Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently addressed the Network-18 Rising India Summit 2019 in New Delhi and laid out his vision for a ‘New India‘. The theme of the summit was, ‘Beyond Politics: Defining National Priorities’. The summit is a News18 Network enterprise where newsmakers from the world of politics, governance, economics, sports and entertainment, and above all well-wishers of India, gather to discuss the country’s rising global stature. It is a showcase of India’s unbounded potential as well as a celebration of its significant achievements.

Notes:
The Union cabinet has recently approved a proposal for setting up the Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to benefit para-sports in the country. The centre will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 170.99 crore over a period of five years & will be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The centre will have a Governing Body comprising a maximum of 12 members, some of them experts from “National Level Sports Federations apart from experts in para games”. The Section 30 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, requires the government to take measures to ensure “effective participation of Persons with Disabilities in sports activities which includes the provision of infrastructural facilities for sports activities for them”. The upcoming centre was proposed in the budget of 2014-15. At present, no specialized sports training facilities for Divyangjan are available in the Country. Hence, this void is proposed to be filled up by setting up sports infrastructure so that persons with disabilities (Divyangjan) can undergo rigorous and specialized training in this Centre.

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:
In Tripura, the joint border guarding exercise “Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ was held between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between the two border guards. The exercise was named after the Mainamati hill range situated 8 km west of Comilla township in Bangladesh, which is home to an ancient Buddhist archaeological site in the region. The main purpose of this exercise was to plan and conduct anti-smuggling and anti-criminal activity related operations with an aim of achieving better joint operational efficiency and border management in the area.

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:
Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65 kilogram freestyle at the Dan Kolov-Nikol Petrov tournament in Ruse, Bulgaria. He beat American Jordan Oliver 12-3 in the final & also secured the maximum ranking points from the tournament. This was Punia’s 10th medal in as many international tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris. Earlier, Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in women’s 59 kg while Sarita Mor won a silver in the same weight category. Sakshi Malik won silver in 65 kg women’s freestyle. In the men’s freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar claimed silver in 61kg.

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:
The Tea Board of India is a state agency of the Government of India (GoI) established to promote the cultivation, processing, and domestic trade as well as export of tea from India. It was established by the enactment of the Tea Act in 1953 with its headquarters in Kolkata. The Tea Board India is responsible for the assignment of certification numbers to exports of certain tea merchants. Recently, it is in news because the Union Ministry of Commerce has reappointed P K Bezbaruah as the chairman of Tea Board for a period of three years. Bezbaruah, the owner of Bokahola Tea Company in Assam, was earlier appointed as chairman of Tea Board as its first non-IAS officer. He was also instrumental in initiating a revamp of the old electronic auctioning system.

Notes:
Indore has been adjudged India’s cleanest city for the 3rd straight year in the central government’s cleanliness survey ‘Swachh Survekshan 2019’. The second and third positions in the category were grabbed by Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh and Mysore in Karnataka. The Swachh Survekshan awards 2019 were conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function in New Delhi. Top ranked cities received a statue of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi as award for their work towards cleanliness. Every year, cities and towns across India are awarded with the title of ‘Swachh Cities’ on the basis of their cleanliness and sanitation drive as a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that was launched in 2014. Three cities Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh bagged top awards. It was hat trick for Bhopal too. Bhopal was adjudged the cleanest capital city in the 2019 survey. Ujjain was awarded Cleanest Medium city in 3 lakh to one million category. While the New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the ‘Cleanest Small City’ award, Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged the ‘Best Ganga Town’ in the central government survey. The ‘Cleanest Big City’ award has been bagged by Ahmedabad, while Raipur is the ‘Fastest Moving Big City’.