Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
The Israeli spacecraft “Beresheet” on it’s first-ever moon mission has recently sent its first selfie back to Earth. The image showing part of the Beresheet spacecraft with Earth in the background was beamed to mission control in Yehud, Israel — 37,600 km away. Earlier, on 22nd February 2019, the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and NGO SpaceIL launched the unmanned spacecraft Beresheet from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 22nd February 2019. The 585-kg Beresheet (Genesis) spacecraft took off on a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk. It is the Israel’s first-ever moon mission that will measure the lunar magnetic field to help understanding of the moon’s formation. So far, only Russia, the US and China have made the 239,000 mile (384,000km) journey and landed on the moon. For Israel, the landing itself is the main mission, but the spacecraft also carries a scientific instrument to measure the lunar magnetic field, which will help understanding of the moon’s formation. It also carries a time capsule loaded with digital files containing a Bible, children’s drawings, Israeli songs, the recollections of a Holocaust survivor and the Israeli flag.

Notes:
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a Kuwaiti politician and sports administrator, has been re-elected president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for an 8th term despite being embroiled in a forgery case brought by Swiss investigators. Sheikh Ahmad is considered a major powerbroker in world sport & won a new five-year term until 2024.The OCA is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. The headquarters of the OCA is located at Kuwait City.

Notes:
Tech giant Google has recently launched a new app ‘Bolo’ that aims to help children in primary school learn to read in Hindi and English. The free app, which is being launched in India first, uses Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech technology. The app features an animated character ‘Diya’, who encourages children to read stories aloud and helps if the child is unable to pronounce a word. It also lauds the reader when she completes the reading. The Bolo app will be available on Google Play Store in India for all smartphones running Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) and higher, and can also work offline.To ensure safety of the child, all personal information always stays on device. The users are also not asked for details like email ID and gender for logging into the app.

Notes:
The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has recently constituted a high-level committee under a retired Supreme Court judge to review cases against tribals who are in prison for alleged involvement in Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). This marks a shift from the stance adopted by the previous BJP government which was often accused of targeting social rights activists working in Naxal-affected districts. The panel, headed by Justice (retd) A K Patnaik, will review the cases registered against people belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the naxal-affected area.

Notes:
Thanga Darlong, the 99-year old tribal musician and music guru, has been conferred the first Atal Behari Vajpayee Life Time Award for preserving the musical form during the 37th Agartala Book Fair in Tripura. Darlong is the last tribal musician to play Rosem – a bamboo made a flute-like musical instrument. Earlier, in January 2019, he was conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award for his contribution to the field of music. Born on 20th July 1920 at Muruai village of Tripura, Thanga Darlong was initially trained in folk music from his father Hakvunga Darlong. He was later taught and groomed in the nuances of playing Rosem – a traditional musical instrument of the Darlong community by traditional music maestro Darthuama Darlong. In 2016, he was also showcased in ‘Tree of Tongues in Tripura’, directed by the National Awards winner Joshy Joseph Josy Joseph.

Notes:
Hewlett Packard India has recently signed a MoU with the Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS) and Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Additive Manufacturing (AM) powered by HP’s 3D printing technology. APIS would provide infrastructural support and enable necessary certifications and accreditations while APEDB will drive and encourage the usage of the CoE by government departments, defence and public sector enterprises. The CoE is part of the state government’s vision to accelerate adoption of 3D printing in various industry sectors such as automotive, aerospace, defence, consumer goods, healthcare, apparel and construction. It will be equipped with HP’s 3D printers that can handle short run production and functional prototyping. The 3D printing centre would give Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) and start-ups in Andhra Pradesh an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of Additive Manufacturing (AM).

Notes:
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has recently said that five candidates have been presented by FAO member countries for the post of Director-General, to be elected in June 2019. The 194 members will cast their vote on a ‘one country, one vote’ basis in a secret ballot that requires a simple majority for a valid outcome. In it, India has nominated NITI Aayog member and agricultural economics and policy expert Ramesh Chand to lead a specialised agency of the United Nations focussed on achieving food security for all. The other candidates are Qu Dongyu of China, Medi Moungui of Cameroon, Catherine Geslain-Laneelle of France and Davit Kirvalidze of Georgia. The next Director-General of FAO will be appointed for the period August 1, 2019 to July 31, 2023 and will be eligible for only one additional mandate of four years.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the National Health Authority (NHA) have formed a Joint Working Group (JWG) to curb fraud in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). The 11-member group, with NHA Deputy CEO Dinesh Arora as the chair and lRDAl Executive Director Suresh Mathur as the co-chair, would submit a report within 6 months on how to detect and deter fraud through a common repository and capacity-building. The JWG will develop standards for field verifications and investigations besides guidelines to “name and shame” fraudsters. It will also take up a comparative study of packages and their rates, besides defining standards. Additionally, it will suggest common IT infrastructure for health insurance claims management to increase efficiency and transparency among stakeholders. The AB-PMJAY is the health insurance scheme for availing secondary and tertiary care, cashless treatment at empanelled private and public hospitals across the country to families listed in SECC (Socio-Economic Caste Census) 2011. Eligible families get Rs 5 lakh per year.

Notes:
Indian-American television personality and internationally acclaimed food expert, Padma Lakshmi has been appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as its newest Goodwill Ambassador on the eve of International Women’s Day (IWD-2019). In this new role, Lakshmi will mobilise support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on fighting inequality, discrimination and empowering the disenfranchised.

Notes:
The International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated every year on 8th of March 8 to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The purpose of the 2019 theme “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change” is to achieve gender equality by putting innovation by women and girls, for women and girls, at the heart of efforts. The Campaign theme of 2019 IWD “#BalanceforBetter” would provides a unified direction to guide and galvanize continuous collective action with campaign’s activity reinforced and amplified all year.