Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
US Air Force General Tod Wolters has been sworn-in as the top military officer of the 29-nation NATO military alliance. He became Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) at a ceremony on Friday at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons, southern Belgium. Wolters succeeded General Curtis M. Scaparrotti. His term is likely to run two to three years, and will also be commander of U.S. forces in Europe. The NATO post of SACEUR is always held by an American military officer. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries.

Notes:
The World Asthma Day (WAD) is celebrated every year on first Tuesday of May to increase awareness about asthma and aims to improve the lives of people with asthma across the world. Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs which causes breathing problems. Asthma usually appears through symptoms like coughing, tightness in the chest, breathlessness. The 2019 WAD is observed on 7th of May with theme ‘Stop for Asthma’. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 235 million people currently suffering from asthma around the world. Asthma is one of the major non-communicable diseases and it is also the most common chronic disease in children. Regular exercise can help reduce asthma symptoms.

Notes:
The Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) has recently appointed Dragan Mihailovic (from Serbia) as head coach of the men’s national team in a move linked to the long term goal of Olympic Games qualification. The VFI also announced the appointment of Pryemyslaw Gaszyoski and Valadimir Radosevic as the team’s physio trainer and physiotherapist respectively. Besides the men’s national team, the trio will also look after the men’s U-23 team and other junior teams representing India. All the three have been appointed for 5 months and will work with the team for the Asian Championships scheduled to be held in Iran during September.

Notes:
The 6-day Brahmakalashothsava festival is celebrated in the ancient Chandkuru Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple annually in Polali, Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The presiding deity of the temple, which has a history of nearly 1,700 years, is Shri Rajarajeshwari. The highlight of this temple is its mud idols and this is probably the only idol of this size (about 9ft height) in Karnataka. Other than the presiding deity Rajarajeshwari – two other idols Bhadrakali on the left (may be bigger than the presiding deity in height) and Lord Subrahmanya and Ganesha are on the right hand side. It is in news recently because several Dalits and OBCs from Chandkuru and surrounding villages in Belthangady taluk boycotted festival in a centuries-old temple due to separate seating arrangement had been made for people of the upper caste.

Notes:
Samsung Electronics Co has recently launched the world’s highest-resolution image sensor for smartphones at 64-Megapixels to meet the growing demand for mobile devices with better image quality. The company expands its 0.8μm image sensor lineup with 64Mp ISOCELL Bright GW1 and 48Mp ISOCELL Bright GM2 that allow vibrant ultra-high resolution mobile photography. With the addition, Samsung expanded its 0.8μm image sensor lineup, the smallest pixel size currently available in the market, from existing 20Mp to ultra-high 64Mp resolutions.

Notes:
Two Indian Navy ships – Guided Missile Destroyer INS Kolkata and Fleet Support Ship INS Shakti carried out a 6-day long exercise ‘Group Sail’ with naval ships of Japan, Philippines and the United States of America (USA) in the disputed South China Sea from 03 May to 09 May 19. The aim of the Group Sail is to deepen the existing partnership and foster mutual understanding among participating navies. The ships undertook various exercises enroute which included formation manoeuvering, underway replenishment runs, cross-deck flying and exchange of Sea Riders. The Group Sail exercise with naval ships of Japan, Philippines and United States showcased India’s commitment towards operating with like-minded nations to ensure safe maritime environment through enhanced interoperability.

Notes:
The Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd (KRCL) has signed a contract agreement with Nepal’s Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets. These trains will be used to operationalise railway link between Jayanagar in India and Kurtha in Nepal. Each train set will comprise of one driving power car, three trailer cars with one air-conditioned, one driving trailer car with standard accessories. The train sets will be manufactured by the Integrated Coach Factory, Chennai. The 34 kms Jayanagar-Kurtha Railway Link has been built by IRCON with Government of India (GoI) financial grant under India-Nepal Development Partnership programme. The KRCL is a Union Government Company headquartered at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai that operates Konkan Railway.

Notes:
Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R Vala administered the oath of office to Justice Oka at the Raj Bhavan. He succeeded Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, who was elevated as a Supreme Court judge in January 2019. Justice Oka has given many landmark judgements including those revolving around noise pollution, the rights of atheists and the right to give “no religion” as an option in government application forms, a judgement striking down the beef ban in Maharashtra and encouraging prison reforms, among others.

Notes:
ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan has recently inaugurated Young Scientist Programme (Yuvika-2019) for school children at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The initiative is primarily aimed at imparting basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities. The Yuvika (Yuva VIgyani KAryakram) 2019, which will be conducted from May 13 to 26, is a two week summer vacation residential training programme. It is launched by ISRO in tune with the Union Government’s vision ‘Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan’.

Notes:
Kiki Bertens has won women’s singles title at the 2019 Madrid Open tennis tournament. In the final, she defeated Simona Halep 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets to win the coveted title. Earlier, in the ongoing tournament, Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-3, 6-4 to win his third Madrid Open Tennis title.