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:
At Dubai, the world’s first camel hospital is all set to expand its facilities by an additional 50% in response to the increase in demand for its services. It is a unique hospital catering specifically to the needs of the burgeoning camel industry that has been flourishing and growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years. The aim of the hospital is to contribute significantly to the Research and Development (R&D) of camel medicine as part of increasing the global body of therapeutic knowledge related to the desert animal. Camels are an integral part of the United Arab Emirate (UAE)’s heritage. Historically, camels, known as the ‘Ship of the Desert’ were a source of transport as well as food and milk in the region.

Notes:
India and the United States are set to hold their first trilateral-service military exercise  codenamed ‘Tiger Triumph’ at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in November 2019. The exercise is being organized under the aegis of the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS).

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 Madhya Pradesh government has launched a month-long Swachhata hi Seva Abhiyan from 25th September to till October 25 against the single-use plastic. The campaign will encourage alternatives by eliminating single-use plastic and non-standard polythene in markets, malls and shops etc. The aim of the campaign is to administer oath to at least 50 lakh citizens against the use of single-use plastic. Through this campaign, the government has targeted to reach 2 crore urban population so that they can be made aware to single used the plastic-free city as well as to celebrate plastic-free Deepawali. People will also be made aware to use cloth bags in the campaign. The competition will be organized in the market places at the district level to free the markets from single used plastic. 

Notes:
Mathematician Adam Harper of University of Warwick (England) has been awarded the 2019 SASTRA Ramanujan prize for several outstanding contributions to analytic and probabilistic number theory. The prize carries a citation and an award of $10,000 and is conferred annually on mathematicians from across the world who are less than 32 years of age, working in an area influenced by the genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. Every year, this prize is awarded by SASTRA University on its campus near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, on Ramanujan’s birth anniversary (December 22).

Notes:
Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva has been named as the new Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the IMF. Georgieva will succeed Christine Lagarde for a five-year term from October 2019.

Notes:
Payment technology company Visa has appointed world badminton champion Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (PV Sindhu) as its brand ambassador for two years. Besides promoting the brand through advertising campaigns, Sindhu has also become an athlete member of Team Visa for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Visa has been supporting the Olympic Games as a worldwide sponsor since 1986. It has signed a contract as the exclusive payment technology partner through 2032. It is currently the only payment brand available at Olympic venues.  

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:
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.