Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
Nadubhagam Chundan, the snake boat of Pallathuruthy Boat Club, lifted the 67th edition of the coveted Nehru Trophy at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha. In a nerve-biting race, Champakulam chundan rowed by the United Boat Club, Kainakary finished second. Karichal chundan (Police Boat Club) and Devas chundan (NCDC Boat Club, Kumarakom) finished in 3rd and 4th places. The Nehru Trophy boat race was instituted to commemorate the visit of the India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the area and his boat ride in the lake. The Nehru Trophy is the first race of the inaugural edition of the Champions Boat League (CBL). CBL, hosted by Kerala Tourism, is the India’s first-ever boat-race on the lines of IPL. There will be 12 races in the CBL beginning with the Nehru Trophy and concluding with President’s Trophy Boat Race in Kollam on November 23.

Notes:
Asian Games gold medallist shotputter Tejinderpal Singh Toor clinched a silver with a best throw of 20.09m in his last attempt during an athletic meet at Decin, Czech Republic. Tajinder was awarded with the 2019 Arjuna Award. Though, he couldn’t meet the World Championship standard but his efforts were good enough to earn him a silver at the event.

Notes:
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has launched the first-ever ‘Terracotta Grinder’ at Sewapuri in Varanasi. This machine can be used to grind wasted and broken pottery items for re-use in pottery-making. The Terracotta grinder was designed by the KVIC Chairman and fabricated by a Rajkot-based engineering unit. It will make grinding of wasted pottery items faster than the traditional mortar and pestle. It will lessen the cost of production and will also help in solving the problem of shortage of clays. The machine will also be a boon for potters as Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari has proposed to introduce Kulhads and other terracotta products at 400 prominent railway stations. The proposal is under active consideration of the Railways.

Notes:
The Indian Army team has successfully summited Mount Leo Pargyil (6773m) on 20thAug 2019 after an extremely challenging climb in harsh weather. They hoisted the National Flag atop Mt Leo Pargyil. The expedition was flagged in by Lieutenant General PM Bali on 31 Aug 2019 at Jhakri near Rampur Bushar. Mt Leo Pargyil is the 3rd highest peak of Himachal Pradesh and is considered to be among the most challenging and technically difficult peak to scale. It lies in the Zanskar range.

Notes:
The Global Liveability Index 2019 has been released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The index assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions. Each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. The 2019 index is topped by Vienna (Austria), followed by Melbourne and Sydney. In India, New Delhi and Mumbai ranked 118th and 119th out of 140 cities. While war-ravaged Damascus (Syria) ranked the world’s  least liveable city, followed by Lagos (Nigeria) and Dhaka (Bangladesh).

Notes:
The International Day of Charity is observed every year on 5th of September to raise awareness and provide a common platform for charity related activities all over the world for individuals, charitable, philanthropic and volunteer organizations for their own purposes on the local, national, regional and international level.

Notes:
In New Delhi, the national conference on ‘India-Africa Partnership in a Changing Global Order–Priorities, Prospects and Challenges’ was organized by Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). The ICWA is devoted exclusively for the study of international relations and foreign affairs.  It is also a member of the United Nations Academic Impact, The Vice President of India is the ex-officio President of ICWA, while the Minister of External Affairs is its Vice-President. It headquarters is located in National capital.

Notes:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recently organized the first national conference on Cybercrime Investigation and Forensics at its headquarters in New Delhi. The aim of the 2-day conference was to create the platform and bring together investigators, lawyers, forensic experts and academia to discuss challenges related to cybercrime and ways to find solutions.  The conference covers one of the mandates of CBI which is to investigate crimes with inter-state and international ramifications.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the first Indian premier to visit the Far East Russia in Vladivostok. He attended the 20th India-Russia annual summit with President Putin and announced $1 billion loan for the development of Far East region. Mr. Modi also attended 5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). The forum focuses on development of business and investment opportunities in the Russian Far East Region, and presents enormous potential for developing close and mutually beneficial cooperation between India and Russia in the region.

Notes:
According to the latest report by World Gold Council (WGC), United States leads the country list with total gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes followed by Germany (3,366.8 tonnes), InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) (2,451.8 tonnes),Italy (2,451.8 tonnes) and France (2,436.1 tonnes). India is at the 10th spot with 618.2 tonnes. Interestingly, in terms of individualcountries, India actually ranks 9th since the IMF occupies the third positionafter the U.S. and Germany.