Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
In New Delhi, the Minister for Human Resources Development, Prakash Javadekar has launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates through the National Apprenticeship Promotional Scheme (NAPS). The aim of the program is to enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work exposure’ and earning of stipend. SHREYAS is a programme basket comprising the initiatives of three central ministries, including the HRD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Notes:
Suresh Raina has become the first Indian batsman to cross 8000 runs in T20 cricket. He achieved this feat when he scored 12 runs against Puducherry in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Delhi on Feb 25. With those 12 runs, Raina has now scored 8,001 from 300 T20s which consisted of 284 innings. It was incidentally his 300th T20. Beside this, Raina is the second Indian after MS Dhoni to have played 300 T20 matches. Apart from Raina, Virat Kohli (7833) and Rohit Sharma (7795) are the only other batsmen in the top 10 list of the highest run-getters in T20 cricket. Overall, Raina is the sixth highest with David Warner (8111 runs), Shoaib Malik (8603), Kieron Pollard (8839), Brendon McCullum (9922) and Chris Gayle (12,298).

Notes:
The 16th edition of BioAsia was held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre at Madhapur from February 25 to 27 2019. It is the annual flagship event of the Government of Telangana and is focused on healthcare being re-imagined as a result of technological disruption. Over 1,500 delegates from more than 50 countries participated in the Asia’s largest Biotechnology and Life-sciences forum, which was organized with the theme “Life Sciences 4.0 – Disrupt the Disruption”. In it, the Genome Valley Excellence Award 2019 was presented to Dr. Don W Cleveland of the University of California for his work in cancer genetics.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently addressed the Network-18 Rising India Summit 2019 in New Delhi and laid out his vision for a ‘New India‘. The theme of the summit was, ‘Beyond Politics: Defining National Priorities’. The summit is a News18 Network enterprise where newsmakers from the world of politics, governance, economics, sports and entertainment, and above all well-wishers of India, gather to discuss the country’s rising global stature. It is a showcase of India’s unbounded potential as well as a celebration of its significant achievements.

Notes:
Tamil Nadu has become the first State in India to introduce Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) in the government sector to spread awareness on newer heart valve treatments without open surgery. TAVI was launched at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital (TNGMSSH), Omandurar Estate, in November 2018. With the help of TAVI, two persons have undergone the procedure free of cost. Conventionally, an open heart surgery is performed for replacing the aortic valve for treating aortic stenosis. But not all patients such as the elderly are fit to undergo open heart surgery. This is where TAVI helps as in this procedure the valve is replaced through a keyhole procedure from the groin. The procedure costs Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh in the private sector, while it is done free in the government sector.

Notes:
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has recently announced a new railway zone of the Indian Railways, named as Southern Coast Railway (SCoR). This new 18th railway zone of the country will be headquartered at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The new zone will comprise the existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions that currently fall under the South Central Railway (SCR). The cost of creating infrastructure for a new zone is more than Rs. 205 crore. The Indian Railways’ operations are currently divided into 17 zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions, each having a divisional headquarter. There are a total of 73 divisions at present.

Notes:
The 7th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Intersessional Ministerial Meeting (7th RCEP ISSL MM) will be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on 2nd March 2019. The aim of the 16-member RCEP is to cover issues related to goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights. From India, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu will attend the meeting. The RCEP is a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between 16 countries namely 10 countries of ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners (also known as AFP’s or ASEAN FTA Partners) namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.

Notes:
On 1st of March 2019, the Supreme Court pulled up the Haryana government for passing amendments to an act which allows construction in the ecologically-sensitive Aravalli hills. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta stated that the step will destroy the forest and it cannot be permitted. Terming the move as shocking, the bench asked the state not to take any further action on the law. It said that the Haryana government has taken the step despite the apex court’s directive in this regard. On 27th Feb 2019, the state assembly had passed an amendment to the centuries-old Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 (PLPA) Act & opened up thousands of acres of land for real estate developers and for mining in the Aravallis and Shivalik ranges. The decision meant it would not only burden the already ecologically-fragile system, but would also pose a major environmental and ecological threat to the national capital region.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently constituted an 8-member task force headed by its former deputy governor Usha Thorat to examine issues related to offshore rupee markets and recommend policy measures to ensure the stability of the external value of the domestic currency. The task force will assess the causes behind the development of the offshore rupee market and study the effects of the offshore markets on the rupee exchange rate and market liquidity in the domestic market. It would also recommend measures to address concerns, if any, arising out of offshore rupee trading besides proposing measures to generate incentives for non-residents to access the domestic market. The panel would submit its report by the end of June 2019.

Notes:
The book titled “Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way” has been authored by Spiritual teacher Kamlesh Patel, who is popularly known as Daaji. He addressed key issues related to destiny and how it shapes one’s life in his new book. The author provides practical wisdom on how to use heartfulness practices to refine lifestyle and design destiny, including destiny in the afterlife. He elaborates on the subject of consciousness, the role of evolution, and explains what happens to people at the time of birth and death – and how people can act in those pivotal moments when life takes a turn. In the book, Daaji shares how beliefs determine the relative importance of fate and free will in people’s lives. He also shares a set of simple heartfulness practices and lifestyle changes that can help people design their destiny. The author also explores the meditative practices in the light of destiny besides fundamental aspects of well-being, like healthy sleep patterns, heartful communication, eating patterns, living in tune with natural cycles and so on.