Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
The World Wildlife Day (WWD) is observed every year on 3rd of March to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna & flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people. The 2019 theme “Life Below Water: For people and planet” aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

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:
The government policy think tank, Niti Aayog has recently released Delta ranking report. In it, the Hailakandi district of Assam has been ranked first among the 112 aspirational districts of India, followed by Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh. Hailakandi has made a giant leap from 52nd position to no. 1 position on the basis of its performance during November-December 2018 and January 2019. For securing the first rank as an aspirational district, Hailakandi will be given an allocation of Rs. 10 crore.

Notes:
Union Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma has recently inaugurated ‘Azaadi Ke Diwane’ museum at the Red Fort premises in New Delhi. The museum is dedicated to the unsung heroes of the country’s freedom struggle and is built by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It is a modern, state-of-the-art, informative and educational exhibition involving multi-sensory technology to engage the visitors. The ‘Azaadi Ke Diwane’ is the 5th in a series of recently inaugurated ones — the others being the Subhash Chandra Bose and INA museum, the Yaad-e-Jallian museum, the Museum on 1857 (on the India’s first war of Independence) and the Drishyakala (a museum on Indian Art) — on the sacrifices of India’s freedom fighters.

Notes:
The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) to ensure better utilisation of infrastructure facilities during training programmes. The NCGG has been set up by the Government of India (GoI) under the aegis of DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances). It aims to promote good governance through capacity building on public policy and governance both at national and international level and carrying out studies research on issues relating to governance. Its head office is at New Delhi. The IICA, registered as a society, is under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs with the primary objective of establishing, managing, maintaining and running a world class institute.

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 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.

Notes:
Distinguished scientist Dr Ajit Kumar Mohanty has been appointed new Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for a period of 3 years. He is at present Director, Physics Group, in BARC and Director, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics. The BARC is India’s premier nuclear research facility based in Mumbai. It is a multi-disciplinary research centre with extensive infrastructure for advanced research and development covering the entire spectrum of nuclear science, engineering and related areas.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved the “Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP)” for Flood Management Works in entire country and River Management Activities and works related to Border Areas for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 with a total outlay of Rs.3342.00 crores. The FMBAP Scheme will be implemented throughout the country for effective flood management, erosion control and anti-sea erosion. The proposal will benefit towns, villages, industrial establishments, communication links, agricultural fields, infrastructure etc. from floods and erosion in the country. The catchment area treatment works will help in reduction of sediment load into rivers. The funding pattern for FM Component for works in general category States will continue to be 50% (Centre) : 50% (State). For projects of North Eastern states, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Centre will bear 70% of the cost. The aim of the Scheme is to assist the State Governments to provide reasonable degree of protection against floods in critical areas by adopting optimum combination of structural and non-structural measures and enhancing capabilities of State / Central Government officials in related fields.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a 5-member committee to examine the issues related to framing of a proper, structured scheme for providing insurance cover to advocates and suggest modalities for its implementation. The committee, under the chairmanship of Legal Affairs Secretary Alok Srivastava, will recommend a comprehensive insurance scheme for the welfare of advocates all over the country to address concerns relating to untimely death and medical insurance. The committee will submit its reports within 3 months.