Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2018

Notes:
Ace Indian pugilist MC Mary Kom has been honoured with the title “Meethoileima” (par excellent queen) by the Manipur Government at a function in Imphal on December 11, 2018. Recently, Mary Kom has won the historic sixth gold medal at the 2018 Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi. Now, she is the most successful boxer in the history of the championship and won the gold exactly 16 years after she had won it for the first time in 2002. She had won gold in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 editions of the Championship.

Notes:
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh launched an online portal ‘ENSURE’ – National Livestock Mission-EDEG developed by NABARD. The portal will be operated under the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries. Under the Mission’s component called Entrepreneurship Development and Employment Generation (EDEG), subsidy payment for activities related to poultry, small ruminants, pigs etc. through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) goes directly to the beneficiary’s account.The aim of the ENSURE is to connect with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and provide simple, useful and transparent system to the beneficiary. Under the new process, controlling officer/branch manager of the bank, after scrutinizing & sanctioning of proposal, uploads the subsidy claims in the portal. The subsidy will be approved within 30 days from the date of sanction of loan.

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:
In Madhya Pradesh, the Pratibha Parva, a programme to nurture talent in school children is being organized in all primary and secondary schools from December 13, 2018. It is an important programme of the School Education Department to improve the quality of elementary education. Around 70 lakh students of more than one lakh government schools will take part in this congregation of children. The aim of this 3-day programme is to assess the skill of students in quality education and strengthening the corrective academic efforts.

Notes:
On December 12, the Indian Navy inducted its first non-tethered Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) System at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. The DSRV is used to rescue crew members from submarines stranded under water in the high seas. The DSRV can be operated at a depth of 650m & can hold around 15 people. With this, the Indian Navy joins a select league of navies with the sovereign capability in fly away configuration to search, locate and rescue crew from a disabled submarine. The Indian Navy currently operates submarines of the Sindhughosh, Shishumar, Kalvari Classes as well as nuclear powered submarines. The operating medium and the nature of operations undertaken by submarines expose them to high degree of inherent risk. In such an eventuality, traditional methods of search and rescue at sea are ineffective for a disabled submarine. Hence, this new method will overcome the above said risk.

Notes:
On December 12, the European Parliament has approved the world’s largest free trade deal between Japan and the European Union (EU). The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will go into effect in February 2019. It will remove duties on almost all agricultural and industrial products as well as open up the service sector and procurement. It also moves to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade. It includes standards of labor, safety, environment, consumer protection and, for the first time, a specific commitment to the Paris climate agreement. The EU-Japan agreement has been celebrated as a victory for Europe as a free trade champion in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionism and the U.K.’s decision to leave the EU. This agreement is projected to increase exports between the two economies by 34% for the EU and 29% for Japan, liberalizing up to 99% of bilateral trade.

Notes:
The 39th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit 2018 was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In it, the Secretary-General Abdellatif al-Zayani read the closure declaration in which member countries underscored their loyalty to the organization. The declaration called on to form a route map to complete the integration between member states and ensure financial unity until 2025. GCC declaration also emphasized that it would continue to support fellow states, the Palestinian cause, and Yemen. Although the 39th summit was held in Riyadh upon a request from Oman, Oman will be the president for the next 12 months. The next summit is going to be held under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) presidency. The GCC, established in 1981 in Abu Dhabi, comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Notes:
On the occasion of 2018 National Energy Conservation Day (NECD), the Ministry of Power has launched the ECO Niwas Samhita 2018 – an Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings (ECBC-R) – to promote energy efficiency in home construction. It’s purpose is to benefit the occupants and the environment by promoting energy efficiency in design and construction of homes, apartments and townships. The parameters listed in the Code have been developed based on large number of parameters using climate and energy related data. The Code is expected to assist large number of architects and builders who are involved in design and construction of new residential complexes in different parts of the country. Implementation of this Code will have potential for energy savings to the tune of 125 billion units of electricity per year by 2030, which is equivalent to about 100 million tonnes of carbondioxide emission.

Notes:
Iranian film ‘The Dark Room’, directed by Rouhollah Hejazi, won the Suvarna Chakoram (Golden Crow Pheasant) award at the 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK-2018). The film won the award, comprising a purse of Rs 15 lakh, a sculpture and citation, for an intimate exploration of relationships within a family at a time of change, creating a complete cinematic experience, and for its sensitive treatment of delicate issues. Beside this, Malayalam Director Lijo Jose Pellissery has been awarded the ‘Rajatha Chakoram’ (The Silver Crow Pheasant), for the best director for his movie ‘Ee.Ma.Yau’. The Rajatha Chakoram award for debut director was won by Anamika Haksar for her film ‘Taking the Horse to Eat Jelabis’.

Notes:
Catriona Elisa Gray from Philippines has been crowned at the 67th Miss Universe 2018 at a gala ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand on December 17. She was crowned by Miss Universe 2017 Demi Leigh Nel-Peters, who comes from South Africa. She is the fourth Filipina Miss Universe, after Gloria Diaz in 1969, Margie Moran in 1973 and Pia Wurtzbach in 2015. She beated contestants from 93 other countries to claim the prize. In it, Tamaryn Green from South Africa was named the first runner-up while Miss Venezuela Sthefany Gutierrez stood third.