Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
The Government of Bangladesh has signed an agreement with Reliance Power of India to set up 750 Mega Watt gas-based power plant in Meghnahat near Dhaka. The construction of the plant will be completed by 2022 and its estimated cost is one billion dollars. Under the agreement, Bangladesh will purchase electricity from the project for a period of 22 years at a pre-decided tariff rate equivalent to 5.85 Takas per unit at a total cost of approximately 8 billion dollars. Apart from this, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has also been signed with Petro Bangla to set up 500 Million standard cubic feet per day LNG terminal at Kutubdia Island near Chittagong in Bangladesh.

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:
The famous Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has been adjudged as the India’s ‘Best Swachh Iconic Place’ on the basis of the overall improvement in sanitation. The ranking of Swachh Iconic Places was recently released by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of drinking water and sanitation. The initiatives of water kiosks, reverse vending machines, equip dung management centre, installation of kill waste machine, collection, transportation, and disposal of waste along with regular mopping up of waste though a workforce of 1300 sanitation workers (Shrine cadre and outsourced) have enabled the shrine to achieve the top rank. The President will confer the prestigious award to the Shrine during the Swachh Mahotsav to be organized by the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation on the 6th September 2019.

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:
The 19-year-old Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu has become the first teen to reach US Open semi-finals in a decade since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. To spot in the final, she defeated Belgium’s Elise Mertens  by 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Andreescu could become the first teen to win a Grand Slam title since Maria Sharapova captured the 2006 US Open and she would be the youngest US Open champion since Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004.

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:
Kiran Nagarkar (77), the acclaimed English-Marathi novelist and playwright, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 5th September 2019. He was known for his works  such as ”Saat Sakkam Trechalis” (Seven Sixes Are Forty Three) (1974), ”Ravan and Eddie” (1994) and the epic English novel ”Cuckold” (1997). He  released his latest novel ”Jasoda” in November 2017.

Notes:
Srihari Nataraj from Bengaluru  has won the best male swimmer award at the 73rd Glenmark National senior aquatic championships at the Prakash Tarun Pushkar pool. He created a national record in the men’s 100m backstroke. Meanwhile, Shivani Kataria from Haryana was adjudged as the best woman swimmer. Karnataka won the overall championship and men’s team title. And, Maharashtra took the women’s team trophy.

Notes:
The 4th edition of  Indian Ocean Conference (ICO-2019) was held in Male from September 3-4.  It was organized by India Foundation, in association with the Government of Maldives and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore). The theme of the IOC 2019 is ‘Securing the Indian Ocean Region: Traditional and Non-Traditional Challenges’.