Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

Notes:
The Odisha government has come out with lexicons of 21 rare tribal languages to preserve vanishing native languages in State with largest tribal diversity. The bilingual tribal dictionaries will be used in Multilingual Education (MLE) initiated by the State government at the elementary level in tribal-dominated districts. The bilingual tribal dictionaries for MLE and trilingual tribal language proficiency modules in all the 21 tribal languages have been formulated by the Special Development Council (SDC). Odisha has a unique place on the tribal map of India for having the maximum number of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. The State is home to 62 different tribal communities, including 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups. These tribes speak 21 languages and 74 dialects. Of the 21 tribal languages, seven have their own scripts. However, Odia is used as the medium of communication in the dictionaries.

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:
Renowned scientist Nageshwara Rao Guntur appointed as Chairperson of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for the period of 3 years. Guntur is the chairman at Project Design Safety Committee, Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) and former distinguished scientist Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL). The mission of AERB is to ensure that the use of ionising radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to health and the environment. Its headquarters is located in Mumbai.

Notes:
Delhi-based artist Anupam Roy has won the FICA Emerging Artist Award 2018, which is granted by Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) for his large-scale drawings and paintings speak about systemic violence and injustice. As part of the award, he would receive a 90-day residency in Switzerland in 2019, supported by Pro Helvetia, which would help develop his practice and in forging further artistic collaborations. The FICA award, granted annually in collaboration with Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, seeks to promote young artists who are studying or practising in India, and demonstrate extraordinary skill and promise in the visual arts. The FICA is a non-profit organization that aims to broaden the audience for contemporary Indian art, enhance opportunities for artists, and establish a continuous dialogue between the arts and the public through education and active participation in public art projects and funding.

Notes:
Prof Punyasloke Bhaduri was awarded the prestigious Swarnajayanti Fellowship by the central government for 2017-18 in the discipline of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Under this scheme, scientists are provided with generous support to pursue research in the frontier areas of science and technology. It is awarded for a period of 5 years. The Swarnajayanti Fellowship is given by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to Indian nationals, in the age group of 30-40 years having Ph.D in Science/ Engineering/ Medicine and a regular position in a recognized Indian academic/ research organization. Bhaduri belongs to the department of Biological Science and Centre for Climate and Environment Studies at the IISER (Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research) Kolkata.

Notes:
The International Gita Festival 2018 will be held at Kurukshetra in Haryana from December 7-23 to commemorate the birth of ‘Srimad Bhagwat Gita’, the sacred scripture containing invaluable advice of Lord Krishna that he proffered to Arjuna, the third Pandava in the battlefield of Kurukshetra on the first day of the famous 18-day battle in the Mahabharata. In the fest, Mauritius will be the partner country and Gujarat the partner state. Approx 200 famous painters from across the country would reach Kurukshetra to draw paintings on the walls of Kurukshetra on the theme of the Mahabharata under the ‘paint-the-wall’ competition. Artists from India as well from Mauritius, Indonesia, Iran, Turkmenistan and Russia will perform during the annual festival.Apart from this, the Gita festival will also be organised in Mauritius on February 2019.

Notes:
IIT Kharagpur has recently signed an MoU with Auckland University to foster academic exchange and research collaboration, faculty exchange and student mobility.The institutes will typically explore opportunities for research in healthcare technologies, new materials, cyber security and Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is the first strategic partnership of University of Auckland with a higher educational institution in India. The MoU also involves the scope of outreach centers at IIT KGP and Auckland representing various prestigious higher educational institutions of both countries. At present Indian students form the third largest student community in New Zealand’s academic field with enrolments mostly in science, engineering and business.

Notes:
Himachal Pradesh has become the first Indian state to launch a pan-India single emergency number ‘112’ where all kinds of immediate help can be sought in urgent matters. Under this project, an Emergency Response Centre (ERC) has been established in Shimla along with 12 District Command Centres (DCCs), covering the entire state. The ERC has been integrated with police (100), fire (101), health (108) and women (1090) helpline numbers to provide emergency services through the emergency number ‘112’. The service is part of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) which includes a ‘112 India’ mobile app integrated with panic button of smartphones and ERSS state website for ease of citizen in availing immediate assistance. To ensure safety of women, ‘SHOUT’ feature has been introduced in ‘112 India’ mobile app to seek immediate assistance from registered volunteers in the vicinity, apart from immediate assistance from ERC. Soon, the single number for various emergency services will be gradually rolled out across the country.

Notes:
The 13th edition of G20 summit 2018 will be held at Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina on November 30 under the theme ‘Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development’. The annual meeting is being attended by leaders of the top 20 economies of the world and will cover the entire gamut of economic issues, including the agricultural sector reform, the challenges climate change poses and health-care issues faced by the world. From India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to highlight problems of oil price volatility which has a direct impact on the Indian economy in the G 20 platform. Digital revolution and skill India are also among the issues to be discussed during the summit.

Notes:
On November 29, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its earth observation satellite ‘ Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) into orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Beside HysIS, The rocket ‘PSLV-C43’ successfully injected 30 small satellites of 8 nations into their designated orbits. With this launch, India will have an eye in the sky to capture the images of the earth surface in high definition. The satellite HysIS can send pictures and data in multiple frequencies with high resolution. Its data will be useful in many fields including agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zone studies, inland water studies, environmental monitoring and pollution detection from industries. The primary mission of the HysIS, whose mission life is five years, is to study the earth’s surface in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In simple words, HysIS is the India’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite for advanced Earth observation and ISRO’s first full-scale working satellite with this capability.