Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2019

Notes:
German payments company Wirecard has teamed up with India to simplify the process of issuing tax identity cards required to open bank accounts, transfer money or complete business transactions. The deal, with state company UTI Infrastructure Technology and Financial Services, seeks to widen the distribution of so-called PAN cards in the country of 1.3 billion where most people still live and work in the informal economy. Munich-based Wirecard, founded in 1999, runs a digital payments platform that handles payments for merchants and issues real and ‘virtual’ payment cards to consumers. It mainly operates under arrangements that allow their partners to rebrand their products. Wirecard is already has a presence in India and its network of 15,000 retail agents in 350 cities would help collect and scan in the documents that people need to apply for a PAN card.

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:
On May 26, China clinched the badminton world mixed-team championship at the 16th edition of the Sudirman Cup 2019 in the Chinese city of Nanning. They beat Japan in men’s doubles, women’s singles and men’s singles to clinch the title for an 11th time. In the latest Men’ singles match Shi Yuqi stunned world champion Kento Momota 15-21, 21-5,21-11. Japan has never lifted the mixed-team world championship since it began in 1989.

Notes:
The first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly has started at the headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya on May 27, 2019. In it, India has been elected to the Executive Board of the UN-Habitat Assembly. The special theme for 2019 Assembly is ‘Innovation for a better quality of life in cities and communities’ with the sub theme of ‘Accelerated Implementation of the New Urban Agenda towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’. The 5-day Assembly will be attended by four Heads of State, over 40 ministers and high-level representatives from 116 countries with over 3,000 delegates attending. During the first session, The Assembly is expected establish the Executive Board of UN-Habitat and elect its members, to review and approve the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan 2020-2025 and also review the Progress in implementation of New Urban Agenda, among other things.

Notes:
Rahi Sarnobat booked an Olympic quota place for India at World Cup rifle pistol stage in Munich, Germany by winning gold in women’s 25m pistol event. Asian Games champion Rahi clinched her career’s second World Cup Gold, which helped India win its sixth quota place in shooting for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Now, India tops the Munich World Cup medals tally with three gold. China is at 2nd position with one gold, one silver and three bronze.

Notes:
The Telangana government has decided to set up the India’s first ‘Blockchain district’ in Hyderabad to create an ecosystem for all the start-ups and institutes working in the space. Though the Blockchain technology encompasses all domains, the district would focus on banking, financial services and insurance; pharma and healthcare; logistics and supply chain; and the government sectors. The district would have a co-working space, an international liasioning office, a T-Hub-like incubator to mentor early-stage start-ups in the Blockchain space and a supporting R&D institute to promote innovation.

Notes:
President Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn-in for his second term as President of Nigeria in a ceremony at the Eagle Square in Abuja. He won 56% of the votes to defeat his main rival Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 February election. Buhari will face a number of challenges during his second term as he tries to fulfil his election promises, including dealing with security threats and managing a sluggish economy and a high unemployment rate.

Notes:
Actor Carmine Caridi (85), who is best remembered for playing Carmine Rosato in “The Godfather: Part II,” has passed away in California, United States on May 28, 2019. Besides “The Godfather” series, he also starred in TV shows including Phyllis, Starsky and Hutch, Taxi, NYPD Blue as Detective Vince Gotelli and Fame as Angelo Martelli. Interestingly, in 2004, Caridi became the first person to be expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) after sharing screeners. He was booted out for passing on screeners of movies vying for Oscar attention. He along with Russell Sprague were sued by Sony and Time Warner on civil charges of copyright infringement. Caridi was cleared of wrongdoing.

Notes:
India has been ranked 43rd most competitive economy in the 2019 edition of the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings on the back of its robust economic growth, a large labour force and its huge market size. In the 2019 rankings, India has scored well on several economic parameters and tax policies but has lagged in terms of public finance, societal framework, education infrastructure, health and environment. Singapore has topped the index, followed by Hong Kong SAR and United States. The IMD World Competitiveness Rankings, established in 1989, incorporate 235 indicators from each of the 63 ranked economies to evaluate their ability to foster an environment where enterprises can achieve sustainable growth, generate jobs and increase welfare for its citizens.

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.