Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
The first-ever joint military exercise of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) titled “Sary Arka Antiterror 2019” is scheduled to be held in grasslands of Kazakhstan in the Sary Arka region. The decision to hold the joint exercise ‘Sary-Arka-Antiterror 2019’ was announced during the 34th meeting of the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) council held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The SCO, in which China plays an influential role, is also comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan were admitted into the bloc in 2017. Delegations of the competent authorities of India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the RATS Executive Committee attended the meeting. RATS is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. It is headquartered in Tashkent. The next meeting of the Council of the RATS SCO is scheduled to be held in Russia in September 2019.

Notes:
Prof. Karen Uhlenbeck of the University of Texas at Austin has become first woman to win the Abel Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious international mathematics awards. The award is sometimes called the Nobel Prize of mathematics. She has been awarded the 6 million Norwegian kroner ($700,000) prize for her work in the fields of geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory and integrable systems and for the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics. The prize was first awarded in 2003 to honor the 19th-century Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.

Notes:
Recently, Italian Premier Premier Giuseppe Conte has pledged to make Italy the first Group of Seven nation to join China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative, despite objections from the United States and concerns within his governing coalition. While, on 20th March 2019, India signalled that it will boycott China’s second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for a second time. It stated that no country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity. India boycotted the first BRF in 2017 after protesting to Beijing over the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) overriding New Delhi’s sovereignty concerns. China has already deepened its commitment to expand the USD 60 billion CPEC, which aims to connect China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar port with a host of road, rail, gas and oil pipelines.

Notes:
The International Day of Happiness (IDH) is observed every year on 20th of March to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. The day is a good reminder that our world is changing. If we want to understand how we progress, why we sometimes fail & ultimately improve the quality of all our lives, then the pursuit of happiness may offer an answer. The 2019 theme “Happier Together” focuses on what we have in common, rather than what divides us. It is celebrated by all 193 UN Member States.

Notes:
In football, India has clinched the SAFF Women’s Championship for the fifth time in a row. In thefinal, they defeated hosts Nepal 3-1 at Biratnagar on 22nd March 2019. In the first half, Dalmia Chhibber of India scored the first goal of the match which was equalled by Nepal’s Sabitra Bhandari at the 33rd minute. In the second half, Grace Dengmei scored the second goal at 63rd minute and Anju Tamang scored third and decisive goal in the 76th minute. This was India’s 23rd straight victory in the championship since its inception in 2010. India has clinched all five editions of SAFF championship.

Notes:
Jimmy Carter — the 39th president of the United States — has reached a new milestone and become the longest-living President in U.S. history at the age of 94 years and 172 days. It exceeds by one day the lifespan of former President George H.W. Bush, who died in November 2018 at the age of 94 years and 171 days. Both men were born in 1924: Bush on June 12, Carter on Oct. 1. Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center.

Notes:
Researchers at Purdue University in the US, including one of Indian origin, have developed a new process to remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water — a byproduct from the oil refinery and extraction process. The process uses activated charcoal foam and subjects it to solar light to produce heat and purify the water. The foam absorbs the oil contaminants from the water. Ashreet Mishra, a graduate research assistant at the Purdue University, said that this is a simple, clean and inexpensive treatment process. The process meets all environmental standards for clean water from industrial sources and had a total organic carbon of 7.5 milligrams per litre. Another advantage is that the oil absorbed by the foam can be recovered efficiently. The researchers were able to recover up to 95% of the oil that was absorbed. The process could be integrated with existing disposal systems to purify a large amount of water and reduce the current stress on water grids.

Notes:
Indian paddler Archana Kamath clinched a silver in the under-21 women’s singles section of the Seamaster ITTF Challenge Plus 2019 Oman Open table tennis tournament at Muscat. Archana started playing table tennis at the age of 9 years. She won her first U-12 and also a U -18 State title in 2011, and retained her Karnataka State No 1 Sub-Junior ranking throughout 2012 with some consistent performances. Since 2013 her career graph has seen a very steep rise. As a player, she describes herself as a fierce attacker.

Notes:
The Financial Technology (Fintech) Conclave has been organized by NITI Aayog in New Delhi and was inaugurated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das. The objective of the conclave is to shape India’s continued ascendancy in FinTech, build the narrative for future strategy and policy efforts, and to deliberate steps for comprehensive financial inclusion. Nearly 300 Representatives from across the financial space – central ministries, regulators, bankers, startups, service providers and entrepreneurs are participating in the conclave. India is one of the fastest growing FinTech markets globally and industry research has projected that USD 1 Trillion or 60% of retail and SME credit, will be digitally disbursed by 2029. The Indian FinTech ecosystem is the third largest in the globe, attracting nearly USD 6 billion in investments since 2014.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has launched a programme, titled “Lose to Win”, to help overweight employers to shed extra kilos and adopt a healthy lifestyle. The programme involves adopting a healthy diet and engaging in physical activity, helping employees lose excessive weight within 8 weeks. The programme team comprises nutritionists and health educators from Health and Education Department of the ministry. Apart from awareness sessions, the programme includes a workshop on healthy nutrition where the participants are briefed on essential topics, including how to read food labels as well as explaining the make-up of balanced diets.