Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2018

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh government has declared the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) as National Park in compliance with the last condition imposed by a Supreme Court-appointed committee for the much awaited ‘translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir in Gujarat’. The move is expected to pave way for translocation of lions from Gir National Park (GNP) in Gujarat to Kuno. The Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Sheopur district of Gwalior division & has been chosen as a second home for over 500 Asiatic lions. It is spread over 750 sq km area.

Notes:
Aadi Sai Vijaykaran, a 13-year-old from Chennai, has created history by winning the Junior Debate Championship at the World Scholar’s Cup held at Yale University, the USA from November 16-21. He has been adjudged the world’s best School debater at a global contest. This is the first time an individual from India has won the coveted title. The theme for the cup was ‘An Entangled World: diplomacy, human relationships, the science of memory, and literature, art’. Vijaykaran is a trained Carnatic musician, has a black belt in Karate, plays chess and football.

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently resumed its diplomatic service in Syria after six years of suspension, signaling a thaw in the relations between the two countries, as also with the Arab world. The diplomatic thaw comes after the U.S. announced plans to pull its troops from Syria. This move will also prevent the dangers of regional interference in Syrian affairs. Hence, this marks the first official acknowledgment by regional adversaries of Syrian President Bashar Assad that he has won the almost 8-year civil war to dislodge him. Earlier, the UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012 when “Arab Spring”-inspired protests began against Assad’s rule and metastasized into a sectarian conflict that killed hundreds of thousands, made millions of others refugees and laid waste to vast areas of the country. Syria was also expelled from the 22-member Arab League in 2011. Arab countries sanctioned Damascus and condemned its use of military force against civilians.

Notes:
The scientists at Cambridge University have built a Virtual Reality (VR) 3D model of cancer that will help increase the understanding of cancer as well as in the search for new treatment. Researchers from the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Researchers started with a one millimetre cubed piece of breast cancer tissue biopsy, containing around 100,000 cells. They cut wafer thin slices, scanned and then stained them with markers to show their molecular make-up and DNA characteristics. The tumour was then rebuilt using virtual reality (VR), which allows multiple users from anywhere, in the world to examine the tumour. Although the human tissue sample was about the size of a pinhead, using the VR headsets, it could be magnified to appear several metres across. To explore the tumour in more detail, the VR system allows one to ‘fly through’ the cells.

Notes:
The Central Zone of Indian Railways has developed an AI-powered robot, named as ‘USTAAD’, which will scrutinize parts of train coaches in real time and transmit them over a WiFi connection. The acronym ‘USTAAD’ stands for Undergear Surveillance Through Artificial Intelligence Assisted Droid. The robot is developed by the mechanical branch of Central Railway’s Nagpur division. It would click pictures and record videos of the under-gears of trains and send them to engineers for repairs and maintenance. The robot is also capable of zooming into a spot in case of any doubt. It is equipped with LED flood light and able to capture the videos in low light as well as in dark mode. By use of this robot the chances of mistake and any deficiency overlooked by human eye can be eliminated thus reducing chances of human error. With the help of USTAAD, engineers can easily see and examine areas which are hard to see and hard to approach such as cramped or narrow spaces between under-gear parts.

Notes:
On December 28, the unique Chapparam (Chariot) festival was celebrated with traditional rituals and festivities in the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple, in Tamil Nadu. The fest symbolizes the importance of preserving all kinds of food and fodder. The festival is also an auspicious occasion when the God and Goddess measure out food for all living beings. In it, both Goddess Meenakshi and her spouse Lord Sundareswarar circumambulate the four main streets around the temple. Cooked rice, which is distributed among devotees, are taken home and preserved because it signifies prosperity for the whole year. Another specialty of the festival is that the chariot of Goddess Meenakshi is pulled by lady devotees alone.

Notes:
On December 29, the 12th Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The summit is being organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, more commonly known as AAPI. Mr. Kovind acknowledged the professionalism and excellent reputation of doctors of Indian origin in the US.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has brought out a booklet on cyber safety for school children to inform them about different aspects of cyber safety. The booklet, titled ‘A Handbook for Students on cyber Safety’, also deals with the problems of cyber bullying, cyber grooming and email fraud. It advises teenagers against accepting friend requests from unknown people on social media. The booklet explains various kinds of cyber crimes like identity theft, job fraud, email spoofing and how children can overcome them. The information provided in the handbook is intended to create awareness among citizens especially students about various cyber threats that can impact them and ways to safeguard themselves against cyber crimes. The booklet also provides details about various safeguards that can be adopted by children to protect themselves from cyber grooming.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently dedicated to the nation – the 6th IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (IRRI SARC) at the campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The first international Center in the eastern India is expected to play a major role in harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region. It will help farmers of the region to develop varieties of paddy which grow in minimum water and have low sugar content and high nutritional value.It will also serve as a hub for rice research and training in South Asia and SAARC region. Here, IRRI stands for ‘International Rice Research Institute’. Beside this, PM Modi also attended the ‘One District, One Product’ Regional Summit at Deendayal Hastakala Sankul in Varanasi. This scheme is aimed at enhancing the skills of local people and increasing the reach of the indigenous trades, crafts and products from small towns and small districts in the state. These include handicrafts, food processing, engineering goods, carpets, readymade clothes, leather goods etc which not only earn foreign exchange but also provide employment to the people.

Notes:
“Finding Beauty in Garbage”, a documentary film based on the garbage of Dibrugarh town in Assam has bagged the Best Short documentary film award in Asia South East International Short Film Festival at Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The film gives a satirical take to the problem of garbage disposal. The 7 minute film was produced, directed and scripted by Satyamam Dutta who is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer presently posted in Dibrugarh. The burning problem of garbage disposal has been projected by Dutta with a satirical approach prompting viewers to think and realize how the disposal of garbage affects their life. The film has shown how the inhabitants of the city have become so accustomed and immune to the garbage and dirt around that they no longer want to fight with it but want to cohabit with them. The film is slated to be released on 1st January 2019 through video sharing website YouTube and other social media platforms.