Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has recently received the first AH-64E (I) – Apache Guardian helicopter at Boeing production facility in Mesa, Arizona in the United States. The AH-64E Apache is a leading multi-role attack helicopter and is flown by the US Army. The IAF had signed a multi-billion dollar contract with the US government and Boeing Ltd in September 2015 for 22 Apache helicopters. The first batch of these helicopters is scheduled to be shipped to India by July 2019. The helicopter has been customized to suit IAF’s future requirements and would have significant capability in mountainous terrain. The helicopter has the capability to carry out precision attacks at standoff ranges and operate in hostile airspace with threats from ground.

Notes:
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who made a mark for India and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, has been adjudged as International Bowler of the Year during the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2019. The ceremony was held in Mumbai in presence of a galaxy of past and present cricketers on May 13. Indian captain Virat Kohli bagged the International Cricketer and Batsman of the Year award. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was awarded for outstanding bowling and Australian batsman Aaron Finch for his exceptional performance in T20. Young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal, who performed exceptionally over the year was awarded Junior Cricketer of the Year, while chinaman Kuldeep Yadav took the home outstanding performance of the year award. Ashutosh Aman was awarded Domestic Cricketer of the Year. Legendary Mohinder Amarnath, who played a key role in India’s 1983 World Cup triumph, was bestowed with the ‘CCR International Lifetime Achievement Award’.

Notes:
Pakistan off-spinner Sana Mir bagged the title of the most successful women ODI’s spinner in the world after she dismissed Sune Luus from South Africa in the third ODI of ICC Women’s Championship on May 12, 2019. It was Sana’s 147th ODI wicket in her 118th appearance. With this, she jumped to top sending West Indies’ player Anisa Mohammed and Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar on No. 3 on the list of all-time successful bowlers. Overall, Sana Mir is the third highest wicket-taker after pacers Jhulan Goswami of India (218) wickets) and Cathryn Fitzpatrick of Australia (180). Prior to this, Mir had also become the first Pakistani bowler to head the ICC rankings in October of 2018.

Notes:
HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has recently launched the ‘Mosquito Disease Protection Policy’. This new policy will cover an individual against common mosquito-borne diseases like Dengue Fever, Malaria, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-azar, Lymphatic Filariasis and Zika Virus. According to the report published by National Health Profile 2018, there has been an alarming rise in dengue cases in India, an increase of 300% between 2009-2017. These diseases also lead to hospitalization adding burden on expense or affecting the No Claim Bonus of any standard Health Insurance. Hence, keeping this in mind, HDFC ERGO launched this new policy which will cover hospitalisation expenses incurred during the treatment of any mosquito-borne disease. Alternatively, the policyholder may opt for a lump sum amount to be paid as a policy benefit on providing the proof of hospitalization. In addition, the policy will pay the beneficiary the sum insured in case of the policyholder’s death due to the disease. This cover is available for individuals between the age group of 91 days to 65 years. This policy also provides international cover to individuals and covers all the vector-borne diseases listed in the policy document.

Notes:
India has been unanimously chosen as co-chair of the Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for the fiscal year 2020. The decision was taken during the meeting of GFDRR held in Geneva, Switzerland on the margins of the 6th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) 2019. This will give India an opportunity to work with the member countries and organizations with a focused contribution towards advancing the disaster risk reduction agenda during the course of the year. The GFDRR is a global partnership that helps developing countries better understand and reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. It is is a grant-funding mechanism, managed by the World Bank, that supports disaster risk management projects worldwide.

Notes:
In Madhya Pradesh, women will handle the entire work of counting votes in Harda district of the state. As per reports, the initiative is probably the first of its kind. Harda district is a part of Betul parliamentary seat and the counting of votes of Timarni and Harda assembly segments will take place at Harda district headquarter. At present, 84 women are being trained for counting in Polytechnic College. Apart from the counting of votes, only women will be deployed for the security of the counting centre. Betul was voted on 6 May and the women had taken the responsibilities of voting in 60 all women polling booths in Harda district. Now they are ready to take accountability of counting on 28 tables. More than 75 percent of voting has been recorded in Harda district, so the number of votes is also high.

Notes:
A team of researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has created a next-generation plastic, called Poly Di-Ketoenamine (or PDK), that can be fully recycled into new materials of any colour, shape, or form, without loss of performance or quality. They have designed a recyclable plastic that, like a Lego playset, can be disassembled into its constituent parts at the molecular level. According to the journal Nature Chemistry, unlike conventional plastics, the monomers of PDK plastic could be recovered and freed from any compounded additives simply by dunking the material in a highly acidic solution. The acid helps to break the bonds between the monomers and separate them from the chemical additives that give plastic its look and feel. After testing various formulations, the researchers demonstrated that not only does acid break down PDK polymers into monomers, but the process also allows the monomers to be separated from entwined additives.

Notes:
At Paris summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern launched an ambitious new initiative to eliminate terrorist and violent content online. The initiative, “Christchurch Call”, was pushed by Ms Ardern after a white supremacist gunned down 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city in March. Participants will be asked to commit to pledges to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content on social media and other online platforms. The political meeting will run in parallel to an initiative launched by Macron called ‘Tech for Good’ which will bring together 80 tech chiefs in Paris to find a way for new technologies to work for the common good. The Paris summit comes as there is a growing realisation that the current abuse of social media by extremists must be countered, after the Christchurch attacker broadcast live footage on Facebook from a head-mounted camera.

Notes:
The 5th edition of “International Army Scout Masters Competition” will be organized under the aegis of Konark Corps at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan from 24 July to 17 August 2019. This is the first time that India is the venue for the Army Scouts Masters Competition, which is part of International Army Games steered by Russia. It is also for the first time that an Indian team will participate in this competition. The event will witness participation of the Mechanised Infantry Scout Teams of 8 countries including Russia who is the founding member of this format of International Army Games. The competition will be conducted in five stages, which will test the overall skills of Mechanised Infantry Scouts in simulated battle field scenarios. The combat skills will be adjudicated by a panel of international judges and referees. The competition will showcase combat training and promote camaraderie amongst the contestants, facilitate sharing of best practices as well as develop military and technical cooperation between participating nations.

Notes:
India has found problems with the current method under which the OECD index –Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) – ranks countries based on their services trade policies. As per study commissioned by Indian Ministry of Commerce, the outcomes of index are biased and counter-intuitive. For example, the index seems to show the Indian services sector as one of the most restrictive, particularly in policy areas like foreign entry. This seems surprising as since 1991, the one area that has seen maximum liberalization in India is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The initial work suggests that there are both theoretical and practical inconsistencies in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) methodology. Additionally, the data seems to have been generated by rather arbitrary procedures and reflects a developed country bias. In order to rectify this, the Indian team of econometricians designed a new way of measuring restrictiveness in the services trade that would be more robust and would not have a bias either for developed or developing countries.