purpose of the exercise is to understand the possible challenges in space warfare and to counter China’s growing influence in this domain, which poses a major threat to India’s national security interest.

Notes:
Amasebailu village in Kundapura Taluk of Udupi district has become Karnataka’s first solar-powered Gram Panchayat. Over 1800 houses were provided solar lamps at a total cost of Rs 2.13 crore. The project was funded by Centre and State Government in the ratio of 30:20 and the rest was paid by the Panchayat and charitable organizations. As per the agreement with Selco Light Pvt. Ltd, the solar lamps have a guarantee of 5 years and any faulty lamps will be replaced by the supplier within the guarantee period.

Notes:
Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be the chief guest at the 10th edition of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), which is scheduled to be held between 8th to 17th August 2019. Every year, one of the leading film celebrities head to Australia to attend the fest held during the month of August. During their visit, the celebrities hoist the Indian National Flag in the presence of many Indians and other dignitaries as a part of the festival. The IIFM is a Victorian Government initiative that aims to strengthen ties between the Indian film industry and Victoria.