Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2018

Notes:
The International Volunteer Day (IVD) is observed every year by The United Nations (UN) on December 5 to recognise the volunteers worldwide and their efforts in making peace and sustainable development a reality. It offers an opportunity for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels. The 2018 theme “Volunteers build Resilient Communities” focuses on how volunteers can build resilient communities. The IVD 2018 celebrates volunteer efforts that strengthen local ownership and the resilience of the community in the face of natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

Notes:
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the nodal Ministry of the Government of India (GoI), has been conferred the Skoch Award for National Significance at an event held recently in New Delhi. The award was received by Secretary of MNRE, Anand Kumar. The award has been conferred on the Ministry considering its purpose and critical role played in installing about 73 GW renewable energy capacity in the country. With 21% of total installed capacity, within the year renewable energy grossed a magic figure of providing one billion units of electricity in the country. Today, India ranked 4th in the world in wind energy capacity and 5th in solar & total renewable energy capacity installed in the world. India has played a critical role in setting up of international solar alliance. Further, India moved a resolution during the first meeting for making it a global initiative.

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Prof. Rattan Lal , a distinguished university professor of soil science at the Ohio State University, has won the ‘Glinka World Soil Prize 2018’ in a ceremony at the headquarters of UN FAO in Rome for his remarkable contribution to sustainable soil management. The Glinka World Soil Prize, named after the pioneering Russian scientist Konstantin D. Glinka, is considered the highest honour in the soil science profession. Lal was born in Gujranwala in West Punjab, Pakistan, and his family came to India as refugees in 1948. He studied in India and later came to the US to work on his doctorate in soils, which he completed in 1968. He has been listed among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds (2012) and among the top one per cent of all researchers in agriculture.

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IIT Kharagpur has won the DSCI Excellence Award 2018 for cyber security education by Data Security Council of India (DSCI), an industry body on data protection set up up by NASSCOM. The institute was awarded for its focused curricula and research work in cryptography, hardware security, cyber security, Internet of Things (IoT) security, and network security. A number of research ventures led by Professor Debdeep Mukhopadhyay at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur were primarily considered for this award. Some of the ventures include the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-funded projects on developing lightweight protocols for authenticating IoT nodes, IC reverse engineering and trojan detection and the DST-funded ‘Swarnajayanti’ project on secure authentication protocols for smart grids.

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India is expected to retain its position as the world’s top recipient of remittances with $80 million in 2018, as per latest World Bank’s report ‘Migration and Development Brief’. India is followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines ($34 billion each) and Egypt ($26 billion). The bank estimates that officially recorded remittances to developing countries will increase by 10.8% to reach US$528 billion in 2018, , against a 7.8% growth in 2017. The Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are projected to grow by 10.3% to $689 billion. For 2019, it is projected that remittances growth for the region will slow to 4.3% due to a moderation of growth in advanced economies, lower migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the benefits from the oil price spurt dissipating.

Notes:
On December 10, the Tamil Nadu government launched a 24-hour helpline ‘181’ for women facing domestic violence and sexual harassment at home or workplaces. Through this initiative, they can contact the toll-free helpline to get assistance ranging from police help, legal aid or medical services including ambulance. The service will be available round-the-clock on all days of the week. • Apart from offering authorities aid to victims of domestic violence, the helpline would assist ladies in receiving information on welfare schemes aimed at their advantage. The helpline initiative has been made at a expense of Rs 62.70 lakh.

Notes:
Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) has been appointed as SWIFT India Chairman. She will succeed former banker M V Nair. SWIFT India is a joint venture of top Indian public and private sector banks and SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication).

Notes:
Manika Batra has become the first-ever Indian athlete to be decorated with the Breakthrough Table Tennis Star award at the prestigious 2018 ITTF Star Awards in Incheon, South Korea on December 12. Batra won four medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the 2018 Asian Games.

Notes:
Prof. Mushirul Hasan (69), a renowned historian & former vice-chancellor Jamia Millia of Islamia, has passed away in New Delhi on December 10, 2018. He wrote extensively on the partition of India, communalism, and on the history of Islam in South Asia. He has also served as the DG of the National Archives of India (NAI) and President of the Indian History Congress (IHC). Some of his notable works are as follows: India Partition: The Other Face of Freedom, When Stone Walls Cry, Partners in Freedom: Jamia Millia Islamia (co-authored with Rakshanda Jalil) and From Pluralism to Separatism: Qasbas in Colonial India.

Notes:
The International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHCD) is observed every year on December 12 to mobilize diverse stakeholders to call for stronger, more equitable health systems to achieve universal health coverage, leaving no one behind. It is promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The day is also the anniversary of the first unanimous United Nations resolution calling for all nations to provide for their citizens affordable, quality health care. he theme for the 2018 UHC Day is- “Unite for Universal Health Coverage: Now is the Time for Collective Action”.