Test : October 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 3" - Current Affairs MCQ

On October 5, 2019 the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched eco-friendly green firecrackers, manufactured in India and are also made available in markets for sellers and consumers. These green crackers were developed by the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to combat air pollution. The CSIR-NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) has developed new formulations for reduced emission of light and sound emitting in crackers with 30% reduction in particulate matter.

The government formed a 19-member Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee (IMCC) chaired by the revenue secretary Mr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey to check money laundering activities.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 “for contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth’s place in the cosmos”; with one half of the prize to James Peebles of Princeton University, United States of America (USA) “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” (after the Big Bang theory) and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor from the University of Geneva, Switzerland and Didier Queloz, University of Geneva, Switzerland, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting

On October 6, 2019 Archaeologists of Israel have unveiled remains of a 5,000-year-old city believed to be the biggest in the region from the Bronze Age. The site known as “En Esur” included fortifications, a ritual temple, and a cemetery. An even earlier settlement, believed to be 7,000 years old, was discovered beneath the city. It is regarded as the ‘New York City’ of its time period.

On October 7, 2019 the External Affairs Minister(EAM) Shri Subrahmanyam Jaishankar inaugurated e-Vidyabharti (tele-education) and e-ArogyaBharti(Tele-Medicine) projects for all the 54 African countries in New Delhi on the 55th anniversary of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC) which is India’s flagship capacity building programme. These are e-learning platforms to ease the delivery of online education. It will serve as a digital bridge between India and Africa. These will be delivered by Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL).

On October 8, 2019 the World Economic Forum(WEF) released its report on 2019 Global Competitiveness Index 4.0. In the index, India was ranked 68th in the list, which is down by 10 places from its previous rank of 58 in 2018. The index was topped by Singapore as the world’s most competitive economy by replacing the United States in second place.

John Bannister Goodenough is a German American professor at the University of Texas at Austin, US. He becomes the oldest winner of a Nobel prize. The previous record-holder was Arthur Ashkin, who won the Physics Nobel in 2018 at 96. Goodenough doubled the lithium battery’s potential, creating the right conditions for a vastly more powerful and useful battery. On October 8, 2019, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) has awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in the field of chemistry to John B Goodenough (97), M Stanley Whittingham (77) and Akira Yoshino (71) for their pivotal role in making lithium-ion batteries. The trio shares the prize money of 9 million kronor (£738,000).

On October 9, 2019 the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare(MOHFW) DrHarsh Vardhan launched ‘The WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023: A Time of Transition’ in New Delhi. This Country Cooperation Strategy(CCS) paves the way for World Health Organisation(WHO) to work with the Indian govt. in achieving the goals of health sector.

On October 10, 2019, Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has launched 14-day long ambitious Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Program- ‘DHRUV’ from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) headquarters at Bengaluru, Karnataka in presence of Dr K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO, Wing Cdr. Rakesh Sharma, AC (Retd.) among others.

Defence minister of India Mr Rajnath Singh visited Paris, France from October 7-9, 2019. He was received by a military guard of honour at Hotel de Brienne, the headquarters of the French Armed Forces ministry in Paris. During the visit, he received the first of the 36 Rafale aircrafts.

On October 9, the latest 2019 Henley Passport Index ranking was released. In the report, India is currently ranked at 82nd place in 2019, which is one place down from its previous rank of 81 in 2018. Japan and Singapore both hold the most powerful passport by ranking 1st in the list. The study was conducted by Henley & Partners.

On October 10, 2019, The health ministry of Singapore notified that it will ban ads for unhealthy sugary drinks to combat rising diabetes rates. Thus, it will become the first nation in the world to do so.It has requested the SSB (sugar-sweetened beverages) manufacturers to reformulate the drinks with less sugar content.

On October 10, 2019, The country’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its final approval of Kerala government’s long-pending proposal of setting up its own ‘Kerala Bank’, by amalgamating 13 district co-operative banks (DCBs) with Kerala State Co-operative Bank.With this merger, the ‘Kerala Bank’ will become the largest banking network in the state.

On October 10,2019 the International rating agency Moody’s has reduced India’s gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth forecast to 5.8% for FY20 (Fiscal Year20) from its previous estimate of 6.2%. This downgrade in GDP was due to deceleration to an investment-led slowdown which has broadened into consumption, driven by financial stress among rural households and weak job creation.

The Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee has decided to award 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature to Polish author Olga Tokarczuk “for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life” and 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature to Austrian author Peter Handke “for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”

On October 10, 2019, India Ratings and Research(Ind-Ra) has reduced India’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) for FY20 (Fiscal Year 20) to 6.1% from its previous estimate of 6.7%. This downgrade in GDP was due to a slowdown in rural and urban consumption demand growth.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Nobel Institute (Norska Nobelinstitutet) has awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize which is the 100th Nobel Peace Prize to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, aged 43, for his efforts to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict (more than 20 years of conflict) with neighbouring Eritrea. He is the first Ethiopian to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

On October 11, 2019, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing & Urban Affairs Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri launched a new mobile app named “mHariyali” and website “Environment Protection in Government Colonies” in New Delhi, which encourages people to plant trees and for Green drives. It provides for automatic geotagging of plants, is user-friendly and works on any android mobile phone.Both app & website are developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC)-Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair (MoHUA).

The founder of Microsoft Corporation and American philanthropist Bill Gates’ new book titled “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” will be released on June 2020. It will be published by UK-based Allen Lane publishers. The book is about climate change and the possible solutions to prevent an environmental crisis.

The 2nd edition of Indian Navy(IN) –Bangladesh Navy(BN) Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) 2019 has been held in Northern Bay of Bengal from October 10-11, 2019 with the participation of INS (Indian Naval Ship ) Ranvijay, a guided-missile destroyer and INS Kuthar, an indigenously built missile as well as BNS (Bangladesh Naval Ship) Ali Haider, a Type 053 frigate and BNS Shadinota, a Type 056 stealth guided missile corvette.

As per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the target date for achieving the cumulative 175 GW (gigawatt) renewable power installed capacity is December 31, 2022, with 100 GW of solar, 60 GW of wind, 10 GW of bio-power and 5 GW of small hydropower.

The 2nd joint military exercise ‘Dharma Guardian-2019’ to promote military cooperation between India and Japan will be held in Mizoram. The event is being held from 19, October- 2, November 2019 at Counter Insurgency Warfare School located in Vairengte, Mizoram.

On October 10, 2019, Life Insurance Council has decided to launch the Indian life insurance industry’s first joint mass media campaign with the slogan ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’ (first thing is life insurance) within a month whose total cost will be around Rs 100 crore. For this purpose, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India will provide Rs 40 crore. It will be a joint effort of 24 Indian life insurance companies.

On October 13, 2019, World Bank in its report, “South Asia Economic Focus, Fall 2019 : Making (De)centralization Work”, has lowered India’s growth forecast to 6% for 2019 (down from 7.5 %) for the second consecutive year ,after a wide decline in the initial quarters. In 2018, India’s GDP (Gross domestic product) growth stood at 6.8 %, down from 7.2 % in 2017.