Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
In Germany, the international competition ‘Elsevier Foundation-ISC3 Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge’ was recently held at the 4th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference. In it, a project idea by Dr. Ankur Patwardhan from Pune has bagged the second prize of €25,000. His project named ‘Butterfly attractant for pollination and ecosystem health’ is about the relation between chemistry and ecosystem. Dr. Patwardhan is currently working as head of the ‘Annasaheb Kulkarni Biodiversity Department’ at Abasaheb Garware College, Pune. He developed the project idea with the help of Tejaswini Pachpor and Dattatray Naik. Patwardhan serves as a member of the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board. He is also the president of a high-level committee appointed by the Centre on Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani Eco-Sensitive Zone.

Notes:
The United Nations (UN) has recently released the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 Mid-year Update. In it, the UN has lowered its forecast for India’s GDP growth in 2019-20 to 7.1% from its estimate in January of 7.5%, citing an overall slowdown in global growth. The report stated that the global economy is experiencing a broad-based growth slowdown led by slowing industrial production coupled with the weakening of international trade activity due in large part to the unresolved trade disputes between the U.S. and China. Overall, the UN lowered its growth forecast for South Asia marginally to 5.8% in 2020 from the 5.9% estimated for the year in January.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed large modern currency chests to increase the service charges on cash deposited by non-chest bank branches from the existing rate of Rs. 5 per packet of 100 pieces to a higher rate subject to a maximum of Rs. 8 per packet. For this, only a Currency Chest (CC) that fulfils the minimum standards will be eligible to be classified as a large modern CC. The increased rates can be charged only after such classification by the issue office concerned.

Notes:
Bangladesh-based terror outfit — the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) — was banned by the Government of India (GoI) under the anti-terror law UAPA. The terror out fit is also called as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan. The Union Home Ministry stated that the outfit has committed acts of terrorism, promoted acts of terrorism and has been engaged in radicalization and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India. Therefore, the JMB and all its manifestations have been inserted in the First Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) of 1967. The listing under the First Schedule of the UAPA means the outfit is now a banned organisation in India.

Notes:
Acharya Balkrishna, the Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., has received the ‘UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare Award’ on behalf of Patanjali Group of Institutions in Geneva, Switzerland. Balkrishna was among keynote speakers of the UNSDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) organisation. The others are Randy Oostra, UNICEF executive director Henrietta H Fore, WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Abe Lee. Patanjali Ayurved produces a range of Ayurvedic medicinal and personal care products, among other consumer items. The company was co-founded by Baba Ramdev and Balkshrina.

Notes:
The first-of-its-kind naval drill exercise ‘Pacific Vanguard’has been kick started by the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia near Guam, United States. The “Pacific Vanguard” drill brings together more than 3,000 sailors from the four countries to sharpen skills and strengthen practical cooperation at sea. The drills will focus on live fire exercises, defensive counter-air operations, anti-submarine warfare, and replenishment at sea. The Royal Australian Navy contributed two frigates to the exercise – HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Parramatta. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force sent destroyers – JS Ariake and JS Asahi, and South Korea the Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Wang Geon. The USS Blue Ridge, the Seventh Fleet’s flagship, will lead the operation from the U.S. side. Guam is home to more than 160,000 people, and was at the centre of nuclear tensions between Washington and Pyongyang in 2017, with North Korea threatening to hit the US territory with “enveloping fire”.

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:
In squash, Mahesh Mangaonkar from India has clinched the Sekisui Open title for the second time in his career in Kriens, Switzerland on May 25, 2019. In the final, Top-seeded Mahesh beat third seed Bernat Jaume of Spain in four games 11-9, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5. He had won the corresponding title for the first time in 2016. Sekisui Open is a Challenger tour event of the Professional Squash Association (PSA), the world body which governs the sports .

Notes:
Gian Chand (93), the veteran freedom fighter, has passed away at his native village in Mohalla Ramgarh of Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh on May 27, 2019. Born on 26th October 1926, Chand was a member of Azad Hind Fauj led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will observe 2019 Financial Literacy Week (FLW) across the country from 3rd to 7th of June. The theme this year is – ‘Farmers and how they benefit by being a part of the formal banking system’. The posters and leaflets will be used to spread awareness and spread the message of financial literacy among the farming community. The RBI has advised banks to display the posters and content in their rural bank branches, Financial Literacy Centres, ATMs and websites. It will also undertake a mass media campaign this month on Doordarshan and All India Radio to disseminate essential financial awareness messages to farmers.