Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
On 9 June, Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has won the 2019 Presidential election of Kazakhstan with 70.96% of the vote. He was recognised as the elected president by the Central Election Commission (CEC) and will take an oath of office June 12. Earlier, on 20th March 2019, Tokayev took office as the Interim President of Kazakhstan & succeeded Nursultan Nazarbayev who served as the President from the country’s independence in 1992 until his resignation. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state, commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Notes:
V.S. Kaumudi, a 1986 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer, has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) by temporarily downgrading the post to the level of Additional Director General (ADG). He has been appointed BPR&D chief for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He succeeded 1984 batch IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia. Kaumudi Prior to this post, Kaumudi was ADG in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

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:
The Sashakt Committee, headed by PNB non-executive chairman Sunil Mehta, has recommended changes in existing Inter-Creditor Agreement (ICA) to incorporate revised voting threshold and other changes for decision making stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It will enable expeditious implementation of the new framework on stressed assets. Under the RBI’s new framework, it is a mandatory requirement for lenders to enter into an Inter-Creditor Agreement (ICA) during the review of the borrower account within 30 days from date of first default to any lender. The New Framework further lays down some parameters to be included in the Inter-Creditor Agreement including decision-making by lenders holding 75% (by value of total outstanding facilities) and 60% by number and protection of dissenting lenders. The Inter-Creditor Agreement is required to be executed by all lenders covered under the New Framework and asset reconstruction companies. The New Framework applies to all banks, term financial institutions, small finance banks, systemically important non-deposit taking non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) as well as deposit taking NBFCs.

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.

Notes:
Zonel Sougaijam, a 22-year-old civil engineer from Manipur, has been honoured by Facebook for discovering a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of a user. The social media giant awarded $5000 to him and also included him in the ‘Facebook Hall of Fame 2019’ for detecting the WhatsApp bug. Mr. Sougaijam detected that during a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorization and knowledge of the receiver. The caller was then able to see what the other person was doing that breached the privacy of the receiver. Mr. Sougaijam’s name is currently at the 16th position in a list of 94 people, in the ‘Facebook Hall of Fame’ for this year.

Notes:
Bestselling author and one of India’s leading contemporary writers, Amitav Ghosh has been conferred the 54th Jnanpith award for the year 2018 for his outstanding contribution towards literature. The writer was felicitated for his outstanding contribution by former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi at a function in New Delhi on 13th June 2019. Mr Ghosh is the first Indian author in English language to be honoured with the Jnanpith award. The works of Amitav Ghosh portray a vast range of subjects. His famous books include The Circle of Reason (1986), The Shadow Lines (1988), The Calcutta Chromosome (1996), The Hungry Tide (2004), Sea of Poppies (2008), The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016). Instituted in 1961, the Jnanpith award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English with no posthumous conferral. The recipients of Jnanpith award are given a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.

Notes:
The Indian Navy hosted a maritime information sharing workshop under the aegis of the Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram, Haryana on June 12. Over 41 delegates from 29 countries of the IOR participated in the two-day event. The aim of the workshop was to explain participants about IFC-IOR and its information sharing mechanisms and promote sharing of best practices in this field. The event included issues such as maritime terrorism, piracy, human and drug trafficking, humanitarian assistance as well as disaster relief and the legal perspective of combating these challenges.

Notes:
Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has recently launched 118 websites that would enable citizens get building plan approvals, diversion of land use change and other related permissions through online submissions, avoiding middlemen and delays. It will bring greater transparency and end corruption and save people’s time and money. The initiative of state government will save people from running from pillar to post to get approvals. These websites and softwares integrate 14 departments and forms can be submitted online. The status of their applications will be shared through SMS to the applicants.

Notes:
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has decided to confer its Distinguished Alumni Award to Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The award will be presented at JNU’s third convocation to be held in August. Ms Sitharaman had completed her MA and M Phil degrees while Mr Jaishankar completed his M Phil and doctoral research form JNU.