Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2018

Notes:
Recently, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup-2018 anthem in the presence of music director A R Rahman here who has composed the music for it. The lyrics for the Hockey World Cup anthem ‘Jai Hind, Jai India’ have been penned by well known lyricist Gulzar. The 14th edition of the tournament will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from 28 November to 16 December, 2018. Apart from this, Turtle Olly was declared the official mascot of 2018 tournament at the Puri sea beach in Odisha. Alongside the promotion of the event, the mascot aims to raise awareness about the conservation of the Olive Ridley turtle, which is said to be on the verge of extinction in the state of Odisiha.

Notes:
India will host the 50th edition of Union World Conference on Lung Health 2019 in Hyderabad from October 30 to November 2. The conference theme ‘Ending the Emergency: Science, Leadership, Action’ resonates with TB, but it will also raises awareness on all threats to lung health, including air pollution and tobacco abuse. It is expected to be attended by around 6,000 researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, political leaders, and UN and community representatives. The latest research into prevention, cure and vaccines will be presented at the conference. India has the highest TB burden in the world with one in four people ill with tuberculosis globally residing in the country.

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The first-ever India Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held at St. Petersburg in Russia on November 25,2018. The Indian side is being led by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, with the Russian delegation headed by Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin. The two-day forum is also expected to bring together key business figures from both countries. The participants will discuss the development of bilateral ties in trade, investment, technology and industry. Some of the key areas of focus are as follows: transport, agriculture and agro-processing, Small and Medium Enterprises, digital transformation and frontier technologies and industrial cooperation.

Notes:
Sameer Verma has clinched the 2018 Syed Modi International Badminton Championships. In the men’s singles final, he defeated China’s Guangzu Lu by 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 against China’s Guangzu Lu to retain the title. With this win, Verma sealed his spot in the BWF World Tour Finals. However, former champion Saina Nehwal lost in straight games to Han Yue of China in women’s singles summit clash. Men’s doubles pair of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and women’s doubles players Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy also settled for silver in their respective finals.

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.

Notes:
Playback singer Mohammed Aziz (64) has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on November 27, 2018. Born in Ashoknagar, West Bengal, he was the voice behind evergreen tracks such as “My name is Lakhan”, “Aap ke aa jane se” and “Dil le gayi teri bindiya”. Aziz, who has over 20,000 songs to his credit, has sung in Bollywood, Bengali and Odia film industries. He has recorded several devotional bhajans and Sufi songs as well. has recorded several devotional bhajans and Sufi songs as well. He made his film debut with Bengali film, “Jyoti”. His career spanned over three decades and his collaboration with music composers like Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Rahul Dev Burman, Naushad, OP Nayyar, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan and Ravindra Jain have resulted in some of most iconic songs that people remember.

Notes:
Renowned flautist Pandit Keshav Ginde will be conferred the 2018 prestigious Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Lifetime Achievement (LTA) Award for Classical Music. Born in 1942 in Belgaum, Karnataka, Pt. Ginde hails from a family of musicians and started his musical training at the age of six. Ginde is credited with the designing of a new flute, which he named “Keshav Venu”, which can produce 3.5 octaves as against the maximum of 2.5 octaves achieved by other flutists. This special flute is 42 inches long and has been kept in the Archives of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Delhi. The flute has also been recognized by the Limca Book of Records as the only flute that can produce 3.5 octaves. The annual LTA award, instituted by Maharashtra Government, honours maestros in classical music and singing. It carries a cash award of Rs 500,000, a memento and a citation,

Notes:
The Karnataka government has launched an initiative ‘DataCity’ in partnership with France-based utility company Suez and a start-up accelerator Numa to foster innovation and solve global challenges. DataCity will be an international open innovation programme to bring city authorities, corporates and start-ups to address cities’ challenges and develop solutions using data and technology. The ‘DataCity’ is a 7-month programme that aims to bring together Bengaluru and corporates to identify relevant innovative start-ups from a pool of applications and to experiment with solutions using data. The areas of opportunity that could be explored during ‘DataCity’ are smart mobility, water and waste management, energy, smart buildings, security and pollution management.

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:
The Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) is observed every year on 27th of November to motivate normal human beings to pledge to donate organs after death, and to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation. Organ Donation is donating a donor’s organs like heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas, after the donor dies, for the purpose of transplanting them into another person who is in need of an organ. In 2018, the 9th IODD was organised by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) in Delhi.