Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

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 ‘Little India Gate’, the first-of-its-kind structure in Indonesia, has recently inaugurated at Kampung Madras or Madras Village area in Medan city, the 4th largest city in the country. It recognises the contribution of Indian community in the development of Medan city. The new structure was jointly by India’s ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Pradeep Kumar Rawat and Mayor of Medan H T Dzulmi Eldin S. About 7,000 people witnessed the historic moment with great enthusiasm. The Kampung Madras area is one of the city’s significant ethnic enclaves comprising a large population of people of Indian descent whose ancestors had settled down in Medan in mid-19th century. Every year, Kampung Madras becomes a meeting point for Hindu and Tamil festivals such as Thaipusam or the Tamil New Year, Pongal and Deepavali.

Notes:
Gaddam Dharmendra, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed India’s new Ambassador to Iran. He will succeed Saurabh Kumar, who was appointed India’s ambassador to Myanmar. Dharmendra’s appointment comes at a time when the global focus is on oil imports from Iran as the US has recently imposed “the toughest ever” sanctions aimed at altering the Iranian regime’s “behaviour”.

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:
Gafur Rakhimov, an Uzbek businessman and sports administrator, has been elected as the new President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), which is an amateur boxing’s global governing body. AIBA is a sport organization that sanctions amateur (Olympic-style) boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. Its headquarters is located at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Notes:
The tenure of the Lok Sabha Secretary General, Snehlata Shrivastava, has been extended by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for one year. Snehlata, who is 1982-batch retired IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was appointed last year in rank and status of a Cabinet Secretary. She was scheduled to retire on the 30th of this month. Her extension will be effective from the 1st of December 2018 to the 30th of November 2019. She is the first woman Secretary General of the Lok Sabha.

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:
The IIT Madras has recently developed a portable solar-powered cold storage device with a 500 kg capacity for storing vegetables, and fruits, among other items. The device will help farmers store their produce for sufficient time so that it does not get spoilt before it is sold, thereby preventing wastage of agricultural produce.The first unit of the device, which provides storage facility with temperature ranging between 4 to 10 degree celsius, was deployed at a farm in Madurantakam in Kancheepuram district, around 80 km from Chennai, recently. Each unit would cost between Rs 5.5 to Rs 6 lakh and storage capacity could be scaled down based on requirement. The project has been funded by Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology) and IIT-M. A startup called Tan90, initiated by IIT-M students, aims to commercialise the technology and take it to individual farmers with even smaller devices at affordable prices.

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.