Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

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 agrarian festival ‘Nuakhai’ has recently celebrated with great pomp and gaiety by the people of western Odisha districts. This major agrarian festival of this region is being celebrated in every nook and corner collectively with much fanfare and religious fervour. The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival. It is an exchange of greetings with friend relative and well-wishers. The elders are wished Nuakhai Juhar and they give blessings for long life, happiness and prosperity. Being an agrarian festival, the eldest in each household in rural pockets worshipped their paddy fields praying for a bumper crop and favourable weather. Women folk leave bed early to perform the Nukhai rituals with decorating the house with colourful rangoli.

Notes:
Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the 72nd Session of World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO) in New Delhi. This is the 2nd time that India is hosting Regional Committee meeting. Dr Vardhan was unanimously elected as Chair of the 72nd Session of the WHO -SEARO. The event coincides with the ambitious ‘Fit India Movement’ launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi about remaining fit and doing physical activities like yoga, sports, cycling, etc. The Government of India (GoI) is also observing the entire month of September as “Poshan Maah” (Nutrition Month) to sensitize the public towards healthy eating, address the twin issues of malnutrition/under-nutrition and problem of obesity in some sections of the population, and intensifying the campaign towards a ‘Malnutrition-Free India’.

Notes:
Sunil Arora, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, has recently assumed Chairmanship of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) for the term 2019-21 as India takes over the Chair from Romania. He succeeded Lon Mincu Radulescu. The AWEB Flag was handed over to the new Chairman, Sunil Arora and it will remain with Election Commission of India (ECI) for the 2 year term till 2021. More than 110 delegates from 45 countries attended the meeting. A-WEB is the first global organization of election management bodies, and the membership currently consists of 97 organizations from 94 countries. The constituent units of the A-WEB are the Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) of different countries, structured to work together and learn from the experiences and best practices from one another.

Notes:
In Thailand, the first US-Asean Maritime Exercise (AUMX) officially started at the Royal Thai Fleet headquarters at Chon Buri’s Sattahip district. The aim of the 5-day AUMX is to train the regional navies in delivering humanitarian assistance and mitigating disasters. The exercise provides a new multilateral venue to work together on shared maritime security priorities in the region. The joint exercise will involve 1,250 military personnel. The AUMX is co-led by the US and the Royal Thai Navy and will be preceded with pre-sail activities in Thailand, Singapore and Brunei, followed by sea drills in international waters in the Gulf of Thailand as well as the South China Sea. The exercise will conclude in Singapore.

Notes:
Ashok Leyland has become the first Indian Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to meet the Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norms across its full range of heavy-duty trucks with gross vehicle weight of 16.2 tonnes and above. The company has recently received certificates from Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) confirming compliance with BS-VI emission standard. ARAI is an autonomous body affiliated to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, which offers comprehensive certification and homologation services for all kinds of vehicles. As per Supreme Court ruling, no BS-IV vehicle will be sold across the country with effect from April 1, 2020. Instead, the BS-VI emission norm will come into force across the country. Ashok Leyland is a flagship company of the Hinduja Group and is the India’s 2nd largest commercial vehicle manufacturer.

Notes:
Union Tourism and Culture Minister, Prahlad Singh Patel has recently flagged off the first Mobile Science Exhibition (MSE) at Leh Palace in Leh. For the first time, a national programme is being launched from Leh. The aim of the programme is to popularize Science and Technology (S&T) among students as well as the people. The MSE programme is specially designed in a bus so that it can reach the doorsteps of people. The bus will travel from school to school in rural areas and organize exhibitions throughout the year. Along with the exhibition, some other programmes like Sky Observation Programme through telescope, science film show, Science Demonstration Lectures etc will also be organized. The programme carries a number of interactive exhibits related to everyday science. Each specially designed bus contains 20 interactive exhibits. The Culture Ministry will launch 25 Mobile Science Exhibition buses across the country.

Notes:
The Gujarat Government has recently signed the Sister State MoU with elaware State of America in Gandhinagar.  This is the first sister state MoU signed by Gujarat with any state of America. According to official sources, cooperation in the field of services and investment opportunities in GIFT IFSC have also been discussed during the meeting. The sectors like Biotechnology University, bio sciences, financial services, animal husbandry and dairy, port services have been short listed for future cooperation.

Notes:
The World Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2019 has been released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In it, India has moved up six places to rank 34th because of its rich natural and cultural resources and strong price competitiveness.  Spain topped the index, followed by France, Germany, Japan and the United States. The index covered 140 economies & measures the set of factors and policies that enable sustainable development of travel and tourism sector which contributes to the development and competitiveness of a country. 

Notes:
Freedom fighter Heeralal Sharma has passed away  at the age of 95 in Bikaner, Rajasthan. He took active part in freedom struggle and was also jailed for two years.