Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
The world’s No.3 ODI bowler, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has become the most expensive bowler in ICC World Cup history during their match against hosts England at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 18. He leaked 110 runs off 9 overs as England racked up a gigantic 397 for six after electing to bat. The record earlier belonged to New Zealand’s Martin Snedden, who had conceded 105 runs for two wickets against England in the 1983 World Cup.

Notes:
Indian Navy has recently launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to reassure Indian flagged vessels transiting through the area. The development has come in the wake of the suspected attacks on two merchant ships in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman region. Both the attacks took place at Strait of Hormuz, which is a major conduit for global oil supplies. The US has blamed Iran for the attack. The Navy has deployed stealth guided missile destroyers INS Chennai and patrol vessel INS Sunayna in the region for maritime security operations. In addition, aerial surveillance in the area is also being done by IN aircraft. The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region of the Indian Navy is also keeping a close watch on the movement of ships in the Gulf region. Both the attacks took place at Strait of Hormuz, which is a major conduit for global oil supplies.

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:
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:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a new “Complaint Management System (CMS)” website where anyone can complain against any of the entities regulated by RBI. Through this website, complaints can be lodged against RBI regulated entities with public interface such as commercial banks, urban co-operative banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), etc. All complaints lodged on the CMS would be directed to the appropriate office of the ombudsman/regional office of the RBI. The application also improves transparency by keeping the complainants informed through auto-generated acknowledgements and enabling them to track the status of their complaints and file appeals online against the decisions of the ombudsmen, where applicable.

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:
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:
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:
In Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, tourist’s promotional festival – Ladakh Singhey Khababs Sindhu Festival celebrated on the bank of Indus River at Leh. The festival presents the Indus River as a symbol of the multi-dimensional cultural identity of India that got its name from the Indus River. Folk songs and dances are performed and local handicrafts and ethnic foods are being exhibited before the tourists during the festival.

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.