Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
The registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951. A party seeking registration under the said Section with the Commission has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation as per guidelines prescribed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the ECI and Section 29A of the RPA Act of 1951. As per existing guidelines, the applicant association is inter-alia asked to publish proposed Name of the party in two national daily news papers and two local daily newspapers, on two days in same news papers, for inviting objections, if any, with regard to the proposed registration of the party before the Commission within a 30 days from such publication.

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IIT Roorkee has signed a pact with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up an ISRO-IITR Space Technology Cell (STC). The ISRO – IITR Cell shall pursue advanced research in the areas of relevance to the future technological and programmatic needs of the Indian Space Programme and shall devote its resources including human resources to this effect. The activities of STC shall be directed to maximise the use of the research potential, infrastructure, expertise and experience that already exist in ISRO and IIT Roorkee. Its research facility will consist of faculty members, visiting scientists and experts, research personnel, technical, administrative and support staff. IIT Roorkee will be responsible for overall management of STC by providing required infrastructure, administrative and other support.

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The first-ever joint military exercise of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) titled “Sary Arka Antiterror 2019” is scheduled to be held in grasslands of Kazakhstan in the Sary Arka region. The decision to hold the joint exercise ‘Sary-Arka-Antiterror 2019’ was announced during the 34th meeting of the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) council held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The SCO, in which China plays an influential role, is also comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan were admitted into the bloc in 2017. Delegations of the competent authorities of India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the RATS Executive Committee attended the meeting. RATS is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. It is headquartered in Tashkent. The next meeting of the Council of the RATS SCO is scheduled to be held in Russia in September 2019.

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Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Mukesh Sahu has launched an initiative ‘i-help’ to promote digital electoral literacy in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. The ‘i-help’ is a joint initiative of the office of the Assam CEO and Common Service Centres (CSC). This particular initiative will fill the digital divide and fulfill the objective of turning the General Election more inclusive and participatory. The CSCs are internet-enabled access points spread throughout the country delivering various government and non- government digital services to the citizens and is uniquely positioned in rural areas to significantly extend the awareness and outreach activities of CEO, Assam. The entire programme is being launched under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) in the state and it is geared to ensure that no voter is left behind. The voting in Assam will take place at 28,143 polling stations in three phases on April 11, 18 and 23.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed transgender social activist Gauri Sawant, as one of the 12 election ambassadors from Maharashtra. It’s the first time that a transgender has been appointed as an election ambassador in India. According to the Election Commission, Gauri Sawant’s appointment would help in more people from this category getting registered during the final phase of voters enrollment. It stated that in the next few days, Gauri Sawant would visit every transgender and inspire them about the need for voting. During 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections there was no record of transgender voters. Following the Supreme Court order, transgenders got the right to vote for the first time in 2014. In 2014, 918 voters were registered in this third category. This number has doubled in five years and now it is 2,086. There are 113, 184, and 123 registered transgenders in constituencies of Bhiwandi, Kalyan, and East Mumbai respectively. North Mumbai constituency has registered the maximum number of 324 transgender.

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The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently released the 2018 report on patents filed by members of its Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The United Nations (UN) data shows the United States remained the leading individual country for patent applications in 2018. But on a regional basis, Asia’s surge continued. It’s a sign of innovation shifting from west to east because more than half of all international patent applications filed last year came from Asia. In the main category-the PCT, the US led the way with 56,142 applications, followed by China (53,345) and Japan (49,702). Germany and South Korea came in a distant fourth and fifth, with fewer than 20,000 applications each. India registered the largest innovation jump of any country last year. Patent applications jumped more than 27% – from 1,583 in 2017 up to 2,013. Chinese telecommunications behemoth Huawei also set new record for the number of patent applications filed a single corporation in one year with 5,405. Patent filings are seen as a measure of the spread of science and technology in a country. Patent protection also provides monopoly rights to the inventor.

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The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has launched smart garbage bins made of stainless steel. These smart garbage bins will be able to send a signal to the garbage collection vehicle about the ‘fill-up’ position of the bin, aiding better cleaning and lower human intervention. The environment-friendly garbage bins will be made of SAIL SALEM stainless steel. These will be installed in underground Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) pits at the Smart Garbage Station. This will help prevent the spread of stink and diseases. There will be separate bins for recyclable and non-recyclable wastes. The pits in which the bins will be placed, will be covered with a pit cover fabricated out of stainless steel slip-free sheets. Suitable openings on the pit cover will allow the sanitation crew to dump the collected garbage into the stainless steel bins placed underground. SAIL will supply stainless steel garbage bins to Smart Garbage Stations at Bhikaji Cama Place in Delhi, which is being developed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

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India’s deepest shaft cave has been discovered at Krem Um Ladaw in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya during the 28th edition of the annual ‘Caving in the Abode of the Clouds Expedition’. The cave has a 105 m deep shaft entrance passage. The cave has a 105 m deep shaft entrance passage. This comes a year after the discovery of the world’s longest sandstone cave – Krem Puri – near the village of Laitsohum in Mawsynram region of East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. With a length of 24,583 metres, Krem Puri was discovered back in 2016 but the actual length of the cave was obtained by the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association (MAA) during one of its expeditions. The cave system has fossils of dinosaurs, especially the Mosasaurus, a giant reptile that lived 66-76 million years ago. With all these discoveries , Meghalaya has become one of the top caving regions of the world.

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Hindi writer Leeladhar Jagudi will be honoured with the Vyas Samman 2018 by the KK Birla Foundation for his collection of poems “Jitne Log Utne Prem”. The book, published in 2013 was selected by a Chayan Samiti presided over by litterateur Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. Born in Dhangal village in Tehri Garhwal of Uttarakhand, Mr. Jagudi was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004 apart from other awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, Akashvani National Award, Uttar Pradesh Hindi Institute and Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman. The Vyas Samman, started in 1991 is given to an outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen which has been published in the last decade. The award carries an amount of Rs. 4 lakh.

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Researchers from the University of Arkansas and Argonne National Lab in the US have identified more cost-effective and efficient ways of producing hydrogen fuel by splitting water. They showed that nano-particles composed of nickel and iron are better alternatives than more costly materials when used as catalysts in the production of hydrogen fuel through water electrolysis. The team demonstrated that using nanocatalysts composed of nickel and iron increases the efficiency of water electrolysis, the process of breaking water atoms apart to produce hydrogen and oxygen and combining them with electrons to create hydrogen gas. When nanoparticles composed of an iron and nickel shell around a nickel core are applied to the process, they interact with the hydrogen and oxygen atoms to weaken the bonds, increasing the efficiency of the reaction by allowing the generation of oxygen more easily.This marks a step toward making water electrolysis a more practical and affordable method for producing hydrogen fuel. Current methods of water electrolysis are too energy-intensive to be effective.