Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
The world’s tallest 131 ft indoor waterfall has opened for the general public at Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport.. The waterfall is housed inside a dome-shaped complex which has gardens growing over four storeys, more than 280 retail and food outlets, a hotel and a movie theatre. The structure also has a botanical garden with 120 species of plants. The dome-shaped glass structure was designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie.

Notes:
The UN English Language Day is observed every year on 23rd of April to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization. These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. For the English language, 23 April was chosen because it is the date traditionally observed as both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare.

Notes:
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the 2019 Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP) in which India’s overall rank is 19th out of 28 countries, with a score of 64.9. Australia topped the index, followed by the Netherlands and Germany. The ICP explores the issue of cancer preparedness through three broad domains: Policy and planning; Care delivery; and Health systems and governance. It was released as part of the report titled “Cancer preparedness around the world: National readiness for a global epidemic” prepared by EIU.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has divested its entire stake in National Housing Bank (NHB) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for Rs 1,450 crore and Rs 20 crore, respectively. The move is part of ending the cross-holding in regulatory institutions and follows the recommendation of second Narasimham committee report of October 2001 and the RBI’s own discussion paper on the same entitled ‘Harmonizing the role and operations of development financial institutions and banks. The current change in the capital structure of both these financial institutions was brought in by the government through amendments to the Nabard Act of 1981 and the NHB Act of 1987 which were notified on January 19, 2018 and March 29, 2018, respectively. With this, the Government of India (GoI) now holds 100% stake in both these financial institutions.

Notes:
Rajendra Kumar Nayak, the 1983 batch officer of Indian Defence Accounts Service , has been appointed as the new Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA). With over 35 years of experience, Nayak has held important assignments in the Defence Accounts Department and on deputation in the Government of India. He has vast and varied experience in handling Finance, Personnel, Pay & Budget matters of Ministry of Defence. The CGDA heads the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) and operates under the Ministry of Defence. It is the cadre controlling authority of the Indian Defence Accounts Service.

Notes:
The 5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness has started in Kathmandu, Nepal on April 26, 2019. The theme of the two-day summit is “Media Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities”. The basic aim of the summit is to address the issue of fully utilizing media’s potential of accelerating climate action and disaster preparedness and connect stakeholders to media professionals for collaboration and joint practical projects. Over 200 participants including political leaders, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, climate change and disaster management experts, scientists and media persons are attending the event.

Notes:
Indonesia has recently released a special commemorative stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic ties with India. The stamp is designed by renowned Indonesian sculptor Padmashri Bapak Nyoman Nuarta. It featured a scene from Ramayana in which Jatayu valiantly fought to save Sita, which symbolises the resolve of two peoples in the face of adversity. A specially signed version of the stamp will be on display at the Philately Museum in Jakarta.

Notes:
The Central Works Public Department (CPWD) has constituted an expert committee to formulate a design policy for building construction and infrastructure development. The committee, under the chairmanship of CPWD’s Additional Director General M K Sharma, is aimed at reviving building construction and infrastructure development at all levels in the CPWD which comes under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. The committee has been asked to submit its report to Director General Prabhakar Singh within 30 days. The CPWD is the largest construction agency of the central government. It constructs most of the government’s buildings across the country, erects fences on the country’s international borders, among others. The agency also carries out projects in foreign countries under friendship programmes with India.

Notes:
The six-member expert committee led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan was appointed on December 26, 2018 to review the Economic Capital Framework (ECF) for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It is in news recently because the Jalan panel is likely to submit its report by June 2019. The panel is expected to spell out details regarding how the RBI should handle its reserves and whether it can transfer its surplus to the government. The report is also expected to detail the amount the central bank should transfer to the government. The terms of reference of the committee would be to review status, need and justification of various provisions, reserves and buffers presently provided for by the RBI. The committee will also review best practices followed by the central banks globally in making assessment and provisions for risks, to which central bank balance sheets are subjected.

Notes:
Alfred Brownell from Liberia, an environmental lawyer and activist, has been awarded the prestigious 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize for exposing alleged abuse by the palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia and helping to prevent it from converting about 50 km2 of forest that is home to elephants, pygmy hippopotamuses and chimpanzees into palm oil plantations. The other winners of the top environment prize are: Linda Garcia of Vancouver, Ana Colovic Lesoska of North Macedonia, Bayarjargal Agvaantseren of Mongolia, Jacqueline Evans of the Cook Islands and Alberto Curamil of Chile. The Goldman Environment Prize is awarded annually to six grassroots activists from six different continents who have taken action and risked their lives to protect the planet.