Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

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:
The 14th edition of International theatre festival for children “Jashne Bachpan 2018” has started in New Delhi from November 17. It is being organised by National School of Drama’s (NSD) Theatre in Education (TIE) Company, which is also known as Sanskar Rang Toli. The 9-day theatre festival for children will see 21 productions from India and three foreign groups including Sri Lanka (non-verbal), Switzerland (English) and Indonesia (Javanese). The plays will be performed in vernacular languages like Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, and Malayalam besides non-verbal, English, Hindi and other foreign languages. The idea behind this initiative is to bring those children to the mainstream and inculcate enthusiasm for art and culture along with entertainment at a global platform like Jashne bachpan.

Notes:
Kim Jong Yang, a South Korean police officer, has been elected the new President of Interpol for a two-year term. He succeeded Meng Hongwei of China. The decision was taken at the 87th General Assembly of the Agency in Dubai, UAE. The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is the international organization that facilitates international police cooperation. Its’ headquarters is located at Lyo, France. Its work focuses primarily on public safety and battling transnational crimes against humanity, child pornography, cybercrime, drug trafficking, environmental crime, genocide, etc.

Notes:
In China, the world’s first underground hotel “the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland”has opened in Shanghai, which is buried almost 90 metres deep in an old quarry. The 18-storey luxury hotel is almost entirely subterranean having two floors above ground and the rest underground, including two floors that are underwater. Built in the Sheshan Mountain Range, it encloses 336 rooms and suites which mimic the landscape of the quarry offering a picturesque view into the abyss. The bottom floors have underwater suites that feature in-room aquariums where guests can enjoy the aquatic ecosystem of the decommissioned quarry. Other highlights of the exotic resort are its cascading glass waterfall, a glitzy amusement park and exposed rocks. The sprawling property is built by British firm Atkins, who is also responsible for architectural marvels such as Burj Al Arab in Dubai and skyscraper Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The hotel can withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake.

Notes:
Sandeep Michael (37), the former international hockey player, has passed away in Bangaluru, Karnataka on 23 November 2018. He was a field hockey player who played as a forward for the India national field hockey team. Michael captained the National Junior team to Gold in the Asia Cup before being inducted into the Senior team. He was employed with Air India.

Notes:
The North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands, which includes South Sentinel Island, in the Bay of Bengal. It is home to the Sentinelese who, often violently, reject any contact with the outside world, and are among the last uncontacted peoples to remain virtually untouched by modern civilisation. Recently, it is in news because the American national ‘John Allen Chau’ allegedly killed by people belonging to the protected Sentinelese tribe in the North Sentinel Island. It must be noted that North Sentinel Island and its buffer zone is strictly restricted under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 under Indian Forest Act, 1927. In it, it is declared that the traditional areas occupied by the tribes as reserves, and prohibited entry of all persons except those with authorisation. Photographing or filming the tribe members is also an offence. The rules were amended later to enhance penalties. But restricted area permits were relaxed for some islands recently.

Notes:
The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) and Sashastra Sima Bal (SSB) have joined hands to provide full proof security to Dudhwa forests and its rich wildlife. As per agreement, all security agencies including SSB on the border, central and local intelligence officers, customs and excise officials, Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) and the Dudhwa field staff will strengthen the patrolling in and around Dudhwa to check forest and wildlife crimes. Hence, the joint long route patrolling comprising SSB, STPF and DTR field staff would be held at regular intervals. The DTR is located in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh and covers an area of 490.3 km2, with a buffer zone of 190 km2 (73 sq mi). It is home for tigers, leopards, Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, Swamp deer, rhinoceros, elephants, cheetal, hog deer, barking deer, sambar, wild boar and hispid hare.

Notes:
Harmanpreet Kaur has been named captain of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 XI, which also featured opener Smriti Mandhana and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav. A selection panel of ICC in Dubai picked up the team on the basis of the players’ performances in the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty-20 tournament , which concluded recently with Australia winning the title.Three players from England, two from Australia and one each from Pakistan, New Zealand and the Windies have also been named in the eleven. The next ICC World T20 tournament will take place in Australia in 2020.

Notes:
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW) is observed every year on 25th of November to raise public awareness on issues of violence against women and girls, including how men and boys can play a more active role in eliminating this violence. The day also marks the start of the “16 Days of Activism”. The 2018 UN theme for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence under the UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign is “Orange the World: #HearMeToo”. The aim of #HearMeToo is to bring to the forefront the voices of women and girls who have survived violence, who are defending women’s rights every day and taking action, many of them very far away from the limelight or media headlines.