Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

Notes:
Ananth Kumar (59), the senior BJP leader , has recently passed away in Bengaluru on November 12th, 2018. He was in charge of two key ministries – serving as Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers since May 2014 and as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs since July 2016 in the Narendra Modi government until his death. He represented the Bengaluru South parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha six times since 1996. Kumar joined the BJP in 1987 and never looked back, as he held posts of state secretary, state president of the Yuva Morcha, general secretary and national secretary.

Notes:
In New Delhi, the 2nd edition of INSPIRE 2018 (International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency) has been inagurated by R K Singh, the Union Power Minister. During INSPIRE 2018, EESL and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed pact for a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of $13 million to establish an Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF) to support investments in new, innovative and scalable business models in India. The aim of EERF is to expand and sustain investments in the energy efficiency market in India, build market diversification, and scale up existing technologies. INSPIRE 2018 is being organised by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and World Bank. The 3-day symposium will focus on enhancing grid management, e-Mobility, financial instruments and technologies for energy efficiency in India. The Power Minister also gave away awards to four pathbreaking innovations in clean energy and energy efficiency as part of #InnovateToINSPIRE, a first-of-its-kind energy innovation challenge.

Notes:
The 33rd edition of ASEAN summit 2018 has started in the city-state of Singapore on November 11 with theme ‘Resilient and innovative Asean’. The main event is being held at Suntec Singapore Convention Centre, wherein the ten ASEAN members will be discussing key issues on economic, security and cultural cooperation. The summit is being chaired by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Besides the main event, several related meetings like Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), East Asia Summit (EAS) and Fintech Festival are also taking place during the 5-day event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit and Associated meetings of ASEAN on 14th and 15th November in Singapore. In the biggest of its kind event more than 400 companies from over 100 countries are taking part as exhibitors.

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:
Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta from Bengal has become the first Indian to climb Mt Giluwe – the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea. He reached the summit of the mountain which is at an elevation of 4,367m on November 11, 2018. With this, Satya has scaled 5 of the 7 volcanic summits. In a few days, he will now set out to summit Mt Wilhelm – the highest mountain of Papua New Guinea. Once successful, Satya will be the first from India to scale these two mountains. In September 2018, Satyarup Siddhanta and Mousumi Khatua created history by climbing Asia’s highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand and became the first Bengalis to do so. Mt Damavand is the highest peak in Iran and also a potentially active volcano.

Notes:
On November 12, The 17th ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Council Meeting was held in Singapore as part of the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summit Meetings. Apart from taking stock of regional economic integration efforts during the year, it also reiterated ASEAN’s commitment to free and open trade by deepening the integration of its economies and realising the AEC Blueprint 2025. The blueprint seeks sustained and long-term growth for the ASEAN region. The meeting was attended by the ASEAN Economic Ministers and AEC Ministers. They signed the ASEAN Agreement on e-Commerce, Concluded the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA) and Finalised the 4th Protocol to Amend the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA).

Notes:
India and United Kingdom (UK) have recently signed a pact on India-UK Cancer Research Initiative for affordable approaches to Cancer. It is a British Pounds 10 million (current value of Rs 93 crore) collaborative research programme that will address issues of affordability, prevention and care of cancer by bringing together Indian and UK experts across clinical research. The five year initiative will be funded by India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and UK’s Cancer Research UK (CRUK) programme. DBT and CRUK will invest equally at UK Pounds 5 million each. The initiative will provide an opportunity to tackle the global epidemic of cancer by opening new pathways for international knowledge exchange and research base. The research outcomes of this initiative will aid cancer prevention, control and management in the long term.

Notes:
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has appointed Siddharth Tiwari as the Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific. He succeeded Eli Remolona. At BIS, he will work to strengthen the connection between BIS and the central banks in the area he oversees. He will lead efforts to enhance understanding of issues that are important to central banks and supervisors in the region, contributing significantly to the BIS’s global work on central bank cooperation and financial stability issues. BIS is an international financial institution owned by central banks which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks. It is based in Basel, Switzerland,

Notes:
India’s first specialized hospital for elephants has opened by NGO Wildlife SOS (WSOS) in Mathura at Farah block’s Churmura village. The first-of-its-kind hospital has unique facilities including wireless digital X-ray, laser treatment, dental X-ray, thermal imaging, ultrasonography, hydrotherapy and quarantine facilities. The hospital is strategically located near elephant conservation and care centre. It is designed to treat injured, sickor geriatric elephants and is equipped with a medical hoist for lifting elephants, as also an elephant restraining device with a dedicated indoor treatment enclosure for long duration medical procedures.

Notes:
The Oxford Dictionaries has been chosen “toxic” as its ‘Word of the Year 2018’. Traditionally, the word “toxic” has been used to describe harmful chemical substances e.g. toxic waste and toxic gas. The dictionary defines “toxic” as “poisonous” with its roots derived from the medieval Latin term “toxicus,” meaning poisoned or imbued with poison. But, it has recently developed wider social meanings in light of the #MeToo movement and the increasingly volatile political landscape fostered by the Brexit vote.