Test : September 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 1" - Current Affairs MCQ

3 Lakh houses sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) [PMAY (U)] in the 46th meeting of the Central Approval and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for 2019.

As per the “Global Happiness Survey” conducted by market research firm Ipsos, India is ranked 9th with 77% on happiness index among 28 global markets. The top determinants for Indians to stay happy are Personal safety and security, friends and feeling in control of life, good financial conditions and physical well-being along with hobbies and interests.Australia and Canada topped in the “Global Happiness Survey”.

On September 1, 2019, The Rajasthan state government has launched a new health insurance scheme called Ayushman Bharat-Mahatma Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojna (AB-MGRSBY) by integrating the Bhamashah Health Insurance Scheme(BSBY) of the State Government and Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna Scheme(AB-PMJAY) of the Central Government.

On August 28, 2019, the Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the longest electrified railway tunnel (6.7km) between Cherlopalli and Rapuru costing Rs 437 crores, and the electrified railway line (112km) between Venkatachalam (Krishnapatnam) and Obulavaripalli costing Rs 1,993 crores in Andhra Pradesh.

On August 31, 2019, Two Indian Navy Warships- INS Sahyadri and Kiltan visited Laem Chabang, Bangkok,Thailand for a port call which is scheduled till September 3, 2019, as a part of the Navy’s Overseas Deployment to South East Asia and Western Pacific. Both ships represent the ‘coming of age’ of India’s warship building capabilities.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind on August 31st, 2019 has appointed 5 new governors namely Dr.Tamilisai Soundararajan, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Kalraj Mishra, Arif Mohammed Khan and Bandaru Dattatreya for Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Himachal Pradesh respectively. Tamilisai Soundararajan: She is appointed as the governor of Telangana. She is the former Tamilnadu chief of the BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party) and its National secretary. The governor post was preceded by ESL Narasimhan who was the Governor of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (AP) after its Bifurcation since 2014. He is also recently replaced by Biswabhusan Harichandan as AP governo

Ukrainian parliament of the 9th convocation appointed Oleksiy Honcharuk, a 35-year-old practicing lawyer, of the political party Servant of the People, as the 17th Prime Minister of Ukraine. His nomination was presented to the Ukrainian Parliament by its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Mr Honcharuk, Ukraine’s youngest ever head of government, succeeded Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman.

Bandaru Dattatreya: He is appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh replacing Kalraj Mishra. He previously served as the national vice-president of the BJP, labour&employment minister, and also as a Member of Parliament.

On September 2, 2019 Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the ‘72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia’ in New Delhi and was also unanimously elected as the chair of the 72nd Session of the WHO(World Health Organisation) Regional Committee for South-East Asia.

On September 2, 2019, The United States (US) and 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries began their first Asean-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX) at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand. The 5-day maritime drill will end in Singapore. It is a part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea. AUMX was proposed at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in 2017. It was confirmed in the 12th ADMM in October 2018.

ICICI Bank(Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), the leading private sector lender, has become the 1st bank in India to deploy industrial ‘robotic arms’ to count millions of notes in currency chests across the country. 14 machines (robotic arms) have been deployed in 12 cities so that all these can count 6 million notes in a working day or about 1.80 billion notes annually.

On September 3, 2019, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that the central government will contribute $22 million to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFTAM) for the 6th replenishment cycle (2020-22), an 10% jump of the amount US$ 20 million contributed in the 5th cycle. So far, India has contributed US$ 46.5 million till 2019.

On September 2, 2019, An Inter-Ministerial committee set up by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India(GoI) on Fintech (Financial technology) related issues headed by Shri Atanu Chakraborty, DEA(Department of Economic Affairs) Secretary, submitted its final report “‘Steering Committee on Fintech related issues 2019 ” to the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.

Rtn G Chandramohan, Rotary Governor, Rotary International District 3232 launched Asia’s first 5th Generation – Virtual Reality (VR) based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre at the Automobile Association of Southern India Centre (AASI), Chennai, in the presence of T D Sadasivam, Chairman and other Executive Committee members of AASI. It is aimed to reduce on-road fatalities and make Indian roads safer.

India batsman Rishabh Pant broke the Indian record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper in T20Is when he hit a match-winning 65 for the team in the 3rd T20I against West Indies in Guyana. He surpassed the record held by MS Dhoni of India who held a record of scoring 56 runs against England (2017).

Sanjeev Rajput and Yashaswini Singh Deswal were associated with shooting.Sanjeev Rajput secured India’s 8th Olympic Quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He won the silver medal in Men’s 50m rifle event. Yashaswini Singh Deswal secured the 9th Olympic Quota for India. She clinched a gold in Women’s 10m air pistol.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted the 4th General Assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) for the year 2019. It was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka from September 2-4, 2019. India took over as A-WEB’s Chair for the 2019-21 term.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Shri Sunil Arora assumed the Chairmanship of Association of World Election Bodies (AWEB) for the term 2019-21. India took over the Chair from Romania. The AWEB Flag was handed over to the new Chairman, Shri Sunil Arora by the Representative of Outgoing Chair, Mr. Ion Mincu Radulescu, Advisor, Permanent Election Authority Romania. It will remain with ECI for the 2 year term till 2021.

A panel of ministers from commerce, health, agriculture, chemicals and petrochemicals, and food processing departments chaired by finance minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman will study the proposal of Ministry of Health, Government of India(GoI) to ban the production and import of e-cigarettes, through an ordinance.

On September 4, 2019 the 2019 “Global Liveability Index” prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit(EIU) has ranked Vienna, the capital of Austria as 1st for the second consecutive time whereas Damascus, the capital of Syria was ranked last becoming the least liveable city at 140th position. Russia’s St. Petersburg topped the list among BRICS nations at 71st spot. It ranked Delhi at the 118th spot which is a drop by 6 places from 112th spot (biggest decline registered in Asia) in its previous report due to an increase in crime, poor air quality, and worsening climate conditions. Mumbai also dropped by two places to rank at 119th spot this year.

On September 3, 2019, A 6-member taskforce on secondary market for corporate loans, headed by Canara Bank Chairman TN Manoharan has submitted its report to RBI (Reserve Bank of India) Governor Shaktikanta Das.

On September 2, 2019 the insurance regulator IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) has set up a 9-member panel headed by New India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL) Chief Managing Director(CMD) Atul Sahai, in order to review its three-year old guidelines (set up in 2016) on trade credit insurance due to the changing market requirements.

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will release 2nd edition of ‘Loktantra Ke Swar (Khand 2)’ and ‘The Republican Ethic (Volume 2)’ on September 6, 2019, at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi. It will be released with the aim to promote and diffuse selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind, President of India.

On September 4, 2019, The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a gazette notification stating Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief and Pulwama terror attack (February 14, 2019) mastermind Maulana Masood Azhar, Jamaat ud Dawa chief and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, LeT’s chief operational commander and 26/11 attack key accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and United Nations (UN) designated global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim as individual terrorists under Clause (a) of Sub-section (1) of Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. They are the first individuals to be designated as terrorists under the law.

The Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Rishi Kumar Shukla inaugurated the first National Conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics in New Delhi at the CBI headquarters. It was a 2-day conference held on September 4-5, 2019.