Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
Karnataka has won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the first time. In the final, they defeated Maharashtra by 8 wickets at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. With the win, Karnataka set a record of most number of wins in a row by an Indian domestic team as they won 14 T20 matches to lift the coveted T20 trophy. Karnataka also equaled Indian Premier League outfit Kolkata Knight Riders’ record of 14 consecutive wins.

Notes:
National record holder Irfan Kolothum Thodi has become the first Indian from athletics to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while finishing fourth in the 20 km event of the Asian Race Walking Championships at Nomi in Japan. Irfan clocked 1 hour 20 minutes and 57 seconds in the 20-kilometre walk to attain the standard qualifying mark for the Olympics. The fourth-place finishes also ensured a berth in the upcoming International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championship in Doha that begins in September 2019. Two other Indian race walkers, who qualified for the World Championship are Devinder and Ganapati. Having qualified for Tokyo 2020, this will be Irfan’s second Olympics having represented the country in 2012 London Games. The Olympics qualification period for race walk events and marathon race has begun from January 1 this year and will run till May 31, 2020.

Notes:
International Football Federation (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino has recently announced that India will host the 7th edition of U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020. This will be the 2nd FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the U-17 Men’s World Cup in 2017. The Spain under-17 women’s team is the defending champion, while North Korea has had most success in the competition with two titles. Japan in 2014, France in 2012 and South Korea in 2010 have been the other winners.

Notes:
The West Nile Virus (WNV) fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection, which is rare in India. It is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family Flaviviridae, specifically from the genus Flavivirus, which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the WNV is transmitted to humans through bites from Culex mosquitoes which get infected when they feed on infected birds. The infection could be confirmed only if the second samples test positive. Hence, birds are the natural hosts of WNV. Symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, occasionally with a skin rash on the trunk of the body, and swollen lymph glands. It is in news because a 7-year-old boy from Kerala was recently diagnosed with the WNV fever. For this issue, the Union has dispatched a multi-disciplinary Central team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to assess the spread of WNV in Kerala.

Notes:
Darryl D’Monte (74), the senior journalist and environmental activist, has passed away in Mumbai on March 16, 2019. During his long career, D’Monte worked as the resident editor with leading media organisations such as ‘The Times of India’ and ‘Indian Express’ in Mumbai. He also wrote for websites and penned the book ‘Ripping the Fabric’ on the decline of cotton mills in Mumbai and the resulting challenges. He had also served as the chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India (FEJI) and was the founder-president of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ) in Dresden, Germany, in 1993.

Notes:
The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos has successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew members will spend more than six months conducting about 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development. The Soyuz (SAW-yooz) is a Russian spacecraft. It transports crews to the ISS and returns them to Earth after their missions. The crew rides in the part of the spacecraft called a capsule. Up to three astronauts or cosmonauts can ride in a Soyuz capsule. The Soyuz is like a lifeboat for the space station. At least one Soyuz is always docked at the space station. If there is an emergency, the station crew can use the Soyuz to return to Earth.

Notes:
Indian psychologist, psychoanalyst and co-founder of the postcolonial theory, Prof. Ashis Nandy has been chosen for the prestigious 2019 Hans Kilian award for his efforts to adapt western traditions of thought such as psychoanalysis to non-western context. With this, he will become the first Asian to receive the prestigious award on May 9 at the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. The award is given to researchers whose outstanding scientific achievements provide insight into the historical and cultural existence of humankind and the constantly evolving human psyche. It was instituted by the Kohler Foundation in Germany and named after social psychologist and psychoanalyst Hans Kilian. It is awarded every two years and was first awarded in 2011. The prize includes 80,000 euros.

Notes:
Diksha Dagar, an Indian female professional deaf golfer, has created history by becoming the youngest Indian woman to win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) at the age of 18 as she won the 2019 Investec South African Women’s Open in Cape Town on 16th March. She also became the 2nd Indian woman golfer to win a title after Aditi Ashok.

Notes:
Bengaluru FC won the 5th edition of the Indian Super League (ISL-2019) by defeating FC Goa 1-0 in the final at the Mumbai Football arena on 17th March 2019. It’s their first-ever ISL title. The two teams were locked 0-0 after 90 minutes. Even the first extra time saw no goals but Bengaluru got better of a 10-men Goan team 1-0, 4 minutes from the end of the second extra half. In it, Bengaluru FC defender Rahul Bheke became the match winner for the team in the dying minutes of the final.

Notes:
Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Mukesh Sahu has launched an initiative ‘i-help’ to promote digital electoral literacy in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. The ‘i-help’ is a joint initiative of the office of the Assam CEO and Common Service Centres (CSC). This particular initiative will fill the digital divide and fulfill the objective of turning the General Election more inclusive and participatory. The CSCs are internet-enabled access points spread throughout the country delivering various government and non- government digital services to the citizens and is uniquely positioned in rural areas to significantly extend the awareness and outreach activities of CEO, Assam. The entire programme is being launched under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) in the state and it is geared to ensure that no voter is left behind. The voting in Assam will take place at 28,143 polling stations in three phases on April 11, 18 and 23.