Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2018

Notes:
On November 30, the 2nd International Ambedkar Conclave (IAC-2018) has inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi as part of the commemoration of Constitution Day. The Conclave is being organised by the Forum of SC and ST Legislators and Parliamentarians and the Dr Ambedkar Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, widely known as the ‘Father of Indian Constitution’ was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement and campaigned against social discrimination towards the untouchables, while also supporting the rights of women and labour.

Notes:
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be Chief Guest at the Republic Day of India 2019, which also marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The celebrations are held every year at Rajpath before the President of India. The Republic Day honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26th January 1950 with a democratic government system. & replaced the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India. The day was chosen as the Republic day because it was on this day in 1930 when Declaration of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj) was proclaimed by the Indian National Congress (INC) as opposed to the Dominion status offered by British Regime.

Notes:
In Argentina, the 2nd Russia-India-China (RIC) Trilateral Summit was held in Buenos Aires after a gap of 12 years, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit to discuss cooperation in various areas. The three leaders – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin – agreed to have regular consultations to jointly promote international and regional peace and stability, to strengthen cooperation through BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and the East Asia Summit (EAS) mechanisms, to address global challenges such as terrorism and climate change, and to encourage peaceful resolution of all differences.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $85 million loan to improve skill development eco-system in Odisha and establish an advanced skill training centre at Bhubaneswar. The project will help over 1.5 lakh people learn skills in priority sectors, including manufacturing, construction and services for formal employment. The World Skill Centre (WSC) at Bhubaneswar will deliver 8 training courses for 13,000 full-time students, provide training for 5,000 teachers, and train 1,000 assessors. It will improve the overall eco-system of skill development in Odisha by providing integrated services through an entrepreneurship incubation centre, a career counselling and placement centre, a curriculum design and development centre, and education technology deployment centre.

Notes:
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, popularly known by his initials AMLO, has been sworn-in as the new President of Mexico on December 1, 2018. He won the historic landslide victory at July 1 presidential election 2018 with over 50% of the popular vote. He started his six-year term with a promise to end the corruption, poverty and extreme violence that have plagued the country for more than a decade. This was the first time since the 1988 election that a presidential candidate was elected with an absolute majority (50%+1) of the votes cast. The President of Mexico is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces.

Notes:
Luka Modric, Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder, has been honoured with the perstigiuos 2018 Men’s Ballon d’Or award. With this, he ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long dominance in the men’s awards. Modric won his third successive Champions League title in May 2018 and also captained Croatia to its first FIFA World Cup final in Russia. He was named player of the tournament despite his side losing 4-2 to France. For the first time in the history of the Ballon d’Or prize, the female player category was awarded in 2018. Hence, Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg has become the first-ever recipient of the women’s Ballon d’Or. The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football.

Notes:
Ullas Narayan has created history by winning India’s first ever International medal in Ultra Running. He finished third at the 2018 International Association of Ultra Running (IAU) 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championship in Taipei. A group bronze medal was also won by the Indian team which had Narayan (250 km), Sunil Sharma (202 km) and LL Meena (192 km). Ultra races involve running over extremely long distances which are far longer than the traditional races. These races take place over two modalities – either over a set distance like 50 km, 100 km and longer events or a set time (like 6 hr, 24 hr, and multi-day events).

Notes:
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has recently inaugurated a new Project namely- “Development of Tribal Circuit : Peren-Kohima-Wokha Project” at Kisama Heritage Village in Nagaland. under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. This is the first project to be implemented in the state under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Union Ministry of Tourism. The project was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in November 2015 for Rs. 97.36 Crores. Under the project the Ministry has developed facilities like Tribal Tourist Village, Eco Log Huts, Open Air Theatre, Tribal Rejuvenation Centre, Cafeteria, Helipad, Tourist Interpretation Centre, Wayside Amenities, Last Mile Connectivity, Public Conveniences, Multipurpose Hall, Nature Trails, Trekking Routes etc. In addition to the above project, the Ministry has sanctioned another project in Nagaland “Development of Tribal circuit: Mokokchung–Tuensang-Mon” for Rs.99.67 crore. The implementation of the project is in progress.

Notes:
According to the study by the Global Carbon Project, India is the fourth highest emitter of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the world, accounting for 7% of global emissions in 2017. India’s emissions look set to continue their strong growth by an average of 6.3% in 2018, with growth across all fuels — coal (7.1%), oil (2.9%) and gas (6%). The world’s top 10 Co2 emitters were China, the US, the EU, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The study said that while China and India still rely heavily on coal, the US and the EU are slowly decarbonising. It further said that India can continue to deploy solar farms, leveraging its leadership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to displace coal and clean up its smog-choked cities. The study was recently released on the occasion of the 2018 UN Climate Summit (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. It warned that global emissions of Co2 from fossil fuels and industry are projected to rise for the second consecutive year in 2018 by more than two percent to a new record mainly due to sustained growth in oil and gas use.

Notes:
Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to make all its public transport free by 2019. The move is aimed at addressing environmental issues and the problem of traffic congestion. Apart from providing free public transport, Luxembourg also intends to legalise cannabis and introduce two new public holidays. Earlier, Luxembourg introduced free transport for all people under the age of 20.