Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

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 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:
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:
Vasai-based Catholic priest Father Francis D’Britto, who is writer and environmentalist, has been elected president of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (ABMSS) 2020. He is the first Christian to be elected president of the ABMSS.  Fr. D’Britto is known for serving people beyond the four walls of the Catholic Church & attributed his success to the people who have stood by him for several decades.

Notes:
The 5th edition of India International Science Festival (IISF- 2019)   will be held at Kolkata with theme “RISEN India – Research, Innovation, and Science Empowering the Nation” from 5th to 8th November. The event expects to host a gathering of approximately 12,000 participants from India and abroad.

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:
The National Tourism Awards 2017-18 were recently presented by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on the occasion of World Tourism Day (WTD-2019). In it, Andhra Pradesh has bagged 3 national tourism awards in different categories viz. ‘Best State for comprehensive development of tourism’, ‘Excellence in publishing in English’ and the ‘Best tourist-friendly Railway Station (Visakhapatnam). Goa and Madhya Pradesh were the joint winners in the Adventure Tourism category and Uttarakhand won the award for the Best Film Promotion-Friendly State. Telangana won the award for the Best State for the innovative use of IT.

Notes:
The World Tourism Day (WTD) is observed every year on 27th of September to create awareness on the role of tourism among the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. The 2019 theme is “Tourism and Jobs: A Better Future for All”.

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.