Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2019

Notes:
Axis Bank has launched a short-term online fixed deposit product ‘Express FD’ that allows a customer to open a FD account in 3 minutes through the digital mode without opening a savings account with the bank. The new product offers a host of features like attractive interest rates, zero issuance fees and no penalty on pre-mature withdrawal (up to 25% of the amount). A customer can now open an Express FD account by investing a minimum Rs 5,000 up to Rs90,000, for a tenure of 6 to 12 months.

Notes:
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has launched drive to convert the single use plastic waste into specialized bitumen (CRMB55) that can be used for construction of roads and highways. This initiative was launched to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi and as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. 

Notes:
England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been named the 2019 PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association)  Player of the Year award after his splendid show in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and a remarkable unbeaten 135 run to win the third Ashes Test against Australia at Headingley. 

Notes:
Indian Army has started its  first-of -its kind biggest ever mountain combat exercise titled ‘Him Vijay’ in Arunachal Pradesh. It is the first-ever such drill that the military is holding in the northeastern state i.e., 100 km away from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).  The exercise is to test mobility, communication and coordination of such huge body of fast-moving troops in difficult terrain. The exercise is to be conducted in two phases. The first phase will be held between 7th to 10th October 2019  and the other phase will be from 20th- 24th October 2019.

Notes:
Indian captain in the shortest format, Harmanpreet Kaur has become the first Indian cricketer to play 100 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) as she took the field against South Africa in Surat on 5th October 2019. She achieved this milestone before MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, who have played 98 T20Is for India. Beside this, she is also the first Indian cricketer – male or female – to sign a Big Bash League contract with Sydney Thunder in Australia. In June 2017, she became the first Indian to sign with Surrey Stars in ECB’s Kia Super League.

Notes:
Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio has been named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples. She made history as the first indigenous performer nominated for a best actress honor at the 2019 Academy Awards for her performance in the film “Roma”, in which she speaks in an indigenous language and in Spanish.

Notes:
The “Spirit Of Kerala”, which is directed by Arun Joseph, has become the first Indian short film that bagged the People’s Choice Award at the recently concluded My Rode Reel film competition. It is a short film by a group of Malayali youngsters on Vallamkali (boat racing) that showed the celebration of the spirit of survival in the face of disaster. My Rode Reel film competition is touted as the ‘world’s largest short film competition’.

Notes:
Austrian author Peter Handke has been honoured  with the 2019 Nobel Prize in literature for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience. His notable works include “Short Letter, Long Farewell” and “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams”. He will receive 9 million Swedish kronor (£740,000), as well as a medal and a diploma.

Notes:
NASA has recently launched its new Ionospheric Connection Explorer (Icon)  satellite  from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to explore the mysterious, dynamic region where air meets space. The refrigerator-size Icon satellite will study the airglow formed from gases in the ionosphere and also measure the charged environment right around the 360-mile-high (580-kilometer-high) spacecraft. Apart from this, a NASA satellite ‘Gold’ ( launched in 2018) is also studying the upper atmosphere, but from much higher up. 

Notes:
Milkha Singh (92) has been bestowed with the lifetime achievement award at the 2nd edition of the Indian Sports Honours (ISH) in Mumbai. He is best known as the ‘Flying Sikh’ and most remembered for finishing fourth in the 400m final in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. While star batsmwoman Smriti Mandhana got the sportswoman of the year award for the team category. Beside this, the Indian Cricket’s men team bagged the honour of the ‘Team of the Year’. The ISH is an initiative by Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of RP-SG Group and Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli.