Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
Director Zoya Akhtar’s musical drama film “Gully Boy” has been named as India’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category to the 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars 2020). The movie chronicled the story of Mumbai’s street rappers and was said to loosely based on rapper Naezy’s life. 

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:
The doyen of modern Indian Cinema, Amitabh Bachchan has been named for the prestigious Dada Sahab Phalke award for his outstanding contribution to the film industry. It is the India’s highest award in cinema, which is conferred by the Government of India (GoI) for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema. It consists of a Swarn Kamal and a cash prize of Rs 10 Lakh. In a career spanning five decades, Bachchan has given memorable performances film after film and is a four-time National Film Award winner.

Notes:
Indian wrestler Rahul Aware has won a bronze in men’s 61Kg free-style category at the 2019 World Championship in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. However, this was not an Olympic category and thus the bronze did not help Aware qualify for the Tokyo Games. It was India’s fifth medal at this edition of the World Championships with a total haul of 1 silver and 4 bronzes. In the ongoing event, Deepak Punia  in men’s 86kg category was forced to pull out of the final due to an injury and settled for silver.

Notes:
Infosys has won the prestigious United Nations Global Climate Action Award in the ‘Climate Neutral Now’ category. With this feat, Infosys has become the only corporate from India to earn the recognition for its efforts to combat climate change. The award will be presented to Infosys at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Santiago, Chile on December 2019.   

Notes:
The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has recently discovered 30 reels of unedited footage on Mahatma Gandhi that amounts to almost 6 hours of duration. These 35mm celluloid footages, unedited and stock shots with title cards in between, belonged to several prominent film studios of the time like Paramount, Pathe, Warner, Universal, British Movietone and Wadia Movietone. The major highlight of the discovery is a rare half-an-hour footage that has visuals of a special train carrying Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes, after his assasination on 30th January 1948, from Madras to Rameshwaram. In 1964, the NFAI was established as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) with headquarters at Pune, Maharashtra.

Notes:
Japan has successfully launched an unmanned spacecraft “Kounotori8” towards the International Space Station (ISS) from the Tanegashima Space Center at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in southwestern Japan. The acronym ‘Kounotori8’ stands for “white stork” in Japanese & intends to deliver about 5.3 tonnes of supplies to astronauts at the ISS.

Notes:
England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor, who is regarded as one of the world’s best wicketkeepers, has recently retired from international cricket because of her ongoing battle with anxiety. Sarah made her England debut in 2006 and scored 6,553 international runs. She was also a magnetic keeper behind the stumps, creating waves with her innovative methods that led her to 232 dismissals, the most in women’s cricket. Taylor had previously gone on an indefinite break from cricket after the 2016 World T20 in India before returning for the 2017 World Cup.

Notes:
Actor Madhuri Dixit has been chosen as goodwill ambassador by the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) in Maharashtra to create awareness among people about the importance of voting. The State Assembly polls are scheduled for October 21 and results will be declared on October 24. She will be seen in a video titled ‘Let’s Vote” speaking about the democratic process and role of voters in the development of the country.

Notes:
NASA has successfully launched the RamanSat 2 miniature satellite designed by 17-year-old Indian student Aabhaas Sikka. The satellite was developed by Sikka during his internship with SPACE India with help from SPACE Group Founder and CMD Sachin Bahmba along with the company’s research team. It is carrying equipment to measure the radiation from Sun and space.