Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

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:
The first edition of world’s first exclusive women’s cricket magazine ‘Criczone’ has been released in Jaipur, Rajasthan. In it, Indian team cricket vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has featured as the cover story. The purpose of the magazine is to empower young aspiring women cricketers to take the sport as a profession and able to make a sustainable living. Top international cricketers like Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smiriti Mandhana along with overseas players like Danielle Wyatt, Sophie Devine attended the event which is held on the sidelines of the inaugural women’s T20 challenge. Yash Lahoti is the publisher of the magazine.

Notes:
Japan has started testing it’s fastest-ever shinkansen bullet train “Alfa-X”, which is capable of reaching 400 kilometres per hour (249 mph). The train is scheduled to go into service in 2030 and will run at speeds of up to 360 kph (224 mph). With this feat, it will become the world’s fastest bullet train. This bullet train will be even faster than Fuxing train in China, which runs 10 kph slower than Alfa-X. The model’s futuristic design features 10 cars and a long pointed nose. Alfa-X train is packed with the latest technological features like – vibration sensors, temperature sensors – and its distinct 72 ft long aerodynamic nose is dramatically elongated to minimise noise and pressure when passing through tunnels. ALFA-X also features sensors to reduce the impact of possible earthquake tremors.

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.

Notes:
The 18 nations ADMM-Plus (Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus) multilateral maritime security field exercise has recently concluded in Singapore on May 13. In it, two Indian Navy ships – Guided Missile Destroyer INS Kolkata and Fleet Support Ship INS Shakti carried out Group Sail with the naval ships of Japan, the Philippines and the U.S. in the disputed South China Sea (SCS). The exercise was jointly organised by Singapore and South Korea, which was started in Busan on April 30. This is the 4th such exercise conducted under the ADMM-Plus grouping. The ADMM-Plus consistes of 10 ASEAN countries along with Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

Notes:
Captain Aarohi Pandit, a 23-year-old pilot from Mumbai, has become the world’s first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA). She completed the feat when she landed at Iqaluit Airport in Canada on 13 May, having flown there from Wick in the UK. Her journey was broken into five legs, with stops at Iceland and Greenland. It also made Pandit the first female pilot in the world to successfully complete a solo flight across the Greenland ice cap in an LSA. This is part of her ongoing year-long global circumnavigation flight which was launched by friend Keithair Misquitta on July 30. Both the friends began their trip for Women Empower (WE) Expedition in the tiny aircraft christened ‘Mahi’ in August 2018. ‘Mahi’ is a tiny, single-engine Sinus 912 weighing a little of 400 kg or nearly equivalent to a Bullet motorcycle, manufactured by Pipistrel of Slovenia, and is also the first LSA registered by Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) India.

Notes:
Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac has been appointed head coach of the Indian men’s senior football team for a two-year term. The national team has been without a coach since the departure of Stephen Constantine in January, following the creditable show at the AFC Asian Cup. Stimac comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring, and developing football and players back home, and internationally. As a coach, Stimac’s major achievement was guiding Croatia to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. During his tenure as the national coach of Croatia, he handed debuts to the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ante Rebic, Alen Halilovic, and Ivan Perisic, amongst others. As a player, he was part the of the Croatia team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup, and a member of the national squad which qualified for the quarterfinals of the UEFA European Championship 1996 (Euro) in England. Besides, he was also a part of the Yugoslavia U-19 national team which won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1987.

Notes:
In Assam, a type of orchid – Lecanorchis taiwaniana (parasitic bloom) – has coincidentally discovered by Assam’s forest officer named Jatindra Sarma. The parasitic bloom is a variant of a Japanese orchid. It is found to have a maximum height of 40 cm and a blossoming period of five-six days. It is a Myco-heterotroph and is one of two types of parasitic plants that have abandoned photosynthesis. The discovery titled “New record for the flora in India” is recently published in Japanese Journal of Botany. Hence, the discovery has given India one of its smallest orchids in terms of size and duration of bloom to be recorded botanically. Earlier, the orchid was discovered in Japan, Taiwan, and Laos. Mr. Sarma has a few other botanical discoveries to his credit. These include the rare, ginger-like Amomum pratisthana named after his daughter, and the Smilax sailenii named after Prof. Sailen Borah, one of Assam’s best known botanists. He has also published the two-volume Medicinal Plants and Mushrooms of India with special reference to Assam.

Notes:
Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, the former judge of Supreme Court of India (SCI), has been appointed as the chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA). He will succeed Justice (Retd.) R. V. Raveendran, and will assume the office of Chairperson of NBSA on May 26. This is an honorary post and not a government job. Justice Sikri was retired as senior most puisne judge of Supreme Court of India on 6 March 2019. NBSA is an independent body for self-regulation of 24×7 news channels, who are members of the NBA. Its task is to consider and adjudicate upon complaints about broadcasts.

Notes:
Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor has been felicitated by Council of European Chambers of Commerce (CEUCC) in India and an European Union delegation as part of the ‘Europe Day’ celebrations in Mumbai on May 17. He has been felicitated for his decade-long support to promoting the cause of children’s rights and his collaboration with the EU and Plan India in their girls’ rights endeavours. The event also highlighted how Europe has always been a favourite shooting destination for Indian filmmakers for many decades. The Europe Day is celebrated every year on May 9 to mark the formation of the European Union (EU).