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.

Notes:
A team of scientists from CSIR-NEIST Assam has developed a chemical process that turns ‘dirty’ coal into a biomedical ‘dot’ to help detect cancer cells. The team, led by Binoy Kumar Saikia and Tonkeswar Das, has applied for a patent for their chemical method of producing Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) from cheap, abundant, low-quality and high-sulphur coals. CQDs are carbon-based nanomaterials whose size is less than 10 nm (or nanometer). The CQDs that the CSIR-NEIST team developed emit a bluish colour with high-stability, good-conductivity, low-toxicity, environmental friendliness, and good optical properties. CQDs are futuristic materials whose demand in India has been increasing leading to a considerable volume of import. The CSIR-NEIST technology can produce approximately 1 litre of CQDs per day at a low cost to become an import substitute. The acronym ‘CSIR-NEIST’ stands for “Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-North East Institute of Science and Technology”.

Notes:
On June 20, the first-ever International Theatre Festival of Bangladesh inaugurated at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in Dhaka by the Bangladesh State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid. The week-long festival will feature theatre and puppet shows by eight troupes from seven countries. Rabindranath Tagore’s dance-drama ‘Mayar Khela’ was performed as the inaugural presentation of the festival on Thursday evening. The festival is being organised at the initiative of the Culture Affairs Ministry of Bangladesh. Theatre troupes from India, Bangladesh, Russia, China, France, Vietnam and Nepal are participating in the festival. The festival will also have a dance drama and a seminar on theatre. The Cultural Affairs Ministry has announced that this festival will be organized every other year.

Notes:
The researchers at the University of St Andrews in Scotland have found that gray seals can copy the sounds of human words and songs including “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. The study showed that 3 trained seals were able to imitate parts of popular tunes. The study gave the researchers a better understanding of the evolution of vocal learning and human language development. It also suggested that gray seals could be a new model to study speech disorders since they use their vocal tracts the same way as humans. The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae which are commonly referred to as “true seals” or “earless seals”. It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus.

Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a working group, headed by NSE Clearing Ltd., to review the current framework of margins in the futures and options segment. The group will look into the issue and submit its recommendations to the Secondary Market Advisory Committee. This assumes significance as lower cost of trading was primarily the reason why institutional investors preferred to trade in Nifty contracts on SGX at Singapore rather than on the highly liquid derivatives segment of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Incidentally, a recent study jointly conducted by Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) and consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) highlighted the fact that trading in derivatives in India costs much more when compared with most of the other leading markets due to a variety of margins that are imposed on the traders.

Notes:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched a unique flood hazard atlas on the basis of historic flood inundation captured through satellite imagery over the period from 2001 to 2018. It is expected to help the State manage floods more efficiently. The atlas will help the authorities to systematically plan flood control measures, to carry out relief operations, to plan relief shelters & health centres and to control development activities on flood plains. The atlas is prepared by Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hyderabad. Around 14 lakh hectare of agriculture land is being affected by floods every year in Odisha.

Notes:
Madan Lal Saini (75), a Member of Parliament (MP) of Rajya Sabha for Rajasthan, has passed away in Jaipur on June 24, 2019. Hailed from Sikar district, he was serving as President of Rajasthan State BJP until his death.

Notes:
The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has recently approved a proposal to provide 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the general category in jobs and education. The family should not own more than 5 acres of agricultural land or a house measuring more than 1,200 square feet in municipal corporation limits. The size limit for the house would be 1,500 square feet in municipality areas and 1,800 square feet in Nagar Panchayat areas. In rural areas, size of the house won’t matter. The state cabinet also approved a proposal to enter into a tripartite agreement with the Union government and Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Company for metro rail projects in Bhopal and Indore.

Notes:
India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand has been bestowed an honorary doctorate by IIT Kanpur on the occasion of their 52nd convocation on June 28, 2019. He received the honour from former ISRO chairman and Chairman of the board of Governors of IIT Kanpur, Prof K Radhakrishnan. The past recipients of the honour are Former President Prof. APJ Abdul Kalam and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Gopichand, as a player, won the 2001 All England Open Badminton Championship. He became the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to achieve this feat. Post retirement, the Hyderabad-based shuttler started his own badminton academy — Gopichand Badminton Academy — in 2008. Many top Indian players including the likes of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap etc. have been trained at Pullela Gopichand’s academy in Hyderabad.

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.