Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
Saray Khumalo, a Zambia-born Johannesburg resident, has become the first black African women to conquer the summit of Mount Everest, with an elevation of 8,848m, in her fourth attempt. She uses her expeditions to raise funds for libraries and support children’s educational activities in Africa. So far, she has managed to raise about $80,000 for children’s education and libraries. She also supports a foundation that takes care of orphans, providing them with education, shelter and food. Khumalo has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Elbrus in Russia In 2003, South African park ranger Sibusiso Vilane became the first black person to summit Mount Everest.

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:
Scott Morrison has been sworn-in as new Prime Minister of Australia, after retaining the position in the 2019 general election. Along with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, Mr. Morrison was sworn in by Queen Elizabeth’s official representative , Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, at a ceremony in the capital, Canberra. Mr. Morrison became Australia’s 30th Prime Minister through an internal party vote in August 2018 in which he replaced Malcolm Turnbull as chief of the ruling Liberal Party. The 46th Parliament of Australia is expected to open in the first week of July.

Notes:
The International Everest Day (IED) is observed every year on May 29 to mark the first successful climb to the world’s highest peak Mount Everest. On this day in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa reached the zenith of the mountain and became the first humans to achieve the feat in memory of the first summit of Mt. The day is celebrated with memorial events, processions, and special events in Kathmandu and the Everest region. Nepal decided to observe the day as International Everest Day (IED) since 2008, when the legendary climber Hillary passed away.

Notes:
N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), has been conferred the lifetime recognition award by the Confederation of Horticulture Association of India at the International Conference on Innovative horticulture at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand on May 28, 2019. The award has been conferred for his outstanding contribution in the field of horticulture and academic leadership focussed on human resource development in agriculture.

Notes:
On 30 May 2019, James Marape has been nominated, elected, and sworn-in as the 8th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG). He is a former finance minister and critic of a major global gas development deal. His appointment comes after the outgoing leader Peter O’Neill resigned recently. Papua New Guinea is a South Pacific nation of 7.3 million people. It has rich reserves of copper, gold, and oil, but development has been hampered by public order issues, rugged terrain and disputes over land.

Notes:
The World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year on May 31 to create awareness about the negative impacts of tobacco consumption on human health. The focus theme of 2019 edition of WNTD is on “tobacco and lung health”. The campaign will increase awareness on: the negative impact that tobacco has on people’s lung health, from cancer to chronic respiratory disease, the fundamental role lungs play for the health and well-being of all people. The campaign also serves as a call to action, advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption and engaging stakeholders across multiple sectors in the fight for tobacco control. On the occasion, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India organized a national consultation on tobacco and lung health in New Delhi. The consultation, organized in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), was aimed at raising awareness about the negative impacts of any form of tobacco consumption on the health of lung and cancer causing micro-elements in it. Theme of the event was “Don’t Let Tobacco Take Your Breath Away – Choose Health Not Tobacco”.

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:
Admiral Karambir Singh has taken charge as the 24th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from Adm. Sunil Lanba, who stepped down upon retirement. He is the first helicopter pilot of the Navy to become the CNS. Prior to this post, Adm. Singh was the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Eastern Naval Command, headquartered in Visakhapatnam. During his long and distinguished service spanning nearly 39 years, Adm. Singh has served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. The tenure of a Service Chief is three years or 62 years of age, whichever is earlier.

Notes:
The IIT-Madras has recently launched an Integrated Database on Infrastructure Projects (IDIP) at the 15th World Conference on Transport Research conference held at IIT Bombay. The purpose of the data platform is to enhance the efficiency of infrastructure development and enable effective decision-making among different stakeholders involved in the sector. The initial focus of IDIP will be on the road sector, which has received the highest private investment among all infrastructure sectors. The PPP programme in the road sector in India is the largest in the world. The platform includes data coverage across the project life cycle comprising development, construction and operation phases. In addition to roads, other sectors such as railways, ports, and airports would also be included in the platform shortly.