Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

Notes:
N. Ram, the veteran journalist and The Hindu publishing group chairman, has been chosen for the prestigious Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award 2018 for his outstanding contribution towards journalism. The award will be presented by the Press Council of India (PCI) on November 16 on the occasion of the National Press Day (NPD).

Notes:
HSBC Holdings Plc has executed India’s first trade financial transaction using blockchain for a deal involving an export by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to US-based Tricon Energy. The blockchain-enabled letter of credit (LC) reduces transaction timeline from 7-10 days to less than a day. The Letter of Credit (LC) was issued by ING Bank for Tricon Energy USA (importer) with HSBC India as the advisory and negotiation bank for RIL. The blockchain platform was integrated with the electronic bill of lading (eBL) platform to issue and manage an electronic bill of lading. This allows a digital transfer of the title of goods from the seller to the buyer in the underlying trade. It is claimed that the blockchain solution is a major improvement for any organisation involved in buying and selling goods internationally, as it brings together all parties onto one platform. It is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of ordered records called blocks and is deemed to be very transparent as all the stakeholders can view progress real time.

Notes:
In Tennis, Karen Khachanov has lifted the Who of the following lifted the 2018 Men’s Singles title at the Rolex Paris Masters with a stunning win over World No. 2 Novak Djokovic. In the title clash, Khachanov defeated Djokovic in straight sets by 7-5, 6-4 to end the Serb’s 22-match unbeaten run. With the victory, Khachanov has become the first Russian since Nikolay Davydenko in 2009 to win a Masters 1000 title.

Notes:
The book, titled ‘The Fire Burns Blue: A History of Women’s Cricket in India’, is co-authored by sports journalists Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta Pathak. This is the first comprehensive history of women’s cricket that documents the entire gamut of the women’s game starting from its humble beginnings, its spirited journey through its early years to the present-day when truly, the game has come of age. It talks about the numerous “twist and turns” of women’s cricket, including the early days of pioneers like Diana Eduljee and Shantha Rangaswamy in the early ’70s and the stars of today like Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur. The book will be launched as part of the publishing house’s new imprint, Westland Sport on November 30, 2018.

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.

Notes:
The first-of-its-kind solutions-focused event “Global Cooling Innovation Summit” will be inaugurated by Union Science & Technology Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi on 12th November 2018. The Summit will bring together leaders from around the world to explore concrete means and pathways to address the climate threat that comes from the growing demand from room air conditioners. The 2-day event is jointly organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) along with Rocky Mountain Institute, Alliance for An Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), Conservation X Labs and CEPT University. The summit will also see the launching of Global Cooling Prize— Mission Innovation challenge that aims to spur development of a residential cooling solution that has at least five times (5x) less climate impact than today’s standard.

Notes:
Ashok Kumar Gupta, a 1981 Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as new chairperson of Competition Commission of India (CCI). His tenure as the CCI Chairman will be till October 25, 2022, i.e. when attains the age of 65 years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will succeed acting chairperson Sudhir Mittal. The CCI is a Quasi-judicial statutory body , established in October 2003 under the Competition Act of 2002, that keeps a tab on unfair business practices across sectors. It is the duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

Notes:
Jawahar Lal Sarin, the president of the Alliance Francaise de Delhi’s governing body, has been bestowed with France’s highest civilian honour “Knight of the Legion of Honour”. The award was presented to Sarin by Ambassador of France Alexandre Ziegler in recognition of his outstanding contribution to enhancing Indo-French cultural cooperation and promoting the French language. The Alliance francaise de Delhi was started as a French association by Francophiles in 1956. The Legion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) was instituted in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is the highest civilian award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, regardless of the nationality of the recipient.

Notes:
World champion Kento Momota from Japan has won the 23rd edition of Fuzhou China Open Badminton tournament 2018 on November 11. He defeated the 4th seed Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan 21-13, 11-21, 21-16 in 66 minutes. Momota is known for his explosive movements on court and his unpredictable style of play.

Notes:
The new artillery guns and equipment, including K9 Vajra, M777 howitzers, have recently inducted into the Indian Army at the Deolali artillery centre in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Beside this, the third gun system inducted is the ‘Composite Gun Towing Vehicle’ for towing some of the existing guns in service with the country. The K9 VAJRA-T 155mm/ 52 is a tracked self-propelled artillery gun, which has its roots in the K9 Thunder, the mainstay of the South Korean Army. The Vajra offers a high rate of fire at a long range and is compatible with Indian and standard NATO ammunition. The M777 is the 155mm/ 39 Calibre Ultra Light Howitzer (ULH) that have been procured from USA under Government to Government Foreign Military Sales and will be assembled in India by BAE Systems in partnership with Mahindra Defence. The M777s can be easily transported to high altitude areas such as borders with China and Pakistan by helicopters.