Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2019

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.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched the YSR Vahana Mitra welfare scheme under which the owner-driver of an auto-rickshaw (or taxicab) gets Rs 10,000 grant per annum. The amount is meant to meet maintenance expenses, and for obtaining insurance and fitness certificates among other documents.

Notes:
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has launched the Pragati Rath of the HDFC bank that will provide financial and digital literacy to the people during a month-long initiative by moving to different parts of the state.

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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 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 “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:
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:
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:
Polish author Olga Tokarczuk has won the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life. Her first novel, “The Journey of the People of the Book,” was released in 1993. She has also won the Booker International Prize for her 2007 novel “Flights”. She became the 15th woman to have won the prestigious distinction, out of 116 literature laureates honoured since 1901. It must be noted that the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature was announced along with the 2018 Prize as the latter was delayed by a year following a scandal that included allegations of sexual misconduct.

Notes:
The first-ever India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) has started at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on 11th October 2019. The 3-day fair is a major platform to promote export of Indian cooperative produce which will lead to enhanced rural and farm prosperity. The event is also packed with exhibitions, B2B/C2C meetings, conferences, cultural programmes etc. The organizations from 36 countries are participating in the Fair.