Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

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:
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:
Brigadier (retd) Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (78), who was known for his heroic leadership in the famous Battle of Longewala during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, has passed away in Mohali, Punjab on November 17, 2018. He was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) for the heroic stand-off that forced the enemy to retreat. The Battle of Longewala (1971) was one of the first major engagements in the western sector during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, fought between assaulting Pakistani forces and Indian defenders at the Indian border post of Longewala in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. The 1997 Bollywood war film ‘Border’ was based on the real life events that happened at the Battle of Longewala, with his role played by Sunny Deol.

Notes:
Lakshya Sen from India has recently won bronze in men’s singles at the Li Ning World Junior Badminton Championship 2018, after suffering a narrow defeat to top seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the men’s singles semifinals at Markham in Canada. This was India’s fifth boys singles bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Championships. Previously, RMV Gurusaidutt (2008), B Sai Praneeth (2010), HS Prannoy (2010) and Sameer Verma (2011) have won the bronze. Siril Verma (2015) is India’s only boys singles silver-medallist at the World Junior Championships. Apart from this, Saina Nehwal is the only Indian to have won a gold in the tournament during the 2008 Pune edition.

Notes:
Veteran cricketer Wasim Jaffer has become the highest run-scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy after scoring 11,056 runs in the competition. He surpassed Amol Muzumdar. Jaffer, who plays for Vidarbha, achieved the feat in the third round of the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy against Baroda by scoring 153 off 284 balls at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on November 21. He played 31 Tests and two ODIs for India. He last played for India in April 2008.

Notes:
Fahmida Riaz (73), the noted India-born Pakistani poet and human rights activist, has passed away in Lahore on November 22. She worked with Radio Pakistan and BBC Urdu service (Radio) Riaz fled Pakistan during former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq’s rule and lived in self exile in India for 7 years. The poems from her collection ‘Apna Jurm Sabit Hae’ reflect her homeland’s experience under the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. She was born into a literary family of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and settled in Hyderabad in Sindh Province. She always raised her voice for women rights and democracy in Pakistan.

Notes:
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been honoured with the third Sayaji Ratna Award 2018 at Vadodara for his social contribution to pay off the loans of several farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. He had helped 1,398 farmers from Uttar Pradesh and 350 from Maharashtra through his contribution. The award was established in 2013 to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the erstwhile ruler of Baroda. This award is given annually to living legends of India.It recognizes the personality of the iconic character and outstanding contribution in the realms of business, sports, arts, humanity, education, governance and medicine.

Notes:
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) has recently signed pact with Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to promote the startup enterprises in East and Northeast India. The pact will bring incubator and industry together in a more formal way. ICC services for the startup entrepreneurs in the country include facilitating funding, queries, meetings, Market Connect, Legal Connect, Mentoring, B2B and B2G interactions. IIMCIP is a not for profit (Section 8) company established under the aegis of IIM Calcutta to promote Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The park is currently incubating 40 startups with almost half from Bengal.

Notes:
Ace Indian pugilist MC Mary Kom from Manipur has won the historic sixth gold medal at the 2018 Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi. In the final, she defeated Hanna Okhota of Ukraine Hanna Okhota in the 48kg category at KD Jadav Indoor Stadium. Mary Kom is now the most successful boxer in the history of the championship and won the gold exactly 16 years after she had won it for the first time in 2002. She had won gold in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 editions of the Championship.

Notes:
As per 6th edition of India Skills Report 2019, Andhra Pradesh has topped the list of states with the highest employability followed by Rajasthan and Haryana. The report stated that around 70% of the youth face problem due to lack of professional guidance in finding desirable jobs that worth their skills. The report also highlights the fact that from FMCG to startups, every industry offers paid or unpaid internship programmes to youth. According to the report, a small percentage of students in all states have done at least one internship in the past 12 months. The employability levels of B.Tech/B.E have increased across all the sectors at 63.11% as against last year’s 42.08%. However, the employability levels of MBA and polytechnic stand low between 47.18% and 45.90%. The survey was conducted jointly by Wheebox, PeopleStrong, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and supported and backed by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Association of Indian Universities (AIU).