Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
The Airtel Payments Bank has launched the Bharosa Savings Account to deepen the financial inclusion in the country. It has been designed to serve the unique needs of under-banked and unbanked population of India. The account offers free Personal Accident Insurance cover worth Rs 5 Lakhs on maintaining a balance of just Rs 500 along with one debit transaction per month. Customers will be also eligible for cashback – if they decide to receive government subsidies in their Bharosa Account or if they make cash deposits in it.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for development of human centric systems specific to the Human Space Mission (HSM) under the Gaganyaan project. Some of the critical technologies to be provided by the DRDO to ISRO include space food, space crew health monitoring and emergency survival kit, radiation measurement and protection, and parachutes for safe recovery of crew module. The aim of the ISRO is to demonstrate human spaceflight capability before the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.

Notes:
The Telangana government has decided to declare 2020 as Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by organizing various activities related to the emerging technology. The state government has also signed pact with NITI Aayog, which released the ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ to run pilot projects in the state.

Notes:
Kerala will host the India’s first-ever trans art festival titled “Varnapakitt-2019”.  In it, talented transgender members will get a platform to showcase their artistic and creative skills. As part of the art festival, the state government has  also invited applications for cash awards from 10 transgenders who have proved their excellence in various social fields except cinema. The 2-day event is considered to be the first such state-sponsored art festival to be organized exclusively for transgenders in the country. 

Notes:
Nasscom’s Data Security Council of India (DSCI) has recently collaborated with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Google India to launch a nationwide awareness campaign ‘Digital Payment Abhiyan’. The campaign will educate end-users on the benefits of making digital payments and urge them to adopt security and safety best practices. The pan-India campaign has crafted in seven languages — Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi — and will engage with users and make them aware of the dos and don’ts for different payment channels including UPI, wallets, cards as well as net-banking and mobile banking,

Notes:
The Uttarakhand government has decided to make Sanskrit language compulsory in all government and private schools from Classes 3 to 8. According to estimates, over 89% of the populace of the state speaks the four languages including Hindi (45%) followed by Garhwali (23.03%), Kumaoni (19.94%) and Jaunsari (1.35%). Interestingly, main regional languages Kumaon and Garhwali have been accorded the status of endangered languages by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 

Notes:
In Chandigarh, Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah launched three citizen centric services – Emergency Response Support System (ERSS – Dial 112), ‘E-Beat Book’ System and the ‘E-Saathi App’ – of the Chandigarh Police.  ERSS has been designed to play a pivotal role in mitigation or preventing escalation of crime, especially against women and children. Citizens can send their emergency information through call, sms, email and through the 112 India mobile app. The ‘E-Beat Book’ is a web and mobile based application which will ease the collection, updation and analysis of the information related to crime and criminals in a real time. The ‘E-Saathi’ App would help the general public to remain in touch with the police and also give suggestions to facilitate participative community policing (‘Your Police at Your Doorstep’ initiative). 

Notes:
The book, titled “From Leeches to Slug Glue: 25 Explosive Ideas that Made (and Are Making) Modern Medicine” has been written by bestselling author Roopa Pai. In its 25 chapters, the book explores breakthroughs like vaccination, anaesthesia, X-rays and the germ theory, apart from revolutionary ideas like compassionate care for the mentally ill and mandatory hand-washing for surgeons.

Notes:
The Indian Army conducted a massive rare exercise named ‘Chang Thang Prahar’ at a high altitude area in Eastern Laddakh  bordering China for testing and improving its war-fighting capabilities. The integrated exercise involved the use of infantry, mechanized forces, T-72 tanks, with force multipliers such as artillery guns and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). 

Notes:
Ace Indian boxer Amit Panghal settled for a silver at the AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships at Ekaterinburg in Russia. He lost to Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan Zoirov in flyweight (48-52 kg) category. Though, Panghal created history as he became the first Indian male boxer to qualify for the final of the Championships. He has already secured a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.