Current Affairs Quiz- November, 2019

Notes:
The first-ever ‘BIMSTEC Ports’ Conclave’ is has been inaugurated by Union Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on  7th November 2019. The 2-day Ports’ conclave of BIMSTEC nations is expected to explore the possibility of increasing economic cooperation by furthering EXIM trade and coastal shipping. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an International Organization of 7 nations of South Asia and South East Asia. Its member states are Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. 

Notes:
Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma has become the first Indian man and second in world cricket to complete 100 T-20 Internationals. He reached the milestone when he led the team in the 2nd match against Bangladesh at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Shoaib Malik with 111 games from Pakistan is the only player to have played more than 100 T20 Internationals. Rohit is currently the top-scorer in T20 format with 2452 runs at a strike-rate of 136.67 with 4 hundreds and 17 half-centuries.

Notes:
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has recently conducted a 2-day rescue exercise, the Regional Level Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise 2019 (ReSAREX- 19) off Goa shore, Panaji. The event was organized by the Coast Guard District Headquarters-11 (Goa) and comprised search and rescue workshops with table top exercises.

Notes:
The bilateral naval exercise named “Samudra Shakti-2019” has been conducted between the Indian and the Indonesian Navies in the Bay of Bengal  from 06 Nov to 07 Nov 19. The joint exercises include manoeuvres, Surface Warfare exercises, Air Defence exercises, Weapon firing drills, Helicopter Operations and Boarding Operations.

Notes:
The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has partnered with Central Bank of India (CBI) for payment related services. Through this partnership, CBI will be able to offer an array of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of electronic Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the portal. The GeM is an initiative of the Government of India which offers a one stop platform for facilitating online procurement of goods and services by Central and State government organizations. It provides tools for Direct Purchase, bidding and reverse auction for ensuring transparent and efficient procurement.

Notes:
Sanjay Gupta, the former Star and Disney India managing director, has been appointed new country manager and vice-president of sales and operations for Google India. He will take his new role in 2020 and will be based in Mumbai. At Star and Disney, Gupta played an important role in making it the India’s largest media company and increased its digital footprint with Hotstar, which is India’s largest OTT platform. He also built Star’s sports business through acquisitions of cricketing properties and launch of the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) and football league – Indian Super League (ISL).

Notes:
Maharashtra has topped the list of 18 large-medium States in the overall first-ever ranking of Indian States on justice deliver to its citizens. Kerala acquired 2nd position followed by Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana. The ranking is part of the India Justice Report(IJR) 2019. It is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS- Prayas and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.The report has been prepared based on publicly available data of different government entities on the four pillars of justice delivery — police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid.The report highlights the fact that even the best performing States scored less than 60% in their performance on capacity across the police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid.

Notes:
Paleontologists have recently discovered the rare bones of huge Jurassic sea predator “Pliosaurs” in a cornfield in the village of Krzyzanowice in Poland. The remains of pliosaurs are rare in Europe. The ancient sea monster measured up 30 feet long and lived about 150 million years ago. They had powerful, large skulls and massive jaws with large, sharp teeth. Their limbs were in the form of fins and were mostly found in the prehistoric seas that covered modern-day Europe.

Notes:
Thomas Dennerby from Sweden has taken charge as Head Coach of Indian Women’s U-17 team for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. He has rich coaching experience of 30 years in which he guided Sweden women’s national team to a 3rd-place finish in the FIFA World Cup in 2011, and a quarterfinal spot in the 2012 London Olympics.

Notes:
NASA has recently launched its first all-electric experimental aircraft  (or X-plane). The aircraft has been designated as X-57, and will be known as “Maxwell” for short. The aircraft is expected to take its first test flight by late 2020 from Edwards Air Force Base in the desert of southern California.