Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
In a bid to boost India’s relations with its neighbours, the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has signed agreements with Bangladesh and South Korea to make DD India available to viewers in the two countries respectively. Under this agreement, Bangaldesh’s BTV World and South Korea’s KBS World will also be made available on DD Free Dish, which has nearly 35 million subscribers across the country. The move is in line with India’s strategy to strengthen its relationships with neighbouring countries and other Asian nations and will help promote robust cultural exchange.

Notes:
India’s first solar-powered cruise boat to be rolled out in Alappuzha, Kerala in December 2019. A Rs 3-crore cruise boat that can carry 100 passengers is under construction at a boatyard in Aroor. This is part of an initiative of the State Water Transport Department (SWTD), whose solar ferry Aditya in the Vaikom-Thavanakadavu route has proved to be a success. The hybrid vessel will be powered by a motor that can source energy from solar panels, battery, and generator. Its battery will have 80 KWh (kilowatt hour) power backup as compared to 50 KWh backup in Aditya.

Notes:
Thanjavoor Ramamoorthy (90), the noted mridangam exponent and former top grade staff artist of All India Radio (AIR), has passed away in Trichy, Tamil Nadu on June 22, 2019. He had the unique distinction of having accompanied four generations of Carnatic stalwarts starting from violin genius Muringapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer, right up to renowned vocalist ML Vasanthakumari. He was the recipient of the Kalaimamani award of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

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:
Italy’s Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo have been chosen to host the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics during the 134th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Skating sports and ice hockey will be held in Milan, while most alpine skiing events will take place in the resort of Cortina. Other snow sports will be held in other venues in the Italian Alps, including Bormio and Livigno. The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place from 6 to 22 February and the 2026 Winter Paralympics will be held from 6 to 15 March.

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:
A well-known educationist, paediatrician & the author, Dr Gaurav Nigam has been conferred ‘Innovative Research Excellence Award 2019’ at Asian Leadership Summit (ALS) in Thimphu, Bhutan. Dr. Nigam is the founder of iCare – an organization working in the area of new-age child health care; and Intelligentsia, a research-based play school. Intelligentsia is all about scientific research and delivering early education through STEM approach. He has also authored a book titled ‘Devil Inside My Mind’.

Notes:
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The C-ATFM system is primarily meant to address the balancing of capacity against the demand to achieve optimum utilization of the major resources viz., airport, airspace and aircraft at every Indian airport where there is a capacity constraint. It integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC Automation System, flight updates and flight update messages. The system also displays weather information along with static information about airports, airspaces and air routes. The system processes the demand and capacity information and provides decision-making tools to the ATFM Flow Manager for collaborative decision making and to ensure regulated flow of traffic at each airport in India. After successfully implementing the AFTM, India has become the 7th country after the US, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Brazil.

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:
Samant Kumar Goel, a 1984 batch IPS officer from Punjab cadre, has been appointed as the new of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). He succeeded Anil Dhasmana. He is said to have been involved in the planning of the Balakot air strike and played an important role in checking militancy in Punjab. Mr. Goel, a recipient of the Police Medals for Gallantry and Meritorious Service, joined the RAW in 2001. The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. It was established in 1968 following the intelligence failures of the Sino-Indian War, which persuaded the Government of India (GoI) to create a specialised, independent agency dedicated to foreign intelligence gathering. The head of RAW is designated Secretary (R) in the Cabinet Secretariat, and is under the direct command of the Prime Minister, and reports on an administrative basis to the Cabinet Secretary of India, who reports to the Prime Minister. It is headquartered in New Delhi.