Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has released a new potential blockbuster wheat variety  –  Pusa Yashasvi (HD-3226) – for planting in the upcoming rabi crop season. The new variety has high genetic yield potential at 79.6 quintals as compared to other varieties of wheat. It is highly resistant to all rusts and Karnal bunt, besides other fungal pathogen diseases such as flag smut, powdery mildew and foot rot. The HD-3326 also has higher content of protein and gluten (which contributes to strength and elasticity of the dough), apart from more zinc (at 36.8 parts per million, as against 34.8 for HD-3086 and 36 for HD-2967) and good chapatti, bread and biscuit quality.

Notes:
The International Day of Sign Languages is observed every year on 23rd of September to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. The theme for year 2019 is ‘Sign Language Rights for All’.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has recently launched “champions campaign” in the National Capital in a fight against dengue. He urged people to encourage their friends to inspect their homes to check their homes for mosquito larvae & to clean stagnant water.   The campaign visualizes that citizens should promptly reach out to 10 of their friends and asks them to check their premises for signs of dengue.

Notes:
Veteran actor and multi-faceted artiste S.K. Padmadevi (95),  who was part of the first Kannada talkie film that went on sets, has passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 19th September 2019. She remained active in theatre till late 1960s and acted in several plays by H.L.N. Simha and Ballari Raghavacharya.  She later joined  All India Radio (AIR) and worked on audio plays for over two decades. Ms. Padmadevi was awarded the R. Nagendra Rao award for lifetime achievement by Karnataka Chalanchitra Academy in 2016.

Notes:
The Shondol dance of Ladakh has created history again by breaking into the Guinness book of world records as the largest Ladakhi dance when 408 women artists in traditional dresses performed gracefully the folk dance on the occasion of the 2019 Buddhist carnival ‘Naropa Festival’. The fest was held near the 11th-century world-famous Hemis Monastery in Ladakh & was organised by the Live to Love India, Drukpa Charitable Trust and Young Drukpa Association. Earlier, this famous dance was used to be performed by artists for King of Ladakh on special occasion.

Notes:
At Nur-Sultan (Astana) in Kazakhsta, the Kerala Tourism has won three prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold awards viz. for an ethnic food restaurant run by women at Kumarakom under its Responsible Tourism Mission, for an advertisement campaign of Kerala Tourism ‘Come Out and Play’ and for its website (www.keralatourism.org) respectively. The ad campaign was run by Stark Communication & the Kerala Tourism website has been designed and maintained by Invis Multimedia.

Notes:
In Bengaluru, Senior journalist and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Ravish Kumar has recently received the first Gauri Lankesh National Award for Journalism by freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy. He was chosen for the award for sharp news analysis and uncompromising secular stance by the Gauri Lankesh Memorial Trust (GLMT). Apart from this, three books –  ‘Neera Nade’ by Prof. Vinaya Okkunda, ‘Dehali Nota’ by senior journalist D. Umapathy, and Ravish Kumar’s ‘Free Voices’ translated as ‘Maatige Enu Kadime’ by Harshakumar Kugwe.

Notes:
At Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 6th edition of ”India Water Week (IWW-2019)”, which is organised by Ministry of Jal Shakti with the theme of ”Water cooperation-coping with 21st-century challenge’ . Japan and European Union have been associated as partner countries for this mega event. Under this campaign, the entire Government of India (GoI) machinery of over 1000 senior Central Government officers have joined the States to promote focused interventions for water collection and conservation, including restoration and renovation of traditional water bodies.

Notes:
During the 52nd IAAF Congress at Doha, Sebastian Coe from Britain has been re-elected as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for a second term for 4 years. Coe is the former Olympic and world champion middle-distance runner. Beside this, Adille Sumariwalla (the President of Athletics Federation of India (AFI)) was re-elected as member of the Council of IAAF for a 2nd four-year term.

Notes:
The West Bengal government has decided to set up a museum at the north Kolkata house of 19th century social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar where he had spent the last few years of his life. The museum chronicles his life from his birth place at Birsinghapur village in Paschim Medinipur district to the house in north Kolkata. He was a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance and the most prominent campaigner for Hindu widow remarriage.