Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2019

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:
Bahrain sprinter  Salwa Eid Naser has become the first woman athlete from Asia to win the 400m gold in the ongoing IAAF World Athletics Championships (WAC) Doha 2019.  She clocked 48.14 seconds i.e., the third-fastest lap in history and the fastest in 34 years.

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 14th edition of Indo – Mongolian joint militarytraining – Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2019 –  from 05 to 18 Oct at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh. It is aimed at training troops incounter insurgency & counter terrorism operations under United Nationsmandate. It is an ideal platform forthe armies of both the nations to share their experiences & best practicesand gain mutually during the joint training.

Notes:
Ramesh Pandey, the 1996-batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, has been selected for the prestigious UNEP’s Asia Environmental Enforcement Award for his excellent work in combating transboundary environmental crime. He will receive the award on November 13 at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Bangkok.  Pandey is posted as Chief Conservator Forests (CCF) in Lucknow and Secretary of UP State Bio-diversity Board.  He is known for his investigation and intelligence gathering on poachers. The purpose of the Asia Environmental Enforcement Awards is to publicly recognise outstanding achievements by public organisations and individuals in Asia to combat transboundary environmental crime. 

Notes:
The World Post Day (WPD) is celebrated every year on 9th of October to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries. The day also marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. 

Notes:
The Reliance Mutual Fund has been renamed as Nippon India Mutual Fund (NIMF). The name change came after Nippon Life Insurance of Japan completed the acquisition of 75% stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management from Reliance Capital. Nippon Life is Japan’s largest life insurance company and a global financial services conglomerate. It manages assets worth over $700 billion.

Notes:
Indian sprinter Nirmala Sheoran has been banned for four years for doping and stripped of her 400m and 4x400m relay titles from the 2017 Asian Championships. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has stated that she tested positive for steroids drostanolone and metenolone in sample taken at the Inter-State meet in Guwahati in June 2018. Hence, the ban was backdated to June 29, 2018 & her results from August 2016 to November 2018 were disqualified.

Notes:
In Uttar Pradesh, the first -ever National Hindi Science writers conference has started on 11th of October in Lucknow with an aim to release science writing from the clutches of English and to promote use of Hindi and other Vernacular languages. More than one thousand science writers from across the country are participating in this conference which is aimed to bring all Hindi and vernacular language science writers at one platform and to promote Hindi in the field of science writing.

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.