Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
The Austrian capital Vienna has topped the Mercer’s index of most liveable cities for the 10th year in a row, followed by Zurich in Switzerland. In joint third place are Auckland, Munich and Vancouver. Luxembourg was the safest city in the world. In 105th place, Chennai ranks as the Asia-Pacific region’s safest city, while Karachi (226) is the least safe. According to Mercer’s 21st annual Quality of Living Rankings, Hyderabad and Pune have been named the most liveable city in India with rank 143rd. New Delhi featured at the 162nd position on the list, Mumbai at 154 and Bengaluru at 149. The 21st edition of the annual survey evaluated 231 cities across the globe between September and November last year based on 39 factors including political stability, healthcare, education, crime, recreation and transport. This year, Mercer provided separate rankings for personal safety, analysing the cities’ internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement and limitations on personal freedom. The ranking influences cities’ abilities to attract business.

Notes:
Kento Momota has become the first Japanese man to win the All England Open Badminton Championships when he beat Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 2-1 in the men’s singles final at the Birmingham Arena. Beside this, Chen Yufei of China won the women’s title by upsetting world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan in straight games, 21-17, 21-17.

Notes:
Chinmoy Roy (79), the veteran Bengali actor, has passed away in Kolkata on March 18, 2019. Born in Kumilla district in present day Bangladesh in 1940, Roy had started his career in Bengali films in the 60s and became indispensable to the film makers for his portrayal of comic characters retaining the very essence of Bengaliness. He was equally noticed along with big names such as Soumitra Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh in films like ‘Basanta Bilap’ and ‘Dhonni Meye’. Roy was cast by Satyajit Ray in a small role in children’s fantasy ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’. He had immortalised the character of Tenyda in the film ‘Charmurti’ which became a major hit in the 1980s.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank would have to comply with additional capital requirement norms by 1st April 2019 as the banks continue to be in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) for 2018. D-SIBs are required to maintain higher capital as compared to other banks. It means that these banks are too big to fail and failure of any of these banks will have cascading effect on Indian financial system. The D-SIB framework requires the RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs starting from 2015 and place these banks in appropriate buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs). SIBs are subjected to higher levels of supervision so as to prevent disruption in financial services in the event of any failure.

Notes:
Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser (60) has been awarded the prestigious $1.4 million Templeton Prize for year 2019 for his work on blending science and spirituality. He is the first Latin American to win the prestigious prize. Gleiser is theoretical physicist and views that science and religion are not enemies. He has also explored in depth how science and religion both try to respond to questions on the origins of life and the universe. The Templeton Prize honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.

Notes:
Kazakhstan has officially renamed its capital Astana to Nursultan to honour outgoing leader Nursultan Nazarbayev who stepped down as President after three decades in office. The change was announced after Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was sworn-in as president. He will serve for the remainder of the presidential term which expires in April 2020. Mr. Nazarbayev ruled Kazakhstan since before it gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. He steered the country through a major transformation, developing huge energy reserves and boosting its international influence, but was accused of cracking down on dissent and tolerating little opposition. Mr. Nazarbayev will continue to enjoy significant powers thanks to his Constitutional status as “Leader of the Nation”, life-time position as chief of the security council and head of the ruling Nur Otan party. Astana was previously known as Akmola, Tselinograd and Akmolinsk.

Notes:
SpiceJet has become the first Indian low-cost carrier to get the membership of global airlines’ grouping International Air Transport Association (IATA). The membership also allows SpiceJet to explore and grow its collaborations with international member airlines of IATA through interlining and code shares. This will enable SpiceJet to seamlessly expand the network options for its passengers in future. The IATA represents more than 290 airlines, including Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara.

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:
On 21st March, Italy’s PRISMA Earth observation satellite launched into orbit by the European Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. PRISMA (or Precursore Iperspettrale della Missione Applicativa) is a small hyperspectral imaging satellite i.e. designed to provide information about environmental monitoring, resources management, pollution and crop health. The satellite includes a medium resolution camera that can view across all visual wavelengths, as well as a hyperspectral imager that can capture a wider range of wavelengths between 400 and 2500 nanometers. The satellite will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning that it circles the Earth in such a way that the sun is always in the same position as the satellite takes pictures of the planet below. PRISMA has been constructed by OHB Italia and will be operated by the Italian Space Agency “Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)”.

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.