Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2019

Notes:
Dr Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi (87) was the renowned nephrologist, immunologist and stem cell researcher. He passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 2nd October 2019. He was an expert in handling kidney transplant surgeries & was awarded Padma Shri in 2015 for his contribution to society as a nephrologist.

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:
In Italy, the paintings and artworks created by an 80-year-old tribal woman “Jodhaiya Bai Baiga” has being showcased at the ongoing exhibition at Milan, which is the global capital of fashion and design.  Jodhaiya hails from Umaria district’s Lorha village of Madhya Pradesh. Her painting style mainly includes nature and animals. Her teacher Ashish Swami said that this will motivate other members of the Adivasi community to engage in different activities.

Notes:
Rohit Sharma from India has become the first-ever batsman to score hundreds in each innings of his maiden Test as an opener in Visakhapatnam against South Africa.  He also broke the record for most sixes in a Test with 13 hits over the fence & surpassed Pakistan’s Wasim Akram who smashed 12 in a game against Zimbabwe in 1996. Beside this, Rohit  also became the first Indian batsman to be stumped in both innings of a Test.

Notes:
The World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is observed every year on 10th of October by World Federation for Mental Health to raise awareness of the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it. The 2019 theme is “Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention”.

Notes:
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019 was awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”. The discoveries made by these scientists have fundamental importance for physiology and have paved the way for promising new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many other diseases.

Notes:
The first Government-sponsored and operated day-care cum recreation centre for senior citizens has been inaugurated by Supreme Court judge – Justice S. Abdul Nazeer – in Leh. The centre will be one stop-shop for entertainment, medical services and legal aid for the aged people of the Ladakh region. It will also provide a raft of medical facilities including geriatric care, health consultations and check-ups, physiotherapy as well legal service the senior citizens would require on various legal issues. The premise will also be equipped with computer learning and a library and the aged citizens can entertain themselves with indoor games and recreational activities.

Notes:
On 11th October 2019, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan  has  launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)  initiative in New Delhi during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.  The aim of the initiative is to assure dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths. It also provides a positive birth experience to both mother and infant.  

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:
On 9th October 2019, the Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme “DHRUV”  has been launched by Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank   from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Headquarters at Bengaluru and will conclude on 24th of this month at IIT Delhi. 60 brightest and talented students from Science, Mathematics and Performing Arts have been chosen for the programme. The programme is named after the Pole Star and every student to be called ‘DHRUV TARA’. It aims to sharpen innovative imagination, skills and knowledge of the students who are expected to contribute to bringing solutions to socio-economic, political and environmental issues in the country.