Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
Vijaya Mulay (98), the renowned filmmaker and film historian, has passed away at her south Delhi residence on May 19, 2019. Born on 16th May 1921, Mulay founded the Delhi Film Society in 1959, and later on became a joint secretary of the Federation of Film Societies. She is best known for her animation film ‘Ek Anek Aur Ekta’ , which was aired on Doordarshan in the 70s and 80s and won the National Film Award for Best Educational Film. Her 7-minute film, aimed at children, messaged the importance of unity in diversity and celebrated its powers and pleasure.

Notes:
The World Bee Day (WBD) is celebrated every year on May 20 to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem. It provides an opportunity for governments, organizations, civil society and concerned citizens everywhere to promote actions that will protect and enhance pollinators and their habitats, improve their abundance and diversity, and support the sustainable development of beekeeping. 20 May coincides with the birthday of Anton Janaa, who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping techniques in his native Slovenia and praised the bees for their ability to work so hard, while needing so little attention. The 2019 theme ‘Save the Bees’ is meant to raise awareness on the increasing need to preserve bees and other pollinators.

Notes:
Dr. Hema Divakar, a Bengaluru-based medical doctor, has been honoured with the ‘Global Asian of the Year 2018-19’ award in Dubai recently for her yeomen services and contributions to the women’s healthcare ecosystem, in India. Dr. Divakar received the award at the Asian Business & Social Forum 2019 under the ‘In Service of the Society and the Nation’ category from UAE’s Trade Promotion Director Mohammed Naser Hamdan Al Zaabi. The award is conferred on those who stand out for vision, action and ingenuity and represent contemporary ideas to make global impact.

Notes:
The World Thyroid Day (WTD) is observed every year on May 25 to promote awareness and understanding of thyroid health and the advances made in treating thyroid diseases. The thyroid gland is an important part of the body and is extremely important as it regulates metabolism, affects energy levels, crucial body functions, and heart rate. Abnormalities in the thyroid gland can lead to excess production of the thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism), less production of the thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), thyroid nodules (lumps in the thyroid gland), goitre (enlargement of the thyroid gland), thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland) and thyroid cancer.

Notes:
The British-Sri Lankan human rights documentary maker- turned debut novelist, Guy Gunaratne has won the 2019 £30,000 Swansea University International Dylan Thomas prize for his debut novel ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’. It is the fictional account of 48 hours in a North London housing estate after the murder of a British soldier. Gunaratne is a human rights documentary maker-turned-debut novelist. The £30,000 Prize is awarded to the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.

Notes:
Lewis Hamilton, a British racing driver who races in Formula One for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, has won the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix with a perfectly measured drive.

Notes:
On 2019 World Meterology Day, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) has recently introduced redefined International System of Units for the country. The redefined systems are Kilogram (SI unit of weight), Kelvin (SI unit of temperature), Mole (SI unit of amount of substance), and Ampere (SI unit of current). The purpose of a system of units is to enable world-wide coherence of measurements. CSIR- NPL has also sent the new definitions to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) for the engineering course syllabus and to National Council of Educational Research and Training for adoption in schools. It must be noted that the world’s scientific community adopted the resolution to redefine four of the 7 base units during the open session of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) at BIPM in November 2018. Therefore, there is no change in the definition of three other SI units—second, metre and candela — which were defined based on natural constants.

Notes:
Conrad K Sangma, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, has launched Rs 18-crore Aroma Mission at Byrwa in Ri-Bhoi district with an aim to strengthen the livelihood condition of farmers and create employment opportunities in the state. The move will boost the cultivation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs). As part of the mission, a Memorandum of Agreement was also signed between the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) and Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) for a collaborative work on medicinal and aromatic plants. The CIMAP is a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The chief minister also called for preserving forest cover while announcing the government’s plan to plant one million trees on World Environment Day on June 5 in different parts of the state especially in catchment areas.

Notes:
The scientists at the Stanford University in the US have developed a more stable prosthetic foot which they say could make challenging terrain more manageable for people who have lost a lower leg. The new design has a kind of tripod foot that responds to rough terrain by actively shifting pressure between three different contact points. Prosthetic emulators allow them to try lots of different designs without the overhead of new hardware. According to the study published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, prosthetic limbs can better handle the rough ground. Outfitted with position sensors and motors, the foot could adjust its orientation to respond to varying terrain, much as someone with an intact foot could move their toes and flex their ankles to compensate while walking over rough ground.

Notes:
The Gujarat government has decided to equip the traffic police with ‘laser guns’ for detection of over-speeding by vehicles. The state traffic police has purchased 39 such high-tech guns at a cost of Rs.3.9 crore. The gun uses laser technology to detect the speed of a vehicle. It can record speed of three vehicles simultaneously in a second, even if the vehicles are a km away. The speed gun is an online device which can send an e-memo to the owner with a photo of the vehicle. If required, the speed gun can also generate and print the challan offline on the spot. It is also capable of recording videos of the over- speeding vehicles which will serve as a proof if the vehicle owner confronts the police.