Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

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:
On November 12, the International Conference on Yoga for Public Health has inaugurated at Kala Academy, Panjim. The two-day conference is being organised by the Ministry of Ayush with theme ‘Yoga for Public Health’. The 1000 representatives from around 50 countries are participating in the conference.

Notes:
The Republic of Palau, an archipelago found in the western Pacific Ocean, has become the world’s first nation to ban the use of sunscreens that have been deemed harmful to coral reefs and ocean life. The ban, which will come into force by 2020, has been signed into law by the Palau government. These sunscreens are made from “reef-toxic” chemicals such as oxybenzone, octinoxate and triclosan. These chemicals causes corals to bleach at lower temperatures, and it reduces their resilience to climate change. Palau is home to just 21,000 people but has a booming tourism and fishing industry. It contains approximately 340 islands, forming the western chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia, and has an area of 466 square km.

Notes:
Swati Chaturvedi, an Indian freelance journalist, has won the 2018 London Press Freedom Award for Courage for her work in exposing the “IT cell” within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for keeping an army of angry trolls. She beat shortlisted journalists from Italy, Turkey, and Morocco to wom the award. Swati, who is famous for her investigative reports, is the author of the book title “I am a Troll: Inside the Secret World of the BJP’s Digital Army”. The award was presented at the Getty Images Gallery in London’s Fitzrovia on November 8. The Prize for Courage is given to journalists who show courage in their work or in the defence and promotion of journalism.

Notes:
On November 14, the 38th India International Trade Fair (IITF) has started at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi with theme – Rural Enterprises in India. The 14-day annual event will continue till 27th of this month. Afghanistan is the Partner Country, while Nepal will be the Focus Country. Jharkhand is participating as a Partner State in the event. Around 800 participants from States and Government Departments, domestic and International companies are taking part to showcase their product. For the general public, the trade fair will open from 18th to 27th of November. During a public holiday, the price of the ticket will be Rs.120 for adult and Rs. 60 for the child. While during working days, the ticket charges will be Rs. 60 for adult and 40 rupees for the child.

Notes:
The World Diabetes Day (WDD) is observed every year on November 14 to raise awareness among families to discover, prevent and manage diabetes. It is the primary global awareness campaign focusing on diabetes mellitus The theme for WDD 2018 – 2019 is “The Family and Diabetes – diabetes concerns every family”. It focuses on the fact that families need to work together in adopting a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent and manage diabetes.

Notes:
Late Dr. Martha Farrell has been honoured with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 6th Indian Social Work Congress in New Delhi. Dr. Farrell is being recognized for her lifelong work towards gender equality, women’s empowerment and prevention of sexual harassment at workplace. She was among 14 people killed in a terrorist attack on a guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 13, 2015. Dr. Farrell had been leading a gender training workshop with the Aga Khan Foundation in Kabul at the time of the attack. Suheil Tandon, Martha’s son along with the team of Martha Farrell Foundation received the award.

Notes:
The World Pneumonia Day (WPD) is observed every year on 12th of November to promote interventions to protect against, prevent, and treat pneumonia and to highlight proven approaches and solutions in need of additional resources and attention. Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of deaths in children under five years old despite being easily preventable and treatable. Although vaccines and other preventative efforts are decreasing the burden of the disease, much more work is still required. Those living in poor communities are at highest risk of pneumonia. Every child, regardless of where they are born, deserves access to lifesaving vaccines and medicines. The 2018 theme is ‘Stop Pneumonia: Invest in Child Health’.

Notes:
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has recently launched the ‘Gau Samridhi Plus scheme’ or ‘Cow Samridhi Plus Scheme’ to offer insurance coverage to dairy farmers in Kerala. The government subsidized scheme will give insurance coverage to dairy farmers at low premium rates. The farmers belonging to the general category will receive 50% subsidy on premiums while those belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) category would get 70% subsidy on the premium.

Notes:
In New Delhi, the Government of India (GoI) has signed a $300 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) that provides long-term finance to infrastructure projects. The move is expected to enhance the availability of long-term finance for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, improve operational capacity of IIFCL, and expand the portfolio of infrastructure financing instruments available to the company. The $300 million ADB loan is expected to help catalyze the financial closing of $2.4 billion in investments. In addition, the attached technical assistance will support IIFCL capacity development and will focus on IIFCL’s financial management and social and environmental safeguards.