Current Affairs Quiz- November, 2019

Notes:
The World Cities Day (WCD) is observed every year on 31 October to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world. The 2019 theme “Changing the world: innovations and a better life for future generations” discusses how urbanization can be used to achieve sustainable development.

Notes:
India hosted the 2nd International Solar Alliance (ISA) assembly in New Delhi on 30th-31st October 2019. In it, two countries – Eritrea and Saint Kittis and Nevis – have signed the ISA’s Framework Agreement and took the total number of signatories to 83. The ISA was jointly launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015. It is a major global initiative for contributing to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.  The Saint Kittis and Nevis is an island country in the West Indies, which is the region of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Notes:
Russia will be the partner country at the Golden Jubilee of International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2019) in Goa. It will be held from November 20 to 28 with close to 250 films from various countries being screened. The fest will honour superstar Rajinikanth with a special ‘Icon of Golden Jubilee’ award presented in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The Life Time Achievement (LTA) award for a Foreign Artiste will be conferred on French Actress Isabelle Hupert. During the 50th IFFI, 50 films of women directors will be showcased.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has recently launched the IIT Delhi global alumni endowment fund at Rashtrapati Bhavan that will have an initial commitment of more than Rs 250 crore. As per the scheme, the student will receive an aid of $10,000 from the alumni endowment fund. The aim of the endowment model is to achieve a target corpus of USD 1 billion over a period of 7 years. This first-of-its-kind fund in India will work towards the development of the University, nurturing innovation, and keeping alive the entrepreneurial spirit among the youth of India. 

Notes:
Pooja Gehlot (53kg) has won India’s 2nd silver at the 2019 U-23 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the final, she defeated by Japan’s Haruna Okuno by  in the finals of championships. India’s first silver was won by Ravinder (61kg).

Notes:
Aditya Mishra, a 1989 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been  appointed as the chairman of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) for a period of 5 years. The LPAI is a statutory body  that works under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing border infrastructure in India.  It manages several Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) all across Borders of India.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently launched two new IT Initiatives – ICEDASH and ATITHI – for improved monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods and facilitating arriving international passengers. ICEDASH is an Ease of Doing Business (EODB) monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs that allows public see and compare import clearance times at all ports and airports across India.  The ATITHI app will facilitate hassle-free and faster clearance by Indian Customs at the airports and increase the experience of international tourists and other visitors at the airports. 

Notes:
Sara Damnjanovic from Serbia has won the 5th edition of Miss Asia Global Title 2019’  at Gokulam Convention centre in Kochi, Kerala. The title is given to the winner from Asian region.  Nguyen Thi Yen Trang from Vietnam was awarded Miss Asia title i.e. given to the winner from the rest of the world. Samiksha Singh from India won the sub-title of ‘Miss Beautiful Face’ Title. The Next ‘Miss Asia Global Title 2020’ will be held in Malaysia.

Notes:
The Government of Bangladesh has banned the Islamist outfit ‘Allar Dol’ because it poses threat to public safety and security. It is the 9th Islamist group to be banned for extremism and militancy in Bangladesh.The Allah’r Dol was formed in 1995 with the aim to establish Caliphate through armed struggle. In 2004, it merged with banned militant organisation Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). After arrest of leaders of JMB following serial blasts of 2005, some of its leaders left it to re-organise Allar Dol. 

Notes:
According to an analysis published in Carbon Brief, India’s Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions growth is expected to slow down by 2% in 2019. The emissions are lower than the annual increase seen in any year since 2001 due to a slower growth in coal-based power generation and rise in renewable power generation.  The Oil demand growth slowed to 2.6% in the first eight months of 2019, compared with 4.6% in 2018, and 5% on average over the past 10 years. Carbon Brief is a site that tracks emission and CO2 trends.