Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
India’s aerospace scientist and Chief of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Dr. G Satheesh Reddy has been conferred the Missile Systems Award 2019 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Satheesh is the first Indian to win the award, which recognises his leadership role in the Indian missile programme. He will share the prize with Rondell J. Wilson, a former Principal Engineering Fellow of Raytheon Missile Systems. Dr. Reddy, who is Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, is considered the architect of advanced missile technologies and smart guided weapons technologies in India. As Project Director, he led the design and development of the India’s first 1,000 kg class guided bomb which has enhanced precision strike capabilities. AIAA is the world’s largest and reputed aerospace technical society.

Notes:
The General Assembly of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has decided to include cricket in the sports programme in the 2022 edition of the Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China. The last time cricket featured in the Asian Games was in the 2010 and 2014 edition but Team India opted out of the event on both the occasions citing hectic schedule. The 2010 and 2014 editions saw cricket being played in the twenty-20 format and that is likely to continue during the 2022 Asian Games in China.

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:
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 3rd edition of the bilateral joint exercise “Al Nagah 2019” is scheduled to be held between India and Oman from 12th to 25th March at Jabel Al Akhdar Mountains in Oman. In the exercise, both the armies will exchange expertise and experience in tactics, weapon handling and firing. The aim of this exercise is to enhance interoperability in counter terrorist operations in semi urban mountainous terrain.

Notes:
Malaysia has become the 124th member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after ratifying the Rome Statute. It joined the ICC because of the following reasons: Firstly, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine and the Rohingya crisis. Secondly, the May 2018 election of Mahathir Mohamad for his 2nd stint as Prime Minister has brought a significant shift in the relationship between the Malaysian government and monarchy. Thirdly, the election of Mahathir and appointment of a new Attorney General, Tommy Thomas, has seen the main legal obstacles to ratification removed. Finally, Malaysia’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute has also been driven by Mahathir’s stated ambition to see his country “play a more active role” in ASEAN and the United Nations. Hence, it is third country of the 10 member states of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), to ratify Rome Statute after Cambodia and Philippines. However, Philippines has announced its withdrawal from the ICC and it is set to take effect from 19th March 2019. Earlier, Burundi became the first country to quit the court in 2017.

Notes:
A 116-year-old Japanese woman, Kane Tanaka has been honoured as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records. The global authority on records officially recognised Kane Tanaka in a ceremony at the nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka, in southwest Japan. Born in January 1903, Tanaka loves playing the board game ‘Othello’ and enjoys studying mathematics. The previous oldest living person was another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, who passed away July 2018, aged 117.

Notes:
On March 8, the European Union and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) inaugurated the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for European Union Studies in India at the varsity. The Centre of Excellence for European Union Studies in India (CEEUSI) at JNU will provide greater visibility to EU studies in India and South Asia. After Manipal Academy for Higher Education, JNU is one of only two Centers of Excellence awarded EU funds in India. The new Centre of Excellence at JNU will provide additional opportunities to students and researchers to work on EU studies in India.

Notes:
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has been set up under the Companies Act of 2013. It has provided an effective and time bound adjudication mechanism to deal with matters related to the Companies Act of 2013, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) of 2016 and the LLP Act of 2008. It is in news recently because the Government of India (GoI) has recently approved establishment of two new benches of NCLT, one at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh and the other at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. This step has been taken keeping in view the increasing case load, especially under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code 2016. The jurisdiction of the Bench at Amaravati will be the state of Andhra Pradesh and that of Indore will be the state of Madhya Pradesh. At present Andhra Pradesh comes under the Jurisdiction of NCLT Bench at Hyderabad and Madhya Pradesh comes under the jurisdiction of NCLT Bench, Ahmedabad. It is expected that creation of new benches will enable faster disposal of cases. Presently, 14 numbers of NCLT Benches have been established, including the Principal Bench in New Delhi.

Notes:
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has recently launched the free milk scheme “Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana” for anganwadi children . Under the Amrit Yojana, flavored, sweet, skimmed milk powder will be made available to the 20,000 Anganwadi kendras across the state. Nearly 2.5 lakh children at 20,000 Anganwadi kendras in the state will be given 100 ml milk twice a week for free. This scheme has been launched as part of state government drive to fight against malnutrition in the state. Approx 18,000 children suffer from malnutrition in Uttarakhand.