Test : October 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 5" - Current Affairs MCQ

Indian railways has set target to have 100% electrification done by 2023 and also plans to become “net zero” emitter of carbon by 2030.It also plans to source 10% of its electricity needs through renewable energy sources by 2020.

As of October 15, 2019 over 50 lakh people have benefited from free of cost treatment under the Ayushmaan Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana(PM-JAY) which is the world’s largest health care programme. Top performing states of PM-JAY

On October 16, 2019, Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019 jointly prepared by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt Hunger Hilfe was released. India was ranked 102 out of 117 countries with the GHI score of 30.3, down from its 2018 position of 95. The top 17 countries with 2019 GHI scores of less than 5 were not assigned individual ranks, but collectively ranked 1–17. They are Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Romania, Slovak Republic, Turkey, Ukraine and Uruguay.

On October 15, 2019 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded India’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth forecast to 6.1% for the year 2019 from its previous estimate of 7.3% as per the IMF’s World Economic Outlook(WEO) report. IMF also projected India’s growth forecast for 2020 at 7%.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of livestock of 67.8 million, followed by Rajasthan 56.8 million, Madhya Pradesh: 40.6 million and West Bengal: 37.4 million.

On October 17, 2019 the Indian Air Force(IAF) of India and Japan’s Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) joint air force exercise named “Shinyuu Maitri” began at the Air Force Station, Arjan Singh of Panagarh town in West Bengal. It is a week-long exercise and will be conducted till October 23, 2019.

On October 16, 2019, as per the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari , India’s longest 9.2 km long Chenani-Nashri tunnel located on National Highway-44 (NH 44) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will be named after Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who fought for Kashmir on One Nation One Flag issue & has contributed a lot to national integration.

On October 16, 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced the establishment of the World’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) university, named Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, UAE. MBZUAI will begin its graduate-level courses in 2020.

On October 16, 2019, As a part of the 2020 draft budget, Italy approved to levy 3% web tax for internet transactions on digital giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon, including United States giants from 2020. This plan is expected to yield about 600 million euros ($662 million) per annum.

On October 17, 2019, The National Institution for Transforming India(NITI) Aayog along with the Institute for Competitiveness as competitive partner, launched the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. According to the index, Karnataka ranked as the most innovative state in India. It was followed by TamilNadu and Maharashtra in the second and third places respectively. The index examines innovation ecosystem in the nation and aims to address the challenges in it.

On October 17, 2019 the Kerala govt, as a first in the nation has planned to extend maternity leave benefits to teachers and other staff of private educational institutions, including the people working in the unaided sector. This extension of maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, was approved by the Central govt and when once amended, Kerala would be the first state to provide maternity benefits in the private educational sector.

46th Group of Seven (G7) Economic Summit 2020 of developed world leaders will be hosted by the president of the United States (US) Mr Donald Trump at one of his own properties, the Trump National Doral golf resort near Miami, Florida on June 10-12, 2020. This was announced by the White House acting chief of staff Mr Mick Mulvaney.

On October 18, 2019, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has become the first Indian company to have a market capitalization (m-cap) of Rs.9,00,666 crore. RIL’s stock rose 1.76% during early trading and reached the level of Rs.1420.75. Earlier in August 2018, Reliance had set the record of the first company in the country to touch the market capitalization level of Rs 8 lakh crore.

On October 18, 2019, The European Union (EU) leaders confirmed the appointment of former 1st women head of the Washington based body , International Monetary Fund(IMF) Christine Lagarde (63) as the new chief of the European Central Bank (ECB) for a non-renewable term of 8 years. She will be replacing Mario Draghi (Italy) from November 1, 2019.

Mithali Raj became the 4th cricketer and the 1st in women’s cricket to complete 20 years and 105 days in the highest form of international cricket. She also holds the record for the most number of ODIs played by a female cricketer (204).

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands paid a 5 day official visit to India at the invitation of Indian president Shri Ram Nath Kovind, from October 13-17 2019 to boost bilateral and political cooperation between the two nations. This was the first visit to India by the king since his ascension to the throne in 2013.

India will host the 91st International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) General Assembly in 2022. The proposal was made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock during a meeting in New Delhi during Mr Stock’s official visit in August 2019.

8 countries reported for 2/3rd of global TB as per the World Health Organisation(WHO)’s 2019 edition of Global Tuberculosis(TB) report . Among them India topped the list in high burden TB reported countries. India reported for 27% of total TB cases around the world. It was followed by China(9%), Indonesia(8%), Pakistan(6%) and Bangladesh(4%). It also had 27% of total drug resistant TB of total 130,000 such cases. China reported 14% of drug resistant cases.

On October 18, 2019, The United States (US) Space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) astronauts Christina Koch (40) & Jessica Meir (42) have created history by taking a walk outside the International Space Station (ISS). This is the 1st time that only a team of women astronauts has walked outside the ISS.

On October 18, 2019 the chairman of State Bank of India(SBI) Shri Rajnish Kumar was appointed as the new chairman of Indian Banks’ Association(IBA). He succeeds Sunil Mehta, the former Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Punjab National Bank(PNB).

On October 18, 2019, The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India notified that Ahmedabad city Police Commissioner Anup Kumar Singh, aged 59, was appointed as the Director General (DG) of the National Security Guard (NSG) succeeding Sudeep Lakhtakia. He is the 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Gujarat cadre. The appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

The 2020 Asian Track Cycling Championships was held from 17 to 21 October 2019 at the Jincheon National Training Center Velodrome in Jincheon, South Korea organized by Asia Cycle Federation (ACC). It consisted of 40th Asian Cycle Track Championships and 27th Junior Asian Cycle Track Championships. Indian cyclist Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam won a gold medal in men’s junior Keirin event.

The 2nd edition of India- Myanmar Naval Exercise IMNEX-2019 has begun in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It will be held from October 19-22, 2019. The opening ceremony was conducted onboard INS (Indian Naval Ship) Ranvijay. The exercise is conducted in 2 phases: Harbour phase (till October 20) and Sea Phase (from October 20- 22).

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance launched a first-of-its-kind video calling service within the life insurance industry called i-SERV to enhance the customer experience and provide resolutions to the queries of its customers.

On October 21, 2019, Defence Minister Mr Rajnath Singh inaugurated Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu/Bridge over River Shyok, connecting Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie in Eastern Ladakh. The Bridge, which is 1400 feet span, is constructed by the Project Himank of Border Road Organization (BRO) and is at an altitude of 14,650 feet in the forward area of the Ladakh region (Proposed union territory from October 31, 2019). Its cost is Rs 100 crores.