Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
The ‘Mela Kheer Bhawani’ is one of the biggest religious festivals of the displaced community of Kashmiri pundits, and is associated with Hindu Goddess Ragnya Devi. It is recently celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety at Tulmulla area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Kupwara with thousands of Pandith devotees participated in the function. The annual festival is held on Jesht Ashtami (May-June) when Kashmiri pandits visit the place in large number to offer prayers to seek the blessings of the deity. The devotees carry rose petals, walk barefoot and offer tribute to the goddess, and also offer milk and kheer (pudding) at the sacred spring. It is believed that the colour of the water in the spring, which flows below the temple, is an indication of the valley’s well-being. Black or darkish colour of the water is believed to be a sign of inauspicious times for Kashmir. However, the water in the spring this time was clean and milky white. The mela has become a symbol of communal harmony as Muslims in the locality make all the arrangements for the devotees, including setting up of stalls for flowers and other offerings.

Notes:
Zonel Sougaijam, a 22-year-old civil engineer from Manipur, has been honoured by Facebook for discovering a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of a user. The social media giant awarded $5000 to him and also included him in the ‘Facebook Hall of Fame 2019’ for detecting the WhatsApp bug. Mr. Sougaijam detected that during a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorization and knowledge of the receiver. The caller was then able to see what the other person was doing that breached the privacy of the receiver. Mr. Sougaijam’s name is currently at the 16th position in a list of 94 people, in the ‘Facebook Hall of Fame’ for this year.

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Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, a global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights, will be honored with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award by UNICEF’s American chapter at their Snowflake Ball on December 3 in New York. Priyanka is known for her contribution to social causes and for being a voice for children’s education. She has been a part of United Nation’s global “Girl Up” Campaign and is associated with several NGOs in India to raise awareness about ways to improve the education, health and safety of girl child in India. She promotes various causes such as environment, health and education, and women’s rights and is particularly vocal about gender equality and feminism. The award is named after actor-philanthropist Danny Kaye, who was UNICEF’s first Goodwill Ambassador.

Notes:
The International Albinism Awareness Day (IAAD) is observed every year on June 13 to celebrate the human rights of persons with albinism worldwide. The 2019 theme is “Still Standing Strong”. This is a call to recognize, celebrate and stand in solidarity with persons with albinism around the world, and to support their cause – from their accomplishments and positive practices to the promotion and protection of their human rights. Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized in humans by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. It is associated with a number of vision defects such as photophobia, nystagmus, and amblyopia. Albinism sufferers face social stigma, obstacles in access to areas of health and education and ignorance in social and political arenas.

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The World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is observed every year on June 14 to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors. The 2019 theme “Blood Donation and Universal Access to Safe Blood Transfusion” is a component of achieving universal health coverage. The slogan – Safe Blood for All – has also been adopted. The theme strongly encourages more people all over the world to become blood donors and donate blood regularly. The day is an important occasion for all governments, national health authorities and national blood services to provide adequate infrastructures to increase collection of blood from regular unpaid blood donors. Blood is vital for treating the wounded during emergencies like natural disasters, accidents and armed conflicts. It has an essential, life-saving role in maternal care. For an effective health system, access to safe blood and blood products in sufficient quantity is a must.

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The Government of India (GoI) has recently constituted a 5-member committee to review existing marketing structure in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) marketing in India. The committee, headed by economist Kirit Parikh, will look into issues related to definition or quality standards of LPG being marketed. Its terms of reference also include scope for liberalizing government policies for private participation. The committee is expected to submit its report by end-July. Based on the LPG control order, domestic LPG should be supplied to oil-marketing companies (OMCs) only. The committee will also identify the grey areas that might allow private entities like Reliance Industries to sell subsidized cooking gas.

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As per a report released by the Australian think tank Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), India’s ranking in 2019 Global Peace Index (GPI) has slipped five places to 141st among 163 countries. In 2018, India ranked at 136th among 163 countries. IEP ranks countries according to their level of peacefulness based on three thematic domains — the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarization. The report covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population and uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources to compile the index. As per index, Iceland remains the most peaceful country and Afghanistan the least peaceful nation. In South Asian countries, Bhutan topped the index with 15th rank, followed by Sri Lanka 72nd, Nepal 76th and Bangladesh 101st. Terror-ridden Pakistan has been ranked 153rd on the index. The GPI was founded by Steve Killelea, an Australian technology entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Notes:
Four Indian movies have been selected to be screened at the prestigious 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFAN-2019). Out of them, three of them happen to be Bollywood movies namely Gully Boy, Andhadhun and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi while the fourth is a Tamil movie, Super Deluxe starring Vijay Sethupati and Samantha Akkineni. The festival will take place from June 27 to July 7 in South Korea. The South Korean film festival is known for screening some of the best movies in the world.

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The National Geographic Society has announced the successful installation of the world’s highest operating weather stations on Mount Everest to provide researchers, climbers, and the public with near real-time information about mountain conditions. The multi-disciplinary team installed the world’s two highest operating automated weather stations at Balcony area (8,430 m) and South Col (7,945 m), as well as three other weather stations on Mount Everest. The other stations were placed at Phortse (3,810 m), Everest Base Camp (5,315 m) and Camp II (6,464 m). Each weather station will record data on temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, and wind direction.

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In Pune, Social activist Makarand Tilloo has won the ‘Save Water Hero Award’ by the HridayMitra Foundation for his efforts to raise awareness about water conservation in the city. Tilloo is a Laughter Yoga trainer and motivational speaker by profession. He started a campaign to save water by replacing leaking taps with new ones. The HridayMitra Foundation is an organisation which aims to spread awareness about diseases as well as the surgeries required to remedy them. It also runs a free helpline, offering people financial guidance and other such services.