Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2019

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:
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:
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has been   conferred the highest Civilian Honour of East African island nation Comoros — The Order of the Green Crescent – at its capital Moroni. The honour was conferred by the President of the Union of Comoros Azali Assoumani. India and Comoros signed 6 agreements on defence, health and culture. Both the countries also decided to exempt each other from Visa for diplomatic and official passport holders for short visits. India has also extended over 60 million dollar line of credit  to Comoros in the field of energy and maritime defence cooperation.

Notes:
The West Bengal government has decided to set up a Kanyashree University at Krishnagar in Nadia district and Kanyashree colleges across the state. The university would be only for women. Earlier, in 2013, CM Mamatat Banerjee started the Kanyashree scheme to improve the life and the status of the girls by helping economically backward families with cash so that families do not arrange the marriage of their girl child before eighteen years because of economic problem. The scheme has been given international recognition by the United Kingdoms Department of International Development and the UNICEF.

Notes:
The 10th edition of the joint military exercise “Vajra Prahar” between India and the United States gas started at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Seattle on October 13 & will last till October 28. It  is a Special Forces joint training exerciseconducted alternately in India and the US.

Notes:
Anoop Kumar Mendiratta has been appointed as the new Law Secretary (Secretary, Legal Affairs) in the Union Law Ministry on contractual basis till March 30, 2023. He  is at present the District and Sessions Judge (North East) of the Delhi’s Karkardooma Courts.  As per officials, it is the first time a sitting judge has been appointed as Law Secretary.

Notes:
India has been ranked 102nd out of 117 nations at the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) that tracks hunger and malnutrition. The GHI is a peer-reviewed annual report, which is jointly published by Ireland’s Concern Worldwide and Germany’s Welthungerhilfe. It scores countries on a 100-point “severity scale”, where zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. With a score of 30.3, India suffers from a level of hunger that is serious threat.

Notes:
The ICICI Bank has launched a new Fixed Deposit (FD) scheme – FD Health that provides the customer a complimentary critical illness cover of Rs 1 lakh from ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company on opening an FD of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for tenure of at least two years. For investors in FD Health, ICICI Bank will offer the insurance cover free of cost for the first year and thereafter, they can renew it.

Notes:
The 3rd edition of the Shirui Lily Festival 2019 has recently started at Shirui Vangayan Ground of Ukhrul in Manipur. The 4-day state festival was inaugurated  by Union Tourism Minister  Prahlad Singh Patel along with State Chief Minister N. Biren Singh. Folk dances and folk songs of different ethnic groups and performance by rock bands are the main attractions of the Festival which will showcase the rich cultural heritage of the State.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has started its bilateral joint exercise “Ex-Eastern Bridge-V “ with Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO) at Air Force Base Masirah in Oman on October 17 & will continue till Oct 26. For the first time, MiG-29 fighter aircraft is participating in an International Exercise outside India.