Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
Maharashtra bagged the top slot in the second edition of the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) list of India’s top ten states that have maximum number of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified green buildings. LEED is a widely used green building rating system. Maharashtra has 334 LEED-certified green buildings, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have 232 and 157 buildings, respectively. The top 10 states for LEED are home to more than 840 million Indians and together include more than 475 million gross square feet of LEED-certified space. LEED is an international symbol of sustainability excellence which signifies a building is lowering carbon emissions, conserving resources and cutting down cost, while prioritizing sustainable practices and creating a healthier environment.

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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 Punjab government has decided to launch its flagship universal health insurance scheme -Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana’ (SSBY) – from July 2019. The scheme will provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family. Around 43.18 lakh families in Punjab will be covered under it. Besides all government hospitals, 364 private hospitals in Punjab had been empanelled, where the beneficiaries would get the secondary and tertiary care. The beneficiaries included the 14.86 lakh families covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in the state. The cost of the premium for the families covered under the PMJAY would be borne by the Centre and the state government in the 60:40 ratio while for the rest of the beneficiaries, it would borne by the state government.

Notes:
Author Amish Tripathi has been appointed the new director of Nehru Centre in London, which is under the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He will replace diplomat Srinivas Gotru. Tripathi is the author of best-selling books such as the Secret of the Nagas and Sita – Warrior of Mithila. The Nehru Centre was founded in 1992 with Gopalkrishna Gandhi as its founder director. Playwright-actor Girish Karnad was among the prominent people to have helmed the centre.

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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.

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The South-East Asian countries will jointly bid to host the 2034 Football World Cup. For this, the meeting of ASEAN countries was held in Bangkok. Prime Minister of Thailand Prayuth Chan-ocha invited the people of ASEAN to support the football associations in their countries to host the tournament. The FIFA World Cup has held only once in the continent when Japan and South Korea were joint hosts in 2002. Qatar will bring it back to Asia in 2022. The ASEAN countries are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei. ASEAN region is home to more than 640 million people many of whom follow football avidly.

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The Imphal Peace Museum (IPM) has been gifted by Japan to Manipur to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Imphal, which was one of the fiercest battles of the Second World War. The museum was inaugurated at Maibam Lokpa Ching popularly known as Red Hill. Around 70,000 Japanese soldiers, alongside those of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA), died in battles with the British-led Allied forces in areas around Imphal and Kohima from March to June 1944. The last of these battles was fought at Red Hill, where the Japanese War Memorial was built in 1944 to mark the 50th anniversary of the battle. The museum symbolizes the reconciliation between Japan & Britain and Japan & India. It is to reinforce the message that history changes and makes us learn from the past.

Notes:
The Union Government has constituted an 18-member working group for the revision of the current series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) under Chairmanship of Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member of NITI Aayog. The revision of the base year would help in presenting a more realistic picture of the price situation and its impact on people. The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will be the nodal office for the Working Group and will process the report and recommendation of the Group for further necessary action. The current series of WPI with 2011-12 as the base year was introduced in May 2017. Since 2011-12, significant structural changes have taken place in the economy. Therefore, it has become necessary to examine the coverage of commodities, weighting diagram and related issues pertaining to the existing series of index numbers of Wholesale Price Index. The Terms of Reference of the Working Group include deciding on the computational methodology to be adopted for monthly WPI and Producer Price Index (PPI) and reviewing the existing system of price collection in particular for the manufacturing sector and suggest changes for improvement.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has decided to set up Vedic education board and culture board in the state. It was announced by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the 25th ‘Bhamashah Sammelan’ at Birla Auditorium in Jaipur. The board will help future generations take inspiration from Vedic culture.

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.