Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

Notes:
The scientists at CSIR have developed Less Polluting ‘Green’ Firecrackers which are not only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones. These crackers have been named as Safe Water Releaser (SWAS), Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL) and Safe Thermite Cracker (STAR). The commonly used pollution-causing chemicals – aluminium, barium, potassium nitrate and carbon – have either been removed or sharply reduced in the green crackers to reduce emissions by 15-30% . These eco-friendly firecrackers have the unique property of releasing water vapour and /or air as dust suppressant and diluent for gaseous emissions and matching performance in sound with conventional crackers. SWAS eliminates usage of (KNO3) Potassium nitrate and Sulphur, while STAR eliminates usage of KNO3 and S. On the other side, SAFAL has minimal usage of aluminium (only in flash powder for initiation) as compared to commercial crackers.The main point to be noted here is that these crackers match the same sound intensity with that of commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 decibel. The new crackers have been developed by scientists of two national labs of CSIR- Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI) based in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur.

Notes:
Recently, the 19th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held under the Chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reviewed the current global and domestic economic situation and financial sector performance. Apart from liquidity in NBFCs (segmental liquidity position and in mutual fund space), the FSDC discussed on various economic issues ranging from oil prices, rupee, inflation to improving cyber security in the financial sector including “progress made towards setting up of a Computer Emergency Response Team in the Financial Sector (CERT-Fin) under a Statutory Framework”. The FSDC is an apex-level body to strengthen and institutionalise the mechanism of maintaining financial stability, financial sector development, inter-regulatory coordination along with monitoring macro-prudential regulation of economy.

Notes:
Noted Malayalam writer M Mukundan has been selected for 2018 Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literacy prize of the Kerala government. The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs five lakh and citation, is being given for his overall contributions to the language and literature. His popular works inlcude ‘Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil’, ‘Kesavante Vilapangal’, ‘Delhi Gadhakal’, ‘Appam Chudunna Kunkiyamma’ and ‘Lesli Achante Kadangal’.

Notes:
On October 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Narmada district of Gujarat on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Sardar Patel – who served as the first Home Minister of independent India – is credited with uniting all 562 princely states in pre-independent India to build the Republic of India. That is why it is called the ‘Statue Of Unity’. It is the world’s tallest statue, with a height of 182m. It located around 3.5 km downstream from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, on islet Sadhu Bet on the bed of the river Narmada. The statue was designed by 93-year-old acclaimed sculptor Ram V. Sutar, who is Padma Bhushan awardee. It is built by Larsen & Toubro Ltd at a cost of Rs. 2,989 crore. The Statue of Unity is made up of 70,000 tonnes of cement, 18,500 tonnes of reinforcement steel, 6,000 tonnes of structural steel and 1,700 metric tonnes of bronze, which was used for the outer cladding of the structure. The viewing gallery at the height of 135 metres can accommodate up to 200 people at a time.

Notes:
India was partner country at Videocitta 2018 in the Rome Film Festival 2018, which was held from 18th to 28th October. The Indian delegation at the Film Festival was lead by Ashok Kumar Parmar, Joint Secretary of Ministry of I&B. The agenda of the Indian delegation was to showcase Indian films’ heritage, ease of film shooting in India, promoted film shooting locations in India, International Film Festival of India, Indian Cinema from different regions, Audio Visual Co-Production between India and Italy. This year, “Mare Pyare Prime Minister” was the India’s lone entry in Rome Film Festival. The film revolves around four children living in a Mumbai slum. One of them wants to build a toilet for his single mother and makes an appeal to the Prime Minister.

Notes:
Under the provisions of Article 124 of the Constitution, the President has recently appointed four new judges — Justices Hemant Gupta, R Subhash Reddy, M R Shah and Ajay Rastogi – of Supreme Court (SC). Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi administered the oath of office to the four judges. The President’s assent was based on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium consists of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice A K Sikri and Justice S A Bobde. The apex court has a sanctioned strength of 31. With the elevation of these four new judges, the strength has risen from 24 to 28.

Notes:
On November 4, the National Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business Development in Ayurveda was started at Dr. Ambedkar International centre in New Delhi. The 2-day seminar is being organised by Ministry of AYUSH in association with NITI Aayog with the aim of encouraging entrepreneurs and Ayurveda stakeholders towards businesses opportunities in the sector. The seminar is expected to develop awareness among stakeholders about business opportunities, encouraging young entrepreneurs to use modern technologies and highlight opportunities at global level. Experts in marketing, innovation, policymakers, experts in start-up as well as experienced entrepreneurs in Ayurveda pharmaceuticals and hospital industry will guide and share their experiences with the participants. Nearly 800 participants from across the country are expected to take part in the seminar.

Notes:
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has formed a new industry expert committee to develop and promote an augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) ecosystem in India. The committee is chaired by Namrita Mahindro, Senior General Manager of digital transformation in Mahindra Group and co-chaired by Satyajeet Singh, Head –Strategic Product Partnership, India and South Asia, Facebook. The committee is a step in IAMAI’s efforts to evangelise the nascent technology’s ability to drive economic growth, job creation, and skill development in the country. The agenda of the committee will include nurturing India’s AR/VR technology and talent ecosystem, in particular by driving Skill Development; engaging with business, industry and government to evangelize acceptance of the technology and helping drive training workshops to familarise potential users with technology and build use cases, in key sectors.

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The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has recently approved the operationalisation strategy for Operation Greens to ensure availability of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) throughout the country round the year without price volatility. Operation Greens was announced in the Budget speech of 2018-19 with an outlay of Rs. 500 crore to stabilize the supply of TOP crops. One of the objectives of “Operation Greens” is the reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has recently given nod for a separate High Court for Andhra Pradesh and it will start functioning from 1st January 2019. It will be the 25th high court in the country and will initially function from a temporary structure till the permanent building comes up in the ambitious Justice City complex in the State’s capital Amaravati. Since the bifurcation of the State on June 2, 2014, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have had a common high court situated at Hyderabad. The existing court will from next year be known as the Telangana High Court.