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:
In an effort to raise awareness about the perils of using plastic, the Kotpad Notified Area Council (NAC) in Koraput district of Odisha is providing free meals to the poor in exchange for a kilogram of plastic waste. The new initiative is being carried out under the State government’s ‘Aahar’ scheme. The programme entails a meal for anyone who brings a kilogram of used polythene bags, plastic bottles and cups. Under the Aahar scheme, poor people in urban areas of the state are provided a meal comprising rice and ‘dalma’ (lentils with vegetable) at a cost of Rs 5.

Notes:
India’s first-ever Arts Exposition for Artists blessed with Down Syndrome, Autism, Mental Retardation, Seizure Disorder and Dyslexia has started in New Delhi on 3rd November 2019. The “eCAPA 2019 – Art from the Heart” is a unique nationwide platform-cum social venture for such artists to showcase their visual and performing arts.  The aim of this exposition is to create an exclusive platform to showcase the visual and performing art talents of young adults with intellectual challenges. It will also provide Divyang artists with opportunities to find mentors in the visiting artists and eminent masters of different crafts. This exposition will continue till 14th November at STIR Gallery, Chattarpur Farms. 

Notes:
Dr K.P. Nandakumar, the noted Homoeopathic doctor and philanthropist, has won the 2019 Sasthaaram Award for his contributions to the art and socio-cultural realms. The award was instituted by the Thamarakkulam Sri Sabarimala Ayyappa Swami temple of Vadakkanthra in 2015 with the intention of honouring those who contributed to the art and socio-cultural fields in Palakkad. It consists of Rs 25,000, a citation and a plaque, and would be presented at a function to be held on December 22.

Notes:
Indian-origin researcher, Dr Neeraj Sharma has won the Australian government’s  ‘Early Career Researcher of the Year (Physical Sciences)’ for developing next-generation battery systems such as sodium-ion battery that will leave minimal environmental impact. The awarded research explores inherently safe solid-state batteries, energy-dense lithium-sulfur batteries, dual function solar batteries and methods for recycling. DR. Sharma is researcher at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) of Sydney.

Notes:
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla represented the Indian parliamentary delegation at the 6th Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit of the G20 Countries in Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the summit is to strengthen the role of legislatures in global affairs. The Parliamentary summit is unofficially called P20, which is jointly organized by House of Councillors of National Diet of Japan and Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Notes:
In an effort to productively use India’s wastelands, the Union Ministry of Rural development has released with the 5th edition of Wasteland Atlas -2019 that provides State and district wise distribution of different categories of wastelands area in the country and will be helpful in addressing land degradation. This is significant as it also takes into account 12.08 MHa of unmapped area of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for the first time. The changes in wastelands between 2008-09 and 2015-16 have been presented in the Atlas. The new wastelands mapping exercise was carried out by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)  using the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRSS) data. It is helpful in rolling back the wastelands for productive use through various land development programmes and schemes. The last edition was published in 2011.

Notes:
The World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) is observed every year on 5th of November to spread awareness about precautionary measures against tsunami and share innovative approaches to risk reduction. In 2019, the day promotes Target (d) of the “Sendai Seven Campaign,” which focuses on reducing disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services.

Notes:
The Danakil Depression is the northern part of the Afar Triangle or Afar Depression in Ethiopia. It is one of the world’s hottest as well as lowest places on Earth (100 m below sea level). The hot springs in Danakil Depression offer a research opportunity for studying extremophile microbes. It is in news recently because according to new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, active and naturally occurring life cannot be sustained at Danakil. It identifies two barriers: a) magnesium-dominated brines that cause cells to break down; and b) an environment having simultaneously very low pH and high salt. Hence, the combination of both  barriers makes adaptation highly difficult.

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.