Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
In Gymnastics, India’s Pranati Nayak from West Bengal clinched a bronze in vault event at the 8th Senior Asian Artistic Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 22, 2019. In the final, she scored a total of 13.384 points to claim the bronze medal. China’s Yu Linmin and Japan’s Ayaka Sakaguchi won the gold and silver medal at the event.

Notes:
The second edition of the “Healthy States, Progressive India” report has been released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar. Kerala has topped among large states on overall health performance in NITI Aayog’s Health Index followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Though, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the worst performing states. However, in terms of incremental performance Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand are the top three states who performed well in comparison to the last health index. The report ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other. The report focuses on measuring and highlighting the overall performance and incremental improvement over a two-year period, 2016-17 and 2017-18 in the States and UTs. It takes a comprehensive look at health in terms of Health Outcomes, Governance and Processes and impact of policy interventions. The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and with technical assistance from the World Bank.

Notes:
Krishnaswamy Natarajan has beenappointed as the new Director General (DG) of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). He will take over the charge after incumbent Rajendra Singh retires on 30th June 2019. An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Natarajan is now serving as Additional Director General and Coast Guard Commander (West) at Mumbai. He was instrumental in giving a fillip to the overall growth of the Coast Guard, post 26/11, in terms of assets and infrastructure development including a dedicated academy.

Notes:
In Boxing, Indian team has been adjudged the best team of the tournament in the Black Forest Cup in Villingen, Schwenningen, Germany. In the tournament, the Indian junior women pugilists clinched 7 medals, including five gold. Haryana’s Neha (54kg) and Karnataka’s Anju Devi (50kg) claimed the honours of best boxer and promising player of the tournament. Ten countries including India, Ukraine, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Mongolia, Greece, and Poland took part in this tournament. India’s powerful performances helped the contingent win the best team trophy.

Notes:
Hemant Pandey, a senior DRDO scientist, has developed a herbal drug – Lukoskin – to treat leucoderma, a condition in which white patches develop on the skin. The auto-immune condition, also called ‘vitiligo’, can be life-altering. Vitiligo is neither contagious nor life-threatening. Worldwide, the incidence of leucoderma is 1-2% of the population. In India, its incidence is around 4-5% in some parts of Rajasthan. In Gujarat, it is very high at more than 5-8%. This skin disorder is considered a social stigma in India where people confuse it with leprosy. Recently, the Modi government also conferred Pandey with the prestigious ‘Science Award’ for developing ‘Lukoskin’ to treat the skin condition. Lukoskin is manufactured and marketed by Delhi-based AIMIL Pharma Ltd. It is available as an ointment and oral liquid. A more developed version is likely to hit the market soon.

Notes:
Mohan Ranade (89), the veteran freedom fighter from Goa and Padmashri Mohan Ranade, has passed away in Pune on June 25, 2019. Born in 1929 at Sangli in Western Maharashtra, Ranade was inspired by freedom fighters like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar. He was a member of the Azad Gomantak Dal, a group of revolutionaries who believed in the doctrine of armed attacks against the Portuguese colonial rule. During Goa’s liberation movement, Ranade was active in attacking police stations at Betim, Banastarim and other outposts. He was arrested by Portuguese police in 1955 and was imprisoned at the Fort of Caxias near Lisbon in Portugal. He was kept in solitary confinement for six years. Ranade was released from prison in January 1969, after the liberation of Goa in 1961, having served 14 years. He received the Goa Puraskar in 1986 for social work. He authored books on the Goa liberation movement.

Notes:
Saudi Arabia has become the first Arab country to be granted full membership of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) following its Annual General Meeting at Orlando in Florida, USA. Since November 2004, Saudi Arabia has been a founding member of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) arm of the FATF group. Its full FATF membership comes after it was reported the Kingdom had made “tangible progress” for its efforts in implementing the FATF’s guidelines. FATF is responsible for issuing international standards, policies and best practices to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris. As of June 2019, there are 39 Member countries of FATF and policies drafted by FATF are highly regarded and treated as law.

Notes:
To commemorate 20 years of Kargil War, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has turned the Gwalior air base virtually into a conflict theatre with dramatic reenactment of some of the milestones of the operation in 1999. In a symbolic ‘recreation’ of the Tiger Hill attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Drass-Kargil area, the air force used the Mirage 2000 aircraft and explosives were blown up on a ‘model hill’ to recreate the crucial events of the war. The chief guest for the event is Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa. It is observed in the remembrance of recapturing the towering hills in Kargil district in Ladakh division subsequent the occupancy of Pakistani troops. The objective of these celebrations is to evoke feeling of patriotism through nationwide campaigns especially amongst youth and to pay homage to the valiant soldiers.

Notes:
On June 26, the 32nd Congress of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) has kick-started in Hyderabad, Telangana. The Seed Congress is being held for the first time in South Asia. Over 600 delegates including seed experts, officials, policy makers and representatives of national and international companies from nearly 70 countries like the UK, South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand, Canada, Austria are taking part in the Congress. The deliberations will be mainly focusing on various technologies for increasing quality seed production and seed export-import policies. Several pre and post-event workshops, conferences and exhibitions are also being held as part of the 8-day long Congress.

Notes:
On July 28, the Union government has launched the Go Tribal Campaign in New Delhi to promote the use of tribal handicrafts and natural products. TRIFED has organized this event to institutionalize collaborations and partnerships with different organizations to promote tribal products. During the event, Tribes India and Amazon Global Marketing (AGM) have launched TRIBES India products globally through Amazon platform. With this collaboration, tribal products will be available in the US and will help establish an export market with tribal products. The collection of Madua, Jowaer, Bazra, Red Rice, Honey, Lac products, Spices, Coffee, Tea and Handmade Soaps produced by Tribals in various parts of the country will also be showcased.