Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
Young shooter Yashaswini Singh Deswal from Delhi has recently won gold in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. With the win, she has also secured an Olympic quota for India. This is India’s 9th quota in shooting for 2020 Tokyo Games. World no.1 Olena Kostevych of Ukraine claimed the silver, while Serbia’s Jasmina Milavonovic bagged the bronze in the ongoing event.

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:
In a unique initiative, the Ambikapur municipal corporation of Chhattisgarh will soon open India’s first ‘Garbage Cafe’ in the city of Ambikapur. This initiative is a step towards making the city plastic-free. In this unique Cafe’ poor people and rag pickers will get free food in exchange for 1Kg of plastic, while breakfast will be provided if half a kilogram of plastic is brought to the cafe. The collected garbage will be sold at Solid Liquid Resources Management Centre (SLRMC). The collected plastic waste would further be turned into granules and will then be used in the construction of roads in the city. Ambikapur is Chhattisgarh’s first dustbin-free city. The city has an efficient solid waste management system. The Self Help Groups (SHGs)of women are involved in door to door collection of waste. The city has been hailed as the 2nd cleanest city in the country in Swachhata rankings. The opening of this garbage cafe is another step towards the city’s aim to become free from plastic waste.

Notes:
The 4th South-Asian Speaker’s Summit was recently held in Male, Maldives. The summit was meant to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) but Pakistan tried to raise the issue of abrogation of Article 370 provisions on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) despite not being part of the agenda. The Indian delegation in the summit was represented by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh Narayan Singh. Though, India maintained that J&K is an internal matter. The summit adopted the Male Declaration & ignored Pakistan’s concern on Kashmir.

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:
In Sri Lanka, the UNICEF South Asian Parliamentarian conference on Children Right’s Convention was held in Colombo from 2nd to 3rd September 2019.  The conference gave the parliamentarians the opportunity to make fresh commitments to push the national agendas for the realization of child rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights treaty. But, during the conference, the Pakistani delegates tried to raise the Kashmir issue which led to a sharp reaction from the Indian side. The Indian delegation consists of  Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal spoke in unison to counter Pakistan’s claims. 

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.