Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
The Time 100 Most Influential People 2019 list named the world’s most influential pioneers, leaders, titans, artists and icons of the year. The list includes Indian-American comedian and TV host Hasan Minhaj, US President Donald Trump, Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, iconic golfer Tiger Woods and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Here, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and two women Public Interest Litigators (PIL) Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy have been featured by TIME magazine in its prestigious list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Arundhati & Menaka led the legal battle for LGBTQ rights in India.

Notes:
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL) has acquired the Philippines-based personal care maker Splash Corporation for an undisclosed amount to enter the country which has a consumer base of around 100 million. The acquisition strengthens Wipro’s consumer care portfolio in personal care and strengthens its South-East Asian market footprint. Splash is the largest Filipino personal care player and amongst Top 5 in the Philippines market. Its product categories such as exfoliants and leave-in hair care range are new for WCCL. This is Wipro’s 11th consumer business acquisition, and the 9th in the personal care segment. Other Wipro consumer acquisitions include UK’s Yardley, Singapore-based personal-care company LD Waxson Unza Holdings and China’s Zhongshan and a lot more. The company has made five acquisitions in the Indian market in the consumer line business.

Notes:
Beirut, the national capital of Lebanon, has set a new Guinness World Record for the number of national flags raised in a city for 24 hours. On 28th April 2019, a total of 26,852 Lebanese flags were raised & beat a record held by New York’s Waterloo since 2000. The event was organized by the Beirut Alive Association (BAA) under the patronage of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Notes:
The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise – Varuna 19.1 – has started off the Goa coast from 1 to 10 May 2019. The exercise will see the participation of the French Navy’s aircraft carrier FNS Charles de Gaulle, two destroyers, FNS Forbin and FNS Provence, the frigate FNS Latouche-Treville, the tanker FNS Marne and a nuclear submarine. From the Indian side, the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, destroyer INS Mumbai, the Teg-class frigate, INS Tarkash, the Shishumar- class submarine, INS Shankul, and the Deepak- class fleet tanker, INS Deepak, are taking part in the exercise. The exercise is being conducted in two phases. The harbour phase at Goa would include cross-visits, professional interactions and discussions and sports events. The sea phase would comprise various exercises across the spectrum of maritime operations. The second part of the exercise – Varuna 19.2 – is scheduled to be held in May end in Djibouti.

Notes:
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has decided to observe its retaliatory action on February 27 against the Indian air strikes on the Balakot terror camp as ‘Operation Swift Retort’. The tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated after the 14th February 2019 attack by a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF soldiers. 13 days later, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, the PAF retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later released and handed over to the Indian side on March 1.

Notes:
The former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara has become the first non-British President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He will begin his one-year tenure in October 2019 and will succeed Anthony Wreford. His tenure will include two England test matches against West Indies and Pakistan and the launch of The Hundred competition – the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new 100-ball cricket format. MCC, which owns Lord’s and acts as the guardian of the laws of the game, was founded in 1787 and lists 168 presidents in its history.

Notes:
State-owned telecom firm BSNL has become the first operator to start optical fibre-based high-speed broadband service in Pulwama with launch of ‘Bharat Fibre’. This is the first such FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) service deployment in the (Kashmir) Valley under this unique revenue share model. The Bharat Fibre services are provided on the optical fibre right up to the customer premises. This service has been launched in a business partnership model with the local channel partner of Pulwama area, on a revenue sharing basis. BSNL provides FTTH service with a monthly charge in the range of Rs 777-16,999 in over 160 telecom districts with a minimum speed of 2 megabit per second (mbps).

Notes:
Master Hirannaiah (85), the noted Kannada theatre personality, passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on May 2, 2019. He was well known for his caustic barbs on the political class dipped in humour on stage from late 1960s. Hailing from Mysuru, Narasimha Murthy was the son of theatre thespian K. Hirannaiah, who started K. Hirannaiah Mitra Mandali. He took on the stage name Master Hirannaiah after his debut in his childhood. His mega hit play was “Lanchavatara” with which he pioneered a freewheeling style, including a commentary on the day’s politics and making the play new with every staging. His other famous plays include Double Thaali, Kanya Daana, Sanyasi Samsara, Chamachavathara, Haasyadalli Ulta Palta, Kapil Mushti, Nadubidi Narayana, Bhrashtachara and Anaachaara. Based on these successes, he had starred in many Kannada language movies and TV shows.

Notes:
After 8 years, India will once again mark its presence at the art world’s oldest Biennale in Venice, Italy that begins on 11th May 2019. The overarching theme at the 58th Venice Biennale 2019 is ‘Our Time for a Future Caring’, and India has decided to showcase Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi to ensure a memorable show at the art event. In it, 16 of the 400 Haripura posters will go up on the walls of the India pavilion with the theme ‘Hundred and Fifty years of Mahatma Gandhi’. This will be the second time India will have a pavilion of its own at one of the biggest art events in the world. The India pavilion is curated by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), and commissioned by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). The India Pavilion will revisit through diverse art forms, the indelible memory of Mahatma Gandhi, his philosophical ideas, and the many facets of Gandhi that continue to inspire, provoke and challenge the public, intellectuals and artists alike. In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi commissioned Indian modern artist Nandalal Bose to create paintings portraying different aspects of Indian life to be displayed at the Indian National Congress’ session in Haripura, Gujarat.

Notes:
According to the latest data from US space agency NASA, the giant asteroid named 99942 Apophis is expected to approach dangerously close to the Earth on April 13, 2029. However, there is no need to worry as it will be about 31,000km away from the surface of the Earth. This is going to be a great opportunity for asteroid scientists as it’s relatively rare for such a large object to pass so close to the Earth. The colossal asteroid is named after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction. Apophis was discovered in 2004 by U.S. astronomers. Since then, optical and radar telescopes have tracked Apophis as it continues on its orbit around the sun, so scientists know well its future trajectory. Current calculations shows that Apophis still has a small chance of impacting earth.