Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
India has been ranked 47th out of 100 countries in the Inclusive Internet Index (3i) 2019, which is prepared by the ‘Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook. The list is topped by Sweden, followed by Singapore and the US. As per index, there are demonstrable benefits from comprehensive female e-inclusion policies, digital skills programmes and targets for women and girls to Study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This year, the index represented 94% of the world’s population and 96% of global GDP. The study revealed stalled progress on closing the digital divide.

Notes:
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu inaugurated National Institutes of Design (NID) at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jorhat in Assam through video conference from New Delhi on 22nd February 2019. Both institutes are autonomous institutions under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The establishment of new NIDs will help produce highly skilled manpower in design which, in turn, will create job opportunities, both direct and indirect, by providing sustainable design interventions for crafts, handloom, rural technology, small, medium and large-scale enterprises and outreach programs for capacity, capability and institution building. The National Design Policy 2007 had recommended setting up design institutes on the lines of NID Ahmedabad in other parts of India to promote design programs. Four new NIDs have been set up in Andhra Pradesh (Amaravati), Assam (Jorhat), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) and Haryana (Kurukshetra) with a total outlay of Rs. 434 crore.

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:
The Union cabinet has recently approved a proposal for setting up the Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to benefit para-sports in the country. The centre will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 170.99 crore over a period of five years & will be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The centre will have a Governing Body comprising a maximum of 12 members, some of them experts from “National Level Sports Federations apart from experts in para games”. The Section 30 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, requires the government to take measures to ensure “effective participation of Persons with Disabilities in sports activities which includes the provision of infrastructural facilities for sports activities for them”. The upcoming centre was proposed in the budget of 2014-15. At present, no specialized sports training facilities for Divyangjan are available in the Country. Hence, this void is proposed to be filled up by setting up sports infrastructure so that persons with disabilities (Divyangjan) can undergo rigorous and specialized training in this Centre.

Notes:
In Tripura, the joint border guarding exercise “Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ was held between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between the two border guards. The exercise was named after the Mainamati hill range situated 8 km west of Comilla township in Bangladesh, which is home to an ancient Buddhist archaeological site in the region. The main purpose of this exercise was to plan and conduct anti-smuggling and anti-criminal activity related operations with an aim of achieving better joint operational efficiency and border management in the area.

Notes:
On the occasion of National Science Day (NSD-2019), the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched Rs 250 Crore scheme ‘STARS’ to fund 500 science projects. The selection of these projects would be done on the basis of competitions.The project will be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. Interested candidates will have to submit applications to take part in the competition. The applications will release on the first week of April 2019. The acronym of STARS stands for “Scheme for Translational and Advanced Research”. Beside this, the HRD Ministry in collaboration with the National Skill Ministry and Labour and employment Ministry collaboratively launched SHREYAS – Scheme for Higher Education Youth for Apprenticeship and Skills to empower non-technical courses.

Notes:
The 8th edition of joint military exercise ‘Sampriti-2019’ between the armies of India and Bangladesh has recently started at Bongobondhu Cantonment in Tangail, Bangladesh. The aim of the 14-day exercise is to increase mutual cooperation, bonhomie and camaraderie between the armies of two countries. The exercise is a part of the ongoing India-Bangladesh defence cooperation. The Bangladesh contingent was represented by 36 East Bengal Battalion, while Indian side was represented by 9th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles.

Notes:
Anil Kumble, a former Indian captain of Tests and ODIs, has been reappointed as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee for the third consecutive time. This 3-year stint will end in 2021 and be his final term as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. He was appointed as the head of the panel in the year 2012 for his first term. Kumble was reappointed for his second term in the year 2016 which would keep him in office till 2018. The ICC Cricket Committee is representative of all stakeholders in the game, including players and umpires. It is empowered to make recommendations on cricket playing issues.

Notes:
On 4th March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which will function on the “One Nation One Card” model across the country. The NCMC is the India’s first indigenously developed payment platform for transport that can be used to make payments across public transport anywhere in the country, including Metro, bus and suburban railways, for toll and parking, and for retail like any credit or debit card. The stored value on card supports offline transaction across all travel needs with minimal financial risk to involved stakeholders. The service area feature of this card supports operator specific applications e.g. monthly passes, season tickets etc. The card will address the challenges associated with the cash payment e.g. cash handling, revenue leakages, cash reconciliation etc. Beside this, PM Modi also launched an Automatic Fare-Collection system (AFC) called ‘SWEEKAR’, and a gate and card-reader system called ‘SWAGAT’ . The three together will enable the use of the national mobility card across the country without a conflict with existing Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines. The cards can be issued by all public and private banks the same way credit, debit, and prepaid cards are issued.

Notes:
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be honoured with the first-ever ‘Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar’, which is instituted by the Akhil Bharatiya Digambar Jain Mahasamiti. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2.51 lakh, a memento and a citation and will be presented to Varthaman on 17th April 2019, coinciding with Mahavir Jayanti. In the ongoing India-Pakistan standoff, Varthaman was held for three days under captivity in Pakistan after his Mig-21 Bison aircraft was shot down in an aerial dogfight. He shot down a Pakistani Air Force F-16 before he was forced to eject and landed across the Line of Control (LoC). He was captured by Pakistan forces soon after and was released on March 1.