Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
On January 29, UNESCO official launched the International Year of the Period Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT-2019) at its headquarters in Paris to raise awareness of chemistry and its applications for sustainable development. The year 2019 also marks the 150th anniversary of its creation by Russian scientist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev. The aim of the year-long celebration is to recognize the importance of the periodic table as one of the most important and influential achievements in modern science, reflecting the essence not only of chemistry, but also of physics, biology and other basic sciences disciplines. The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is a unique tool that enables scientist to predict the appearance and properties of matter on the Earth and in the rest of the Universe.

Notes:
After Srinagar (J&K), India’s second Tulip Garden will come up at Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand over 50 hectares of forest land near Chandak hill top at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The proposed tulip garden will be developed by the ONGC under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. Tulip is the flower from Holland that blooms from mid March to May. The site in Mad village near Chandak hilltop for the garden has been selected under the state Government’s ’13 districts, 13 new destinations’ scheme to attract more tourists to the district. According to the project officer of the scheme the land available for the project in Chandak hill top is ideal for the growth of the flower as it is situated at a height of 1,950 metres from the sea surface and remains sunny and cold throughout the year. Tulip is the flower from Holland that blooms from mid March to May.

Notes:
On January 29, the 2-day International conference on 8th century Himalayan sage Guru Padmasambhava was held in New Delhi that saw the participation of distinguished scholars from both countries. The conference titled ‘Life and Legacy of Guru Padmasambhava’, was organized by the Centre for Escalation of Peace (CEP). Scholars from both countries discussed the Guru who was born in India and moved towards Bhutan in the 8th century to spread Buddhism and Buddhist teachings all across the Himalayan region. The conference was dedicated to the 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan. In Tibetan Buddhism, Guru Padmasambhava is generally referred to as Guru Rinpoche, which means “precious master.” Guru Rinpoche is a totally enlightened being, a fully awakened one, a buddha.

Notes:
The Qatar national football team has won their first major football title after defeating four-time champion Japan 3-1 in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup final on 1st of February in United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was an improbable run to glory for the Gulf nation as it prepares to host the 2022 World Cup. In it, Almoez Ali has broken the record for the most goals ever scored by a single player at an Asian Cup tournament (9) and won most valuable player award of 2019 tournament. Earlier, the record was held by Ali Daei who scored eight for Iran in the 1996 edition. Almoez Ali is a Qatari professional footballer of Sudanese descent who plays for Qatar and Al-Duhail in the Qatar Stars League as a forward.

Notes:
A team from INS Dronacharya has won the Regetta trophy (also called The Cock) in the Kochi Area Pulling Regatta 2019 of the Southern Naval Command (SNC) in the Ernakulam Channel on January 31. The Boat Pulling regatta is one of the most prestigious and traditional naval sporting activities conducted in the Navy. The boats used in the regatta are 27-feet-long ‘whalers’ — a type of seaboat — each having a crew of five ‘pullers’ (rowers) and one coxswain (helm). The boats are named as ‘whalers’ as they were used in ancient times for hunting whales at sea. Races during the regatta were held in four different categories – – junior sailors, senior sailors, officers and best whaler. The boats had to cover a distance of 1.6 km in the Ernakulam Channel, starting from the Venduruthy-Vikrant Bridge and finishing at the North Jetty of the navy. The regatta is considered a signature event of the Command, which requires the highest standards of physical and mental fitness and sustained hard work.

Notes:
As per latest survey conducted by Transparency International (TI), Assam has occupied the top slot in the ranking of best practices followed by states in Budget formulation and is followed by Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The states which figured lower in the ranking were Meghalaya, Manipur and Punjab. The survey was carried out on the basis of four parameters – public disclosure, budgetary process, post budget fiscal management and efforts to make budget more transparent and citizen friendly. Transparency International has stated in its survey report that Assam is the only state out of the 29 states and two union territories which has published a Citizens Budget in the public domain. It also stated that the Assam Government is the only government that has conducted budget awareness campaigns across 17 districts.

Notes:
In Tamil Nadu, the 37th edition of the ICT Academy Bridge 2019 conference was held in Chennai with theme “Fostering India for Industry 4.0″. The event brought together industry experts, academic leaders and government policy-makers to address the challenges faced by India Inc. in the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution & therefore creating a correlated education ecosystem and formulating a strategic regulatory framework. It is the largest Industry-Institute Interaction Event of Asia and is organized by ICT Academy. The city witnessed more than 1,000 participants from government, industry and academia.

Notes:
Kerala has become the first State to set up a Price Monitoring and Research Unit (PMRU) to track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO). The move comes more than 5 years after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) proposed such a system for the States and the Union Territories. The new watchdog will offer technical help to the State Drug Controllers and the NPPA to monitor notified prices of medicines, detect violation of the provisions of the DPCO, look at price compliance, collect test samples of medicines, and collect and compile market-based data of scheduled as well as non-scheduled formulations.

Notes:
Ladu Kishore Swain (71), the senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader, has passed away in Bhubaneswar on 5 February 2019. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014 from Aska constituency of Odisha.

Notes:
On 5th February, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched Shehri Samridhi Utsav to extend the outreach of DAY-NULM (Deendayal Antyodaya Mission – National Urban Livelihoods Mission) to the most vulnerable. The event will also showcase its initiatives and facilitate access of Self-Help Group (SHG) members to the other government schemes. Through Shehri Samridhi Utsav, SHG members across cities are being linked to national government schemes viz. Swachchh Bharat Mission (U), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (U), Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJY) and National Nutrition Mission (NNM). The major highlight of Utsav is theNational Exhibition cum sale of SHG products and National Street Food Festival being organized in New Delhi.