Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

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:
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.

Notes:
William Goldman (87), the Oscar-winning screenwriter and novelist, has passed away in New York on November 16, 2018. He was best known for his works such as ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, ‘All the President’s Men’ and ‘The Princess Bride’.

Notes:
On November 19, the 8th National Conference of Women in Police (NCWP) has started in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The two-day conference is being organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development in collaboration with Jharkhand Police. It is the only national level platform to address the issues of Women in uniform and create an enabling atmosphere for them to maximize and optimize their professional potential. Eminent speakers such as Justice Gyansudha Mishra (Former Judge of Supreme Court) and Rekha Sharma (Chairperson of National Women Commission) would be deliberating / participating during the conference. In addition to them, many other experts would be deliberating during the conference.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has appointed UIDAI CEO & GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey as new Secretary of Revenue in place of Hasmukh Adhia, who is set to superannuate on November 30. Pandey, who is 1984 batch Maharashtra-cadre IAS officer will continue to hold additional charge of CEO of UIDAI and also Chairman of GST Network. Interestingly, the government also appointed Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984 batch IRS Officer, as Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for two years. Similarly, Gujarat cadre IAS Girish Chandra Murmu will be new Secretary of Expenditure and will take over from AN Jha who will superannuate in January 2019.

Notes:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the New Delhi (India)-based independent research and advocacy think tank, has won the prestigious 2018 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. The CSE has been awarded for its pioneering pioneering work over almost four decades on various burning issues from air and water pollution, food safety, waste water management, climate change and so on. The award is conferred by Indira Gandhi Trust each year on the late Prime Minister’s birth anniversary. The international jury for the awards was headed by former President Pranab Mukerjee. The CSE was established in 1980 under leadership of the late Anil Agarwal and is presently headed by Sunita Narain.

Notes:
The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has rolled out its Online Open Learning training platform ‘KOOL’. The platform can be used to train teachers, students and the general public. It is a six week course, which includes many features for learners in the form of animated learning assistants, video tutorials and check lists for practicing the activities. The other features includes creation of word documents, spreadsheet, presentation, image editing, video-audio editing, development of digital resources, Malayalam typing, internet, educational applications. KOOL has been designed in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) model. It is compulsory for teachers to successfully complete 45 hours of computer course in order to clear their probation. Teachers who successfully complete the course would be awarded certificates.

Notes:
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has been honoured with the 2018 Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of Indian Classical Music at the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi. He received the award for his “immense contribution to the enrichment and promotion of the Indian classical music”. Born in 1945 in Gwalior, Khan is best known for his clear and fast ‘ekhara taans’. He is sixth in the lineage of a family devoted to Indian classical music’s Senia Bangash Gharana. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan (2001), and is among the tallest Indian classical musicians.

Notes:
Dr. Thanjavur Santhanakrishna Kanaka (86), who was Asia’s first & world’s third female neurosurgeon, has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on November 14, 2018. She served in the Indian Army as a commissioned officer during the 1962-1963 Sino-Indian War. Beside this, she was the first neurosurgeon in India to perform chronic electrode implants in the brain; having performed deep brain stimulation as early as in 1975. Dr. Kanaka, who retired as professor of Neurosurgery in Madras Medical College (MMC) in 1990, was known to have inspired many women to take to the field of neurosurgery in the country. She used her own funds to establish a hospital, named after her parents as Sri Santhanakrishna Padmavathi Health Care and Research Foundation, which offers free healthcare to the needy.

Notes:
Tripura will host the 7th edition of International Tourism Mart (ITM-2018) in Agartala from 22nd November to popularise tourist destinations in the northeastern states of the country. The event would be organised with an estimated budget of Rs 2.60 crores, which would be provided by the Ministry of Tourism. In the 3-day long tourism fair, at least 60 tour operators from 18 foreign countries including Bangladesh, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Thailand, South Africa and Russia would attend the fair and engage in dialogue with the state tour operators, attend seminars and visit different tourist spots of the state. Apart from the foreign participants, 70 tour operators would join the tourism mart from the eight NE states. 30 others would participate from other states of the country.