Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2019

Notes:
Jessye Norman (74), the renowned international opera singer of the 20th Century, has passed away in New York, United States. She was a pioneering young black woman in the white world of classical music & showcased her majestic the voice in performances around the world. She won four Grammy Awards and the National Medal of Arts.

Notes:
Renowned journalist Kalli Purie, who is India Today Group Vice-Chairperson, has been conferred the India’s Most Powerful Women in Media award at the famed Confluence Excellence Awards in British Parliament. Earlier, she was honoured with the ‘Outstanding Media & Entertainment Award’ at the annual 21st Century Icon Awards 2019 in London.

Notes:
The International Day of Older Persons is observed every year on 1st October to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world. The 2019 theme is ‘The Journey to Age Equality’.

Notes:
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj. With this, Pandit Jasraj has become the first Indian maestro to have a planet named after him. The asteroid, which is located between Mars and Jupiter, was discovered by Mt. Lemmon Survey  at Mount Lemmon in Arizona  (United States) in November 2006.

Notes:
‘The Gandhian Challenge’ have been launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog’s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and UNICEF India on the occasion of 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This innovation challenge provides a platform for every child across India to ideate innovative solutions for a sustainable India of their dreams, using Gandhi’s principles. The problem statement for the Gandhian Challenge is: “Share your innovative solutions/ideas to create a futuristic and sustainable world of your dreams, following Gandhi’s principles”.  The contest  – open for every child in India from 2 October to 20 October – also celebrates 70 years of partnership between Government of India and UNICEF India to enable ‘Every Right for Every Child’.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State-owned construction firm National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to provide project management consultancy for development of National Sports University at Imphal, Manipur. The approximate cost of project would be Rs 400 crore. The headquarters of NBCC (India) is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
Babita Tade, who won Rs. 1 crore on quiz show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, has been appointed as the Amravati district ambassador for the Election Commission (EC)’s SVEEP programme ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls. The Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) is a flagship programme of the Election Commission for spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in the country. Tade works as a mid-day meal cook in a government school for a meager sum. 

Notes:
The Union Water Ministry has  excavated an old, dried-up river in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) that linked the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The aim is to develop a newly discovered river as a potential groundwater recharge source. This “ancient buried river” is around 4 km wide, 45 km long and consisted of a 15-metre-thick layer buried under soil. The discovery was made by a team of scientists  from the CSIR-NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute) & the Central Groundwater Board (CGB) during a helicopter-borne geophysical survey covering the Prayagraj and Kaushambi region in Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
The Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Army under which the bank would offer customised services along with a host of facilities to account holders. The MoU offers handsome free personal accident insurance cover, free air accident insurance cover of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and an overdraft facility up to 3 times of monthly net salary. The features are also applicable for pensioners of Indian Army up to the age of 70 years.

Notes:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently launched a new governance initiative ‘Mo Sarkar’ on the occasion of 150th Gandhi Jayanti. The objective of the ‘Mo Sarkar’ is to provide service with dignity to people who are coming to government offices for different purposes. The phone numbers of people who are coming to government offices will be collected randomly with the purpose to improve the governance system by collecting feedback on behaviour and professionalism of government officers. The employees will be ranked as good or bad on the basis of the feedback and those with good rank will get out-of-turn promotion and action will be taken against employees with bad rank.