Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
The Union Government has instituted the highest civilian award in the field of contribution to the unity and integrity of India, in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The award seeks to recognize notable and inspiring contributions to promote the cause of national unity and integrity and to reinforce the value of a strong and united India. The award will be announced on the occasion of the National Unity Day (NUD) on the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel on 31st of October. The award would consist of a medal and a citation. No monetary grant or cash award would be attached to this Award. Not more than 3 awards would be given in a year. It would not be conferred posthumously except in very rare and highly deserving cases.

Notes:
Off-spinner Deepti Sharma from Agra has become the 1st Indian cricketer to bowl 3 maidens in T20I. This history was created during the India’s first T20I against South Africa at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, Gujarat. She ended with figures of 4/8 with three of the four overs to lead India to victory. India beat South Africa by 11 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Notes:
The 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg has been honoured as one of four winners of the 2019 Rights Livelihood awards for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts. The award is known as Sweden’s alternative Nobel Prize. Ms. Thunberg shares the award with Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa of the Yanomami people, Chinese women’s rights lawyer Guo Jianmei and Western Sahara human rights defender Aminatou Haidar. The four laureates will received a cash award of 1 million Swedish crowns ($103,000) each.

Notes:
To promote innovation, 2nd edition of Singapore – India Hackathon will be organised at IIT Madras in Chennai from Sep 28 to 29, 2019. The Hackathon is the first of its kind joint International hackathon between India and Singapore during which the selected bright students from India and Singapore will work in collaboration to develop innovative and out-of-the- box solution for some of the daunting problems faced by our societies. This year, the hackathon is focused on quality education, Good Health and clean energy.

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:
Venu Madhav (51), the well-known Telugu comedian and actor, has passed away in Secunderabad on  25th September 2019. He started as a mimicry artiste and forayed into movies. His filmography had over 170 movies in Telugu. Other than Telugu films, he even acted a few Tamil films. The 2016 film “Dr Paramanandaiah’s Students Gang”  remains his last release.  

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:
Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat has become the new chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). He succeeded IAF chief – Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa. The COSC is consists of chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and the senior most member is appointed its chairperson. The Chairman of COSC is tasked with ensuring synergy among the three services and evolves common strategy to deal with external security challenges facing the country.

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:
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.