Current Affairs Quiz- November, 2019

Notes:
On the occasion of World Cities Day (WCD-2019), UNESCO has announced that Mumbai and Hyderabad have been designated as Creative City of Films and Creative City of Gastronomy, respectively. By joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), the cities pledge to share their best practices and develop partnerships involving public and private sectors as well as civil society to strengthen creation, production, distribution and dissemination of cultural activities, goods and services. Beside this, Chennai and Varanasi are designated as UNESCO cities of music while Jaipur is the City of Crafts and Folk Arts.

Notes:
The World Thrift Day (WTD) is celebrated every year on 31st October worldwide to promote savings and financial security of individual and nation as a whole. In India, due to death of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the same day in 1984 this day is being celebrated on 30th October. The day was established to inform people all around the world about the idea of saving their money in a bank rather than keeping it under their mattress or at home.  

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:
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:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has represented India at a meeting of Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tashkent on November 1-2. It was the 3rd CHG meeting of the SCO after India became the member of the grouping in 2017.The SCO is an influential regional security grouping which is seen as a counterweight to NATO. The aim of the SCO is to maintain peace, stability and security of the region. The SCO represents over 40% of humanity and nearly 20% of the global GDP.

Notes:
The South African team “Springboks” has won the 3rd edition of Rugby World Cup 2019. In the final, they defeated England at International Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. With this win, Springboks became the 2nd team after New Zealand to win three World Cup titles.

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:
During the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) summit in Bangkok, India has decided not to join the RCEP deal as negotiations failed to address New Delhi’s outstanding issues and concerns. The summit included China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the 10-nation ASEAN grouping. The RCEP negotiations were meant to create the world’s biggest free trade region that represented half the world’s population and one-third of the global GDP. Beside, RCEP summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in 16th India-ASEAN summit and 14th East Asia summit.

Notes:
Parthiv Patel-led India B has clinched the 47th edition of the Deodhar Trophy 2019 with a comprehensive 51-run win over India C in the final at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi,Jharkhand.

Notes:
The world’s first multi-targeting and carbohydrate-based drug “GV-971” for Alzheimer’s disease is extracted from brown algae. Recently, China has approved this home-grown seaweed-based  drug to potentially cure disease. The drug is the only Alzheimer’s medicine out of more than 320 developed by pharmaceutical companies around the globe to survive clinical trials. The orally taken drug can treat mild to moderate forms of the disease and improve cognition. The Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible and progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory, thinking ability and the capability to carry out simple tasks.