Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2019

Notes:
The World Sickle Cell Day (WSCD) is observed every year on 19th of June to raise public awareness about the sickle cell disease and its treatment methods. Sickle cell disease is an inherited form of anaemia in which red blood cells are not able to carry adequate oxygen throughout the body. Government has organised several campaigns for the proper treatment and cure of those suffering from the disease.

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In a bid to boost India’s relations with its neighbours, the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has signed agreements with Bangladesh and South Korea to make DD India available to viewers in the two countries respectively. Under this agreement, Bangaldesh’s BTV World and South Korea’s KBS World will also be made available on DD Free Dish, which has nearly 35 million subscribers across the country. The move is in line with India’s strategy to strengthen its relationships with neighbouring countries and other Asian nations and will help promote robust cultural exchange.

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The Punjab government has decided to launch its flagship universal health insurance scheme -Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana’ (SSBY) – from July 2019. The scheme will provide an annual health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family. Around 43.18 lakh families in Punjab will be covered under it. Besides all government hospitals, 364 private hospitals in Punjab had been empanelled, where the beneficiaries would get the secondary and tertiary care. The beneficiaries included the 14.86 lakh families covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in the state. The cost of the premium for the families covered under the PMJAY would be borne by the Centre and the state government in the 60:40 ratio while for the rest of the beneficiaries, it would borne by the state government.

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On June 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has formally opened its new headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, exactly 125 years after the Olympic Games were revived. The new headquarters costs 145 million Swiss francs ($145 million). The Olympic House has been built on the site of the former headquarters, and 95% of the old materials were reused and recycled. The signature feature is a central staircase linking together the five Olympic rings. Designed by architecture firm 3XN of Denmark, the energy-efficient building has won international awards for sustainability. Renewable energy is provided using solar panels on the roof and pumps taking water from Lake Geneva. It also brings around 500 IOC employees under one roof.

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Hemant Pandey, a senior DRDO scientist, has developed a herbal drug – Lukoskin – to treat leucoderma, a condition in which white patches develop on the skin. The auto-immune condition, also called ‘vitiligo’, can be life-altering. Vitiligo is neither contagious nor life-threatening. Worldwide, the incidence of leucoderma is 1-2% of the population. In India, its incidence is around 4-5% in some parts of Rajasthan. In Gujarat, it is very high at more than 5-8%. This skin disorder is considered a social stigma in India where people confuse it with leprosy. Recently, the Modi government also conferred Pandey with the prestigious ‘Science Award’ for developing ‘Lukoskin’ to treat the skin condition. Lukoskin is manufactured and marketed by Delhi-based AIMIL Pharma Ltd. It is available as an ointment and oral liquid. A more developed version is likely to hit the market soon.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a new “Complaint Management System (CMS)” website where anyone can complain against any of the entities regulated by RBI. Through this website, complaints can be lodged against RBI regulated entities with public interface such as commercial banks, urban co-operative banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), etc. All complaints lodged on the CMS would be directed to the appropriate office of the ombudsman/regional office of the RBI. The application also improves transparency by keeping the complainants informed through auto-generated acknowledgements and enabling them to track the status of their complaints and file appeals online against the decisions of the ombudsmen, where applicable.

Notes:
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the Central Command Centre for Air Traffic Flow Management (C-ATFM) at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The C-ATFM system is primarily meant to address the balancing of capacity against the demand to achieve optimum utilization of the major resources viz., airport, airspace and aircraft at every Indian airport where there is a capacity constraint. It integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC Automation System, flight updates and flight update messages. The system also displays weather information along with static information about airports, airspaces and air routes. The system processes the demand and capacity information and provides decision-making tools to the ATFM Flow Manager for collaborative decision making and to ensure regulated flow of traffic at each airport in India. After successfully implementing the AFTM, India has become the 7th country after the US, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Brazil.

Notes:
India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand has been bestowed an honorary doctorate by IIT Kanpur on the occasion of their 52nd convocation on June 28, 2019. He received the honour from former ISRO chairman and Chairman of the board of Governors of IIT Kanpur, Prof K Radhakrishnan. The past recipients of the honour are Former President Prof. APJ Abdul Kalam and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Gopichand, as a player, won the 2001 All England Open Badminton Championship. He became the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to achieve this feat. Post retirement, the Hyderabad-based shuttler started his own badminton academy — Gopichand Badminton Academy — in 2008. Many top Indian players including the likes of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Parupalli Kashyap etc. have been trained at Pullela Gopichand’s academy in Hyderabad.

Notes:
Vijaya Nirmala (75), the veteran actress and filmmaker , has passed away in Hyderabad on June 27, 2019. Born on 20th February 1946, Nirmala made her acting debut in 1950 as a child artiste in the Tamil movie ‘Machcha Rekhai’. She holds a record in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first woman to direct as many as 47 films in different languages. She was also feted with the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 2008 for her contributions to Telugu cinema. She featured in over 200 films in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

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The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on 26th June to raise awareness about the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. The 2019 theme – Health for Justice, Justice for Health – highlights that justice and health are two sides of the same coin when it comes to addressing drug problems.