Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the 72nd Session of World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO) in New Delhi. This is the 2nd time that India is hosting Regional Committee meeting. Dr Vardhan was unanimously elected as Chair of the 72nd Session of the WHO -SEARO. The event coincides with the ambitious ‘Fit India Movement’ launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi about remaining fit and doing physical activities like yoga, sports, cycling, etc. The Government of India (GoI) is also observing the entire month of September as “Poshan Maah” (Nutrition Month) to sensitize the public towards healthy eating, address the twin issues of malnutrition/under-nutrition and problem of obesity in some sections of the population, and intensifying the campaign towards a ‘Malnutrition-Free India’.

Notes:
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has launched the first-ever ‘Terracotta Grinder’ at Sewapuri in Varanasi. This machine can be used to grind wasted and broken pottery items for re-use in pottery-making. The Terracotta grinder was designed by the KVIC Chairman and fabricated by a Rajkot-based engineering unit. It will make grinding of wasted pottery items faster than the traditional mortar and pestle. It will lessen the cost of production and will also help in solving the problem of shortage of clays. The machine will also be a boon for potters as Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari has proposed to introduce Kulhads and other terracotta products at 400 prominent railway stations. The proposal is under active consideration of the Railways.

Notes:
Sunil Arora, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, has recently assumed Chairmanship of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) for the term 2019-21 as India takes over the Chair from Romania. He succeeded Lon Mincu Radulescu. The AWEB Flag was handed over to the new Chairman, Sunil Arora and it will remain with Election Commission of India (ECI) for the 2 year term till 2021. More than 110 delegates from 45 countries attended the meeting. A-WEB is the first global organization of election management bodies, and the membership currently consists of 97 organizations from 94 countries. The constituent units of the A-WEB are the Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) of different countries, structured to work together and learn from the experiences and best practices from one another.

Notes:
The 15th edition of the joint military exercise “Yudh Abhyas 2019” is being conducted between India and United States at Joint Base Lewis Mc Chord in Washington, USA from 05-18 September. It is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavors between India and USA. The exercise will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level. Both armies will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well developed operations for neutralization of threats of varied nature.

Notes:
The Gujarat Government has recently signed the Sister State MoU with elaware State of America in Gandhinagar.  This is the first sister state MoU signed by Gujarat with any state of America. According to official sources, cooperation in the field of services and investment opportunities in GIFT IFSC have also been discussed during the meeting. The sectors like Biotechnology University, bio sciences, financial services, animal husbandry and dairy, port services have been short listed for future cooperation.

Notes:
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has kick-started POSHAN Maah (nutrition month) 2019 with a year-long social and mass media campaign on the Eat Right India movement. This movement is aligned with the government’s flagship public health programmes such as POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat, Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Swachh Bharat Mission. Dr. Vardhan also launched the new Eat Right India logo that represents a healthy plate, an online eat right quiz and online course for frontline health.

Notes:
On 9th September 2019, a 3-day long International conference ANGAN for Energy Efficiency in Building Sector is being organized by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)  in New Delhi. Indo-German Technical Co-operation is also partnering in the event. Experts and policy makers from 16 countries are participating in this event to discuss various alternative options and technologies in the field of design and construction of energy efficient commercial as well as residential buildings. The event will provide a platform to deliberate on interdependence between organizations, systems sustainability and feedback loops for better resource efficiency.

Notes:
The UNESCO has tied up with the Rajasthan government  to promote community-based responsible tourism based on the rich Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of the state. The project will be implemented in the districts of Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner and seeks to spur the socio-economic growth of selected artist communities. It will focus on intangible cultural heritage traditions such as pottery, weaving and other crafts, as well as music traditions, in order to create community-led and community-benefitting tourism opportunities.

Notes:
The first conference on military medicine for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from September 12 to 13, 2019. The aim of the conference is  to share best practices in the field of military medicine, build capacities and overcome common challenges.

Notes:
Indian Railways has launched its first-of-its-kind ‘fun zone’ for kids at the Visakhapatnam railway station in Andhra Pradesh. The games ranging from video shooting to other indoor games aim to keep children engaged during long waiting hours at platforms. The fun zone will have all the high-tech gaming activities at par with game parlours. It is an innovative initiative by the Waltair division of East Coast Railway (ECoR) under non-fare revenue entertaining waiting passengers/kids.