Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

Notes:
Pramod Sawant, the former Speaker of the Goa legislative Assembly and BJP MLA from Sankhelim in north Goa, has been sworn-in as the 11th Chief Minister of Goa. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy at the Raj Bhavan by Governor Mridula Sinha. He succeeded Manohar Parrikar, who died on March 17 after a prolonged battle with advanced pancreatic cancer. A six-time MLA and former Defence Minister, Mr Parrikar was born on 13th December 1955. He graduated from IIT Mumbai with a B.Tech degree in metallurgical engineering. Mr Parrikar was first elected to the Goa assembly in 1994. He served as Chief Minister of the state during October 2000 to February 2005; and March 2012 to November 2014. From November 2014 till March 2017, he served as the Union Defence Minister. Mr Parrikar returned to Goa in March 2017 as the State Chief Minister. The popular leader would be remembered for his efforts in infrastructure and education development in the state and bringing the International Film Festival of India to Goa in 2004.

Notes:
The World Sparrow Day (WSD) is observed every year on 20th of March to protect these little birds and conserve their houses. The house sparrow is on the verge of extinction. The 2019 theme “I Love Sparrows” is inspired by hope that more and more will celebrate the relationship between People and Sparrows. The initiative was started by Nature Forever Society (NFS) of India, founded by Mohammed Dilawar, an Indian conservationist. He started his work helping the house sparrow in Nashik. He was also named one of the “Heroes of the Environment” for 2008 by Time for his efforts. The idea of marking WSD came up during an informal discussion at the NFS’s office. The idea was to earmark a day for the house sparrow to convey the message of conservation of the house sparrow and other common birds and also mark a day of celebration to appreciate the beauty of the common biodiversity which is taken so much for granted. The first WSD was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world. To encourage efforts made towards this cause and to selflessly conserve the environment, NFS has instituted the first Sparrow Awards in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on 20 March 2011.

Notes:
Exercise MITRA SHAKTI is conducted annually as part of military diplomacy and interaction between armies of India & Sri Lanka. The joint exercise for the year 2018-19 will be conducted from 26 March to 08 April 2019 in Sri Lanka. Troops from 1st Battalion the BIHAR Regiment of the Indian Army and Gemunu Watch Battalion of Sri Lankan Army would be jointly undertaking the exercise. The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command. The exercise will involve tactical level operations in an international Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist environment under United Nations mandate.

Notes:
The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has launched smart garbage bins made of stainless steel. These smart garbage bins will be able to send a signal to the garbage collection vehicle about the ‘fill-up’ position of the bin, aiding better cleaning and lower human intervention. The environment-friendly garbage bins will be made of SAIL SALEM stainless steel. These will be installed in underground Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) pits at the Smart Garbage Station. This will help prevent the spread of stink and diseases. There will be separate bins for recyclable and non-recyclable wastes. The pits in which the bins will be placed, will be covered with a pit cover fabricated out of stainless steel slip-free sheets. Suitable openings on the pit cover will allow the sanitation crew to dump the collected garbage into the stainless steel bins placed underground. SAIL will supply stainless steel garbage bins to Smart Garbage Stations at Bhikaji Cama Place in Delhi, which is being developed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

Notes:
Former India hockey captain Sardar Singh has been elected in the athletes standing committee of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at its 38th General Assembly in Bangkok . Apart from him, IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta was named in the culture standing committee. Hockey India secretary general Mohd Mustaque Ahmad is in the media standing committee, while Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwala and Lalit Bhanot have been elected in the sports for environment and sports standing committees respectively. All the members have been elected for a four-year term from 2019 to 2023. The OCA General Assembly was held in Bangkok on March 2 and 3.

Notes:
The first-ever high-level dialogue on Indo-Pacific Cooperation (HLD-IPC) was held in Jakarta, Indonesia with theme was ‘Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous, and Inclusive Region’. It was organized by Government of Indonesia and saw participation of all 18 EAS member states including India. The Dialogue reflected India’s view that has outlined by PM Modi in 2018 Shangrila Dialogue — inclusive and transparent & rules based indo-Pacific. The delegates participated in the thematic debate under three themes: sustainable development goals, maritime cooperation, and infrastructure and connectivity. The purpose of the dialogue was to urge all participating governments to talk openly about their plans for increasing cooperation and for building trust in Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean region.

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:
On the occasion of World Happiness Day (WHD -2019), the United Nations released the 7th annual World Happiness Report, which ranks the world’s 156 countries on “how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be”. In it, India has dropped 7 spots and is ranked 140th in the 2019 UN World Happiness Index. As a result, India featured in the five countries that had the largest drop since 2005-2008 in the index, along with Yemen, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela. Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the second year in succession. The Nordic nation is followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Netherlands. The report ranks countries on six key variables that support well-being: Income, freedom to make life choices, Trust, Healthy life expectancy, Social support and Generosity. The report noted that there has been an increase in negative emotions, including worry, sadness and anger. Pakistan is ranked 67th, Bangladesh 125th and China is placed at 93rd, according to the report. People in war-torn South Sudan are the most unhappy with their lives, followed by Central African Republic (155), Afghanistan (154), Tanzania (153) and Rwanda (152).

Notes:
Hindi writer Leeladhar Jagudi will be honoured with the Vyas Samman 2018 by the KK Birla Foundation for his collection of poems “Jitne Log Utne Prem”. The book, published in 2013 was selected by a Chayan Samiti presided over by litterateur Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. Born in Dhangal village in Tehri Garhwal of Uttarakhand, Mr. Jagudi was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004 apart from other awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, Akashvani National Award, Uttar Pradesh Hindi Institute and Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman. The Vyas Samman, started in 1991 is given to an outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen which has been published in the last decade. The award carries an amount of Rs. 4 lakh.

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.