Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
Suresh Raina has become the first Indian batsman to cross 8000 runs in T20 cricket. He achieved this feat when he scored 12 runs against Puducherry in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Delhi on Feb 25. With those 12 runs, Raina has now scored 8,001 from 300 T20s which consisted of 284 innings. It was incidentally his 300th T20. Beside this, Raina is the second Indian after MS Dhoni to have played 300 T20 matches. Apart from Raina, Virat Kohli (7833) and Rohit Sharma (7795) are the only other batsmen in the top 10 list of the highest run-getters in T20 cricket. Overall, Raina is the sixth highest with David Warner (8111 runs), Shoaib Malik (8603), Kieron Pollard (8839), Brendon McCullum (9922) and Chris Gayle (12,298).

Notes:
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu inaugurated National Institutes of Design (NID) at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jorhat in Assam through video conference from New Delhi on 22nd February 2019. Both institutes are autonomous institutions under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The establishment of new NIDs will help produce highly skilled manpower in design which, in turn, will create job opportunities, both direct and indirect, by providing sustainable design interventions for crafts, handloom, rural technology, small, medium and large-scale enterprises and outreach programs for capacity, capability and institution building. The National Design Policy 2007 had recommended setting up design institutes on the lines of NID Ahmedabad in other parts of India to promote design programs. Four new NIDs have been set up in Andhra Pradesh (Amaravati), Assam (Jorhat), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) and Haryana (Kurukshetra) with a total outlay of Rs. 434 crore.

Notes:
The West Bengal government has launched ‘Banglar Shiksha’ portal to provide real-time data on state-run and aided schools. The portal, ”Banglar Shiksha” (banglarshiksha.gov.in), will store real-time data of 1.5 crore students, 5 lakh teachers and 1 lakh schools. It will be operated on a trial basis for two months to remove glitches, if any and will be fully functional by 1st May 2019. The system will enable the headmaster and class teacher to access the academic performance of a student. Parents, too, can access the information by downloading the Banglar Shiksha app.

Notes:
Tamil Nadu has become the first State in India to introduce Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) in the government sector to spread awareness on newer heart valve treatments without open surgery. TAVI was launched at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital (TNGMSSH), Omandurar Estate, in November 2018. With the help of TAVI, two persons have undergone the procedure free of cost. Conventionally, an open heart surgery is performed for replacing the aortic valve for treating aortic stenosis. But not all patients such as the elderly are fit to undergo open heart surgery. This is where TAVI helps as in this procedure the valve is replaced through a keyhole procedure from the groin. The procedure costs Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh in the private sector, while it is done free in the government sector.

Notes:
West Indies opener Chris Gayle has become the first-ever player to smash 500 sixes in international cricket. He achieved this feat in the ongoing 5-match One Day International (ODI) series against England at National Cricket Stadium in Grenada, West Indies on 27 February. However, Gayle’s fireworks weren’t enough to help his team cross the line as West Indies were bowled out for 389. They fell 29 runs short of England’s 418/6, scored courtesy Jos Buttler’s 150 and Eoin Morgan’s 103 as well as half-centuries by Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales. Earlier in the ongoing series, he had toppled Shahid Afridi to record the most number of sixes by any batsman in international cricket. Gayle, who will retire from ODIs after the 2019 Cricket World Cup, now has 506 sixes in international cricket (98 in Tests, 305 in ODIs and 103 in T20Is). He also breached 10,000-run mark in ODIs and become only the 2nd from West Indies after Brian Lara (10,405 runs) to achieve the milestone.

Notes:
On Feb 28, Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani launched a comprehensive programme for the development of knitting and knitwear sector in the country under the PowerTex India scheme in New Delhi. The total outlay for the knitwear scheme is Rs. 47.72 crore & would be in operation till March 31, 2020.The programme for knitting and knitwear units, catering to domestic and exports markets, has 8 components where the industries would get support to install machinery under group work shed scheme, buy yarn, go in for solar energy, have common facilities and create new service centres under public private partnership mode. The scheme envisages creation of new service centres on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model by industry and association in the knitting and knitwear clusters. Some of the major knitwear clusters in the country are Tiruppur, Ludhiana, Kanpur, and Kolkata.

Notes:
The BCG-IBA report titled ‘EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks’ has measured the performance of each Public Sector Bank (PSB) on 140 objective metrics across six themes, including customer responsiveness, credit off-take, and digitization. As per report, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) with a score of 78.4 out of 100 has been ranked first in the EASE (Enhanced Access & Service Excellence) index, followed by BoB (77.8), SBI (74.6), Oriental Bank of Commerce (69), Canara Bank (67.5) and Syndicate Bank (67.1). PNB has shown strong performance in parameters such as customer responsiveness, responsible banking, credit off-take and financial inclusion.

Notes:
The Lignocellulosic biomass (or LC biomass) refers to plant biomass that is composed of carbohydrate polymers (cellulose, hemicellulose), and an aromatic polymer (lignin). It is the most abundantly available raw material on the Earth for the production of biofuels, mainly bio-ethanol. It is in news recently because the Union Cabinet has approved the “Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana” for providing financial support to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock. It has been launched as a tool to create 2G Ethanol capacity in the country and attract investments in this new sector. The scheme focuses to incentivize 2G Ethanol sector and support this nascent industry by creating a suitable ecosystem for setting up commercial projects and increasing Research & Development in this area. The ethanol produced by the scheme beneficiaries will be mandatorily supplied to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to further enhance the blending percentage under Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme. The JI-VAN Yojana will be supported with total financial outlay of Rs.1969.50 crore for the period from 2018-19 to 2023-24.

Notes:
The 8th edition of joint military exercise ‘Sampriti-2019’ between the armies of India and Bangladesh has recently started at Bongobondhu Cantonment in Tangail, Bangladesh. The aim of the 14-day exercise is to increase mutual cooperation, bonhomie and camaraderie between the armies of two countries. The exercise is a part of the ongoing India-Bangladesh defence cooperation. The Bangladesh contingent was represented by 36 East Bengal Battalion, while Indian side was represented by 9th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles.

Notes:
The United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem & downgraded the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the U.S. Embassy to Israel. For decades, the consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians. Now, that outreach will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit, under the command of the embassy. The symbolic shift hands authority over U.S. diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza to Ambassador David Friedman, a longtime supporter and fundraiser for the West Bank settler movement and fierce critic of the Palestinian leadership. The downgrade is the latest in a string of divisive decisions by the Trump administration that have backed Israel and alienated the Palestinians, who say they have lost faith in the US administration’s role as a neutral arbiter in peace process.