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

Goa had the most obese adolescents. A quarter of 5-9 and 10-19 year-olds were thin for their age. 4% adolescents have high cholesterol. 7% of children and adolescents have risk of chronic kidney disease. One in five children in the age group 5 to 9 years were stunted.

On October 1, 2019 during the State Ministers’ Conference on Skill Development in New Delhi, the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) Mahendra Nath Pandey announced the Govt’s notification that minimum stipend payable to trade apprentices according to the Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2019 will be ranging from Rs 5000-9000 per month based on qualification.

On September 30, 2019, Axis Bank,the third-largest of the private-sector banks in India has launched digital fixed-deposit (FD) product named ‘Express FD’,which can be opened in three minutes through the digital route without opening a savings account by investing a minimum Rs 5,000 up to Rs 90,000, for a tenure of 6 to 12 months.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its report reduced the global trade growth forecast to 1.2% for 2019 from 2.6% growth forecast made in April 2019 due to trade tensions and sluggish global economy. It is the weakest level in a decade. The global trade growth forecast for 2020 was reduced to 2.7% from 3%.

On the 70th National Day of China which was observed on October 1, 2019, it launched DF-41 (Dongfeng-41) the most powerful intercontinental-range ballistic missile on the planet during the National Day parade at Chang’an Avenue in Beijing. It made its first appearance along with a clutch of new military hardware.

Three railway stations of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Durgapura have topped the Railway Cleanliness Survey 2019, conducted at 720 railway stations by the Ministry of Railways. Four stations of Southern Railway – Perungalathur, Guduvanchari, Singaperumalkoil, Ottapallam were at the bottom of the rankings.

On October 1, 2019, S. S. Mallikarjuna Rao was appointed as the Managing Director(MD)and Chief Executive of the Punjab National Bank(PNB). Currently serving as chief executive of the Allahabad Bank, Rao will replace Sunil Mehta of PNB and will head the Delhi based bank till September 18, 2021.

On October 1, 2019, the government has appointed economist Surjit S Bhalla as the Executive Director (ED) for India on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Surjit succeeds former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Subir Gokarn, who passed away recently in July 2019 due to illness.

PM reached Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. He was accompanied by Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani. He visited the Sabarmati Riverfront. He released a commemorative Rs 150 coin. He set a target to achieve the goal to eradicate ‘single-use plastic’ from India by the year 2022. Rural India and its villages were declared ‘open defecation free’ (odf), by building over 11 crore toilets at the ‘Swachh Bharat Diwas‘ program in Ahmedabad. He also launched a book, ‘My Life, My Message’, published by the Sabarmati Ashram. It is on the life of Gandhi.

On October 2, 2019, on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the president of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented 2019 Swachchta Ambassador award to former Indian cricketer Shri Sachin Tendulkar during the 5th edition of India Today Safaigiri Summit held in New Delhi.

On October 1, 2019, state-owned firm NBCC India Ltd (formerly National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Department of Sports under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports(MYaS) in providing project management consultancy for development of National Sports University at Imphal, Manipur. The project worth is Rs 400 crore.

For the 1st time in India, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will compensate for passengers of the Tejas Express (India’s first private train running on the Lucknow-New Delhi route ) if the train is late. Compensation: If Tejas Express runs one hour later than its scheduled time, passengers will be paid Rs 100 and if this train was delayed more than two hours, Rs 250 will be given to the passengers. Insurance Cover: Apart from compensation, an insurance cover of Rs 25 lakh will also be provided free of cost to passengers, including insurance of Rs 1 lakh for theft or robbery during the journey.

4th edition of KAZIND-2019, the joint military exercise between India and Kazakhstan commenced in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand on October 2, 2019, which will continue till October 15, 2019, with the involvement of 100 soldiers from both the armies. It aims to carry out counter-terrorism operations in hilly areas.

On October 2, 2019 Peddapalli district of Telangana became first in the 2019 rural Swachhta survey (sanitation survey) to become the cleanest district in India. The most improved district in the list was Haryana’s Faridabad, which moved to second place in 2019 from its previous rank of 71 in 2018. Haryana’s Rewari district ranks 3rd in the list.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal notified that the railways will connect the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari before August 2022. On October 3, 2019, Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah flagged off the second Vande Bharat Express train from New Delhi railway station. It runs between Delhi and Katra (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi), Jammu and Kashmir at a maximum speed of 130 km/hour and will cover the distance in 8 hours, reducing the travel time by 4 hours. It will halt at Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana and Jammu Tawi for 2 minutes each. The number of the train is 22439/22440.

On October 1, 2019, the Standard & Poor (S&P) Global ratings has reduced India’s growth to 6.3% from its previous estimation of 7.1% for 2019-2020. The reduced growth projection is mainly due to decline in private consumption growth. It is expected that the growth rate of India would be at 7% for the year 2020-2021.

On October 2, 2019 human rights lawyer from Kyrgyzstan, Azizbek Ashurov was awarded the 2019 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) prestigious Nansen Award. He was awarded for ending status of stateless people through his organisation Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders (FVLWB) in Kyrgyzstan which thus became the world’s first country to end statelessness.Ashurov will receive the award comprising of a commemorative medal and a cash prize of USD 150,000 prize money at a ceremony in Geneva on October 7, 2019.

On October 3, 2019, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Mr Ashok Gehlot launched ‘Policy on Pneumoconiosis Detection, Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation’. With this, Rajasthan became the first state in India to launch such a policy and in January 2015, it had became the first Indian state to notify Pneumoconiosis as an epidemic. Pneumoconiosis is a disease of the lungs due to inhalation of dust, characterized by inflammation, coughing, and fibrosis.

Repo Rate was reduced by 25 basis points to 5.15% from 5.40% with immediate effect.

GDP for 2019-20 was predicted at 6.1% from 6.9%.

The household income limit for borrowers of Non-Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institution (NBFC-MFIs) has been increased from the current level of Rs 1.00 lakh for rural areas and Rs 1.60 lakh for urban/semi urban areas to Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 2.00 lakh, respectively. The lending limit per eligible borrower has been raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh.

Recommendations of the Task Force on Offshore Rupee Markets headed by Smt. Usha Thorat were accepted. Domestic banks will be allowed to freely offer foreign exchange prices to non-residents at all times, out of their Indian books, either by a domestic sales team or through their overseas branches. Rupee derivatives (with settlement in foreign currency) will be allowed to be traded in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs).

For the first time, a floating basketball court was brought to India in the Arabian Sea near the Bandra Worli Sealink in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has been brought for the National Basketball Association (NBA) game 2019, which features the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, who play two pre-season games on October 4 & 5 , 2019 at the Dome, NSCI (National Sports Club of India), Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP)Indoor Stadium in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Inter-ministerial group on disinvestment: DIPAM secretary Mr Anil Khachi will co-chair the inter-ministerial group on disinvestment, along with the secretary of administrative ministries concerned. The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the new policy for a new process of strategic disinvestment with a view to expedite privatisation of selected Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). Disinvestment is the action of an organization or government selling or liquidating an asset or subsidiary.

The government framed a working group headed by Guruprasad Mohapatra, secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to prepare contours of new industrial policy to make India a manufacturing hub.