Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2019

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:
Former Supreme Court judge and current member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Pinaki Chandra Ghose has been named as the India’s first Lokpal (anti-corruption ombudsman). The Lokpal Act, which was passed in 2013 after a nationwide anti-corruption movement, provides for setting up of Lokpal at the centre and Lokayuktas in the States to probe corruption complaints against top functionaries and public servants, including the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers. Mr. Ghose was appointed as judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1997 and went on to become Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh before his elevation to the Supreme Court in 2013.

Notes:
Former ISRO scientist, Nambi Narayanan has been conferred the 2019 Padma Bhushan by President Ram Nath Kovind. It is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India. He is best known for his role in developing the Vikas Engine which was used for the first PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) launched by India. The engine was used in the most historic missions of ISRO, such as the Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan. Narayanan, who was heading the cryogenic project at the ISRO, was falsely implicated in the ISRO spy scandal of 1994. He was accused of selling state secrets comprising confidential test data from rocket and satellite launches. He was arrested in December 1994 and charged with espionage. The Supreme Court later cleared him of all charges in 1998 and awarded him compensation in 2018. He had also played a critical role in the development of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and in the initial phase of making cryogenic engines.

Notes:
The registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951. A party seeking registration under the said Section with the Commission has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation as per guidelines prescribed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the ECI and Section 29A of the RPA Act of 1951. As per existing guidelines, the applicant association is inter-alia asked to publish proposed Name of the party in two national daily news papers and two local daily newspapers, on two days in same news papers, for inviting objections, if any, with regard to the proposed registration of the party before the Commission within a 30 days from such publication.

Notes:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to prepare a noise pollution map and remedial action plan to solve the issue across the country. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the CPCB to identify noise pollution hotspots and categorise cities with specified hotspots and propose a remedial action plan within 3 months. It also directed state pollution control boards to undertake noise level monitoring in conjunction with police administration and take remedial action. The NGT further stated that the absence of implementation of noise pollution norms affects health of citizens, especially infants and senior citizens. It also affects sleep, comfort, studies and other legitimate activities. Additionally, the green panel suggested manufacturing of public address systems with equipment that can monitor the noise pollution parameters and alert authorities once the prescribed limits are crossed. The CPCB is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC). Its head office is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
IIT Roorkee has signed a pact with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up an ISRO-IITR Space Technology Cell (STC). The ISRO – IITR Cell shall pursue advanced research in the areas of relevance to the future technological and programmatic needs of the Indian Space Programme and shall devote its resources including human resources to this effect. The activities of STC shall be directed to maximise the use of the research potential, infrastructure, expertise and experience that already exist in ISRO and IIT Roorkee. Its research facility will consist of faculty members, visiting scientists and experts, research personnel, technical, administrative and support staff. IIT Roorkee will be responsible for overall management of STC by providing required infrastructure, administrative and other support.

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:
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:
Nursultan Nazarbayev, the longest-serving post-Soviet leader, has unexpectedly resigned as president of Kazakhstan after 29 years in power in a surprise public address on national television. But, he would remain the chairman of the country’s powerful security council, the leader of the Nur Otan party, which dominates parliament, and his official title as “The Leader of the Nation”. The move comes on the back of growing social discontent and an economy still recovering from an oil price plunge in 2014. Western sanctions against Russia, a key trading partner, have also hit the economy. Known as “Papa” to many Kazakhs, Nazarbayev has ruled the vast oil and gas-rich Central Asian nation since 1989, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He has been Kazakhstan’s President since 1990 and was formally elected in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaker of the upper house of parliament, will take over as Kazakhstan’s acting president for the remainder of his term in line with the constitution.

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.