GK & Current Affairs Quiz: November 09, 2017

Notes:
Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company has won the ” 2017 General Insurance Company of the Year” award at the 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards. The Health Insurance Company is a joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Group and the Munich Re Group The award recognises Apollo Munich’s contribution in demonstrating market leadership during the qualifying period via innovation in products, services, practices, responsiveness to end-users and intermediaries, initiatives in boosting the image of insurance in society, narrowing the protection gap, and showcasing exceptional business growth through professionalism and sound management.

Notes:
Assam’s female one-horned rhino “Guppy” has been unveiled as the official mascot of the 2017 AIBA Youth Women’s World Boxing Championship in Guwahati, Assam on November 7, 2017. Guppy has been chosen as it is a symbol of strength and endurance, something that Indian women are known for, traits that are also synonymous with the game of boxing. Apart from this, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Boxing Federation of India president Ajay Singh has also released the championship’s official logo and anthem ‘Make Some Noise’. Approx 200 participants (16-17 years) from 38 countries will take part in the event, which is scheduled to be held from November 19 to 26.

Notes:
The Union Environment ministry has constituted a 7-member committee to continuously monitor the short-term and long-term solutions to air pollution. It will be headed by C.K Mishra, the Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The committee will meet at regular, short intervals to draw up a plan and ensure enforcement.

Notes:
The think tank NITI Aayog in collaboration with Proffer, a blockchain startup founded by graduates of MIT and Harvard, will organise a ‘Blockchain Summit’ and hackathon at IIT Delhi from Nov 10-13, 2017. The objective of the event is to explore how blockchain architectures can enable a new digital infrastructure for India, improving efficiency, transparency, privacy, and cost across all sectors. 1,500+ students from IITs, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, and top engineering institutions around the world will be participating in the event, with 500 attending in-person on IIT Delhi’s campus. Multinational majors that include Microsoft, IBM, Accel, Coinbase, and Amazon AWS are sponsoring $17,000+ in prizes to reward the top 5 blockchain-based applications addressing problems in government/enterprise infrastructure, finance, energy markets, supply chain, decentralized Aadhar identities, information exchange, and more.

Notes:
Air Force Sportsmen Sergeant Shahzar Rizvi has won a gold medal in 10 mtrs Pistol for India at recently conducted Commonwealth Shooting Championship held at Gold Coast, Australia. Sergeant Deepak Kumar won Bronze medal in 10 mtrs Air Rifle at the same event. Both are outstanding Sportsman in shooting and they have performed consistently well in their career as well. Sergeant Rizvi had also won Gold and Silver medal in 2014 & 2015 in the Senior National Shooting Championship respectively.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government will soon set up village climate resilient committees for adopting different agricultural practices in over 5,000 villages of 15 districts in the state. A 13-member committee will be set up in all these villages to stress on adopting new agricultural practices, judicious use of water and soil testing to keep a check on its health. As per a Government Resolution (GR) issued on November 7, 2017, under the Nanaji Deshmukh Krushi Sanjivanee Project, Village Climate Resilient Agriculture Management Committees (VCRMCs) would be set up at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore. The project would be funded by the World Bank. The project recommends use of seed technology, precision farming along with diversification of agriculture to coarse grains.

Notes:
Saina Nehwal has won the women’s singles title at the 82nd Senior National Badminton Championships in Nagpur, Maharashtra on November 8, 2017. She defeated PV Sindhu in the final by 21-17, 27-25. It is her third singles title in the national championships.

Notes:
The Mathikettan Shola National Park (MSNS) is located in Poopara village of Udumbanchola taluk in Idukki district of Kerala and covers an area of 12.82 square kilometres. It is notified as a national park to protect the wildlife and rich biodiversity of the area. It is home to beautiful and rare animals like panthers, wild elephants, spotted deer, Nilgiri tahrs and giant grizzled squirrels, etc. Among reptiles, species like rat snakes, crocodiles, vipers, cobras, turtles, lizards and pythons inhabit the park.

Notes:
Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of Kerala, has launched the She Pad scheme for school girls on November 8, 2017, which will be implemented in 300 government schools across 114 panchayats in Kerala. The scheme will facilitate free sanitary napkins, storage spaces for napkins and environment-friendly incinerators at all government & aided schools in the state. It is a first-of-its-kind scheme in India, which aims to raise awareness about the need for menstrual hygiene and break the taboo around the subject. The financial cost for the project, about Rs30 crore, is provided by local panchayats and Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation.

Notes:
The 5th meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held at Kathmandu on November 8, 2017. A comprehensive review of the progress achieved in the implementation of bilateral projects in last 4 months was made in the meeting. Both sides reiterated their commitment to the early completion of all bilateral economic and development cooperation projects within specified time frame by providing required facilities and resolving difficulties in an expeditious manner. Foreign Secretary of Nepal Shanker Das Bairagi and Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri jointly chaired the meeting. The Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was set up as agreed during then Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal India visit in September 2016. The next meeting of the mechanism will be held at Kathmandu on a mutually convenient date.