Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2019

Notes:
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has made an unexpected discovery of a new dwarf galaxy in our cosmic neighborhood. Named Bedin 1, the galaxy is approximately 30 million light-years away and 2 million light-years from the nearest plausible large galaxy host ‘NGC 6744’. The object is classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy because it measures only around 3,000 light-years at its greatest extent, and it is roughly a thousand times dimmer than our own Milky Way Galaxy. The galaxy is named after discovery team leader Dr. L. R. Bedin of the INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova in Italy. The dwarf spheroidal galaxies are not uncommon, Bedin 1 has some notable features. Not only is it one of just a few dwarf spheroidals that have a well established distance but it is also extremely isolated. This makes it possibly the most isolated small dwarf galaxy discovered to date. The Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are defined by their small size, low-luminosity, lack of dust and old stellar populations. 36 galaxies of this type are already known to exist in the Local Group, 22 of which are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The researchers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study white dwarf stars within the globular cluster NGC 6752. The aim of their observations was to use these stars to measure the age of the globular cluster, but in the process they made an unexpected discovery of Bedin 1.

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The Maharashtra government has set up a 17-member committee to review various schemes being implemented for the welfare of tribals in the state. The committee will be headed by former MLA and Shramjeevi Sanghatna president Vivek Pandit. The panel will undertake the study of various works done for providing employment opportunities, minimum wages and proper livelihood to tribals. As per a recent government order, the committee will suggest measures to ensure that children in tribal regions were not deprived of education. The committee will hold its meetings every three months and submit its recommendations to the government.

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On 4th February, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways launched the 30th National Road Safety Week (NRSW-2019) in New Delhi to raise public awareness about traffic rules and ultimately to reduce casualties due to road accidents. The 2019 theme is “Sadak Suraksha-Jeevan Raksha”. In an event at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti in Rajghat, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also flagged off a motor car rally to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The motor rally will cover around 7250 km and will travel through those places in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar which are historically associated with Gandhiji. The conclusion of the rally will take place at Yangon in Myanmar on the 24th February 2019.

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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.

Notes:
Dakshayani, an 88-year-old captive she-elephant in Kerala, has died at a care centre at nearby Pappanamcode in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 5th February 2019. She was the oldest captive elephant in Asia and Guinness record holder. She was also called the ‘Gaja Muthassi’ (grandmother of elephants). In 2016, she was conferred the “Gaja Muthassi” (elephant granny) title and entered the Guinness book of records. The Postal department had also brought out a postal cover on the elephant. Dakshayini had been a resident at the Chengallur Mahadeva temple in Thiruvananthapuram for the last 70 years and was owned by Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

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In Mumbai, the India Size project has recently launched by the Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani. It’s a first-of-its-kind project in the history of the country, which aims to arrive at a standard Indian Size for the ready-to-wear clothing industry, on the lines of the standardized sizes available in countries such as the USA, the UK and Mexican. A size chart that is specific to Indian consumers’ measurements will be developed. The project is being undertaken by the Ministry of Textiles, in collaboration with The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI). The Minister also launched a Study of Apparel Consumption in India. The report of this study would be ready for release by July 2019. Under India Size, an all-India anthropometric study of measurements of the average Indian apparel consumer will be undertaken. The study will include an analysis of close to 25,000 consumers spread over various age groups, and covering the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Shillong. This will enable the study to cover all important regions of the country.

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The 52nd Boori Boot Yollo festival 2019 has recently celebrated by the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The fest is observed in the month of February every year to welcome spring and a successful harvest. During this festival, the consecrated soul is summoned to sanctify the people. Apart from it, it is an occasion of mass prayer for prosperity eliminating the possibility of any fatal ailments. The striking feature here is the giant assemblage of people cutting across the barriers of cast, creed, age and sex. The young ones take the lead to be guided by the elders where Nibu (Priest) would perform the rituals. The festival has an anthem which speaks of the sun rising, planets, mighty rivers, flora and fauna. A portion of the lyric deals with the earth which keeps on rotating around the sun along with other heavenly bodies.

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On 7th February, Vidharbha lifted the Ranji Trophy for the second time in a row, after defeating Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final match of the 2018–19 season held at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. With this, Vidarbha has become only the 6th team in the tournament’s long history to have defended the title.

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The 9th Senior Women’s Hockey National Championship 2019 has started in Hisar, Haryana from February 8. Top India stars will turn up for their respective state units and employers for the tournament. RSPB will begin their campaign against Hockey Rajasthan in the Pool A opening match. Twenty teams will participate in the 11-day domestic extravaganza. Teams that take the top two spots in Pools A, B, C and D in the round-robin stage will qualify for the quarterfinals to be played on February 15. The semifinal and final will be played on February 17 and February 18, respectively.

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The Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce has recently released its International IP Index for Year 2019. In it, India has moved up 8 places to rank 36th among 50 economies in the 2019 Index.The improvement reflects important reforms implemented by Indian policymakers towards building and sustaining an innovation ecosystem for domestic entrepreneurs and foreign investors alike. The report also focuses on thorny issues. According to the report, the key problems in India include barriers to licensing and technology transfer, strict registration requirements, limited framework for the protection of bio-pharmaceutical IP rights, patentability requirements outside international standards, lengthy pre-grant opposition proceedings and previously used compulsory licensing for commercial and non-emergency situations. The index ranks countries based on 45 indicators covering patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets protection.