Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has recently announced a new railway zone of the Indian Railways, named as Southern Coast Railway (SCoR). This new 18th railway zone of the country will be headquartered at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The new zone will comprise the existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions that currently fall under the South Central Railway (SCR). The cost of creating infrastructure for a new zone is more than Rs. 205 crore. The Indian Railways’ operations are currently divided into 17 zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions, each having a divisional headquarter. There are a total of 73 divisions at present.

Notes:
The 7th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Intersessional Ministerial Meeting (7th RCEP ISSL MM) will be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on 2nd March 2019. The aim of the 16-member RCEP is to cover issues related to goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights. From India, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu will attend the meeting. The RCEP is a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between 16 countries namely 10 countries of ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners (also known as AFP’s or ASEAN FTA Partners) namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.

Notes:
The Zero Discrimination Day (ZDD) is observed every year on 1st of March to promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all of the member countries of the UN. The days aims to tell people that nobody should be differentiated based on their HIV status, age, sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity, language, geographical location or migrant status. The 2019 campaign ‘Act to change laws that Discriminate’ challenges people to act against laws that discriminate in their country. The campaign encourages people to ask themselves “What if …” and to think about their own actions. For example: ‘What if your neighbour had tuberculosis? Would you stop to chat?’

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.

Notes:
The book titled “Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way” has been authored by Spiritual teacher Kamlesh Patel, who is popularly known as Daaji. He addressed key issues related to destiny and how it shapes one’s life in his new book. The author provides practical wisdom on how to use heartfulness practices to refine lifestyle and design destiny, including destiny in the afterlife. He elaborates on the subject of consciousness, the role of evolution, and explains what happens to people at the time of birth and death – and how people can act in those pivotal moments when life takes a turn. In the book, Daaji shares how beliefs determine the relative importance of fate and free will in people’s lives. He also shares a set of simple heartfulness practices and lifestyle changes that can help people design their destiny. The author also explores the meditative practices in the light of destiny besides fundamental aspects of well-being, like healthy sleep patterns, heartful communication, eating patterns, living in tune with natural cycles and so on.

Notes:
Bhagwan Lal Sahni, a BJP leader from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, appointed new Chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). The NCBC was given constitutional status by Parliament in 2018, after repealing the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. The NCBC which previously only could recommend on the issue of inclusion or exclusion of a community in the Central list of OBCs will now have the powers of a civil court as it has been given Constitutional status, on par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Notes:
Anil Kumble, a former Indian captain of Tests and ODIs, has been reappointed as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee for the third consecutive time. This 3-year stint will end in 2021 and be his final term as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. He was appointed as the head of the panel in the year 2012 for his first term. Kumble was reappointed for his second term in the year 2016 which would keep him in office till 2018. The ICC Cricket Committee is representative of all stakeholders in the game, including players and umpires. It is empowered to make recommendations on cricket playing issues.