Current Affairs Quiz- September, 2019

Notes:
The International Day of Sign Languages is observed every year on 23rd of September to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. The theme for year 2019 is ‘Sign Language Rights for All’.

Notes:
Ace Indian boxer Amit Panghal settled for a silver at the AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships at Ekaterinburg in Russia. He lost to Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan Zoirov in flyweight (48-52 kg) category. Though, Panghal created history as he became the first Indian male boxer to qualify for the final of the Championships. He has already secured a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Notes:
Veteran cricketer Madhavrao Laxmanrao Apte (86) has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 23rd September 2019. He made his Test debut against Pakistan at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai in November 1952 and played his last test against West Indies at Kingston in April 1953. Apte was the Indian opener for 7 Test matches in the early 1950s  in which he scored 542 runs that included an unbeaten 163 against the likes of Frank King, Gerry Gomez, Frank Worrell, Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadin in the Queens Park Oval Test of 1953. 

Notes:
The UK government has launched its biggest peacetime repatriation – Operation Matterhorn – in its history, after British  travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed on 23rd September 2019. Thomas Cook’s administration puts 22,000 jobs at risk worldwide. The corporate bankruptcy left some 6, 00,000 tourists stranded worldwide. The travel company was founded in 1841 by a Derbyshire-based cabinet-maker named Thomas Cook.

Notes:
Veteran actor and multi-faceted artiste S.K. Padmadevi (95),  who was part of the first Kannada talkie film that went on sets, has passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 19th September 2019. She remained active in theatre till late 1960s and acted in several plays by H.L.N. Simha and Ballari Raghavacharya.  She later joined  All India Radio (AIR) and worked on audio plays for over two decades. Ms. Padmadevi was awarded the R. Nagendra Rao award for lifetime achievement by Karnataka Chalanchitra Academy in 2016.

Notes:
On 24th September 2019, the Gandhi Solar Park (GSP) and the ‘Gandhi Peace Garden’ have inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with others world leaders at UN headquarters. On the occasion, a special UN Postage on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150 years also released.  The GSP is a first-of-its-kind symbolic Indian effort at the UN that highlights India’s willingness to go beyond the talk on climate change and climate action. While, the  Peace Garden is dedicated in the memory of Gandhi and is a crowd-sourced project, with people adopting trees in the memory of their loved ones. Mr. Modi  was also conferred the “Global Goalkeeper” award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by his government.

Notes:
Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva has been named as the new Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the IMF. Georgieva will succeed Christine Lagarde for a five-year term from October 2019.

Notes:
To promote innovation, 2nd edition of Singapore – India Hackathon will be organised at IIT Madras in Chennai from Sep 28 to 29, 2019. The Hackathon is the first of its kind joint International hackathon between India and Singapore during which the selected bright students from India and Singapore will work in collaboration to develop innovative and out-of-the- box solution for some of the daunting problems faced by our societies. This year, the hackathon is focused on quality education, Good Health and clean energy.

Notes:
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has inked an agreement with IIT-Delhi for cooperation in research, education and technology developments in science and other disciplines. This collaboration will also facilitate access to each other’s libraries and central research facilities to intensify joint research projects and other related academic activities.

Notes:
The National Tourism Awards 2017-18 were recently presented by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on the occasion of World Tourism Day (WTD-2019). In it, Andhra Pradesh has bagged 3 national tourism awards in different categories viz. ‘Best State for comprehensive development of tourism’, ‘Excellence in publishing in English’ and the ‘Best tourist-friendly Railway Station (Visakhapatnam). Goa and Madhya Pradesh were the joint winners in the Adventure Tourism category and Uttarakhand won the award for the Best Film Promotion-Friendly State. Telangana won the award for the Best State for the innovative use of IT.