Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2018

Notes:
Recently, Infosys Foundation announced Rs 1.5 crores Aarohan Social Innovation Awards (ASIA) to push innovation in social work following increase in funds under the government rules. The awards would be given in six categories including healthcare, rural development and destitute care. The purpose of the awards is to recognise and reward individuals, teams or NGOs that are developing unique solutions for the social sector that have the potential to positively impact the underprivileged in India, at scale. The application for the first edition of the awards would be available from October 15 till this year-end. Participants can submit entries describing their work in the form of videos that can be uploaded on the Aarohan social innovation awards website. Under the government rules, it is mandatory for certain categories of company to spend, in every financial year, at least 2% of the average net profits made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy.

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Well-known Malayalam poet Paloor Madhavan Namboothiri (86), popularly known as M N Paloor, has passed away at Kovoor, Kerala on October 9, 2018. Paloor, one of the early poets to have modern views, is the author of some of the finest Malayalam poems of the latter half of the 20th century. His poems traced the sufferings of mankind involving all the complexities of a highly urbanised system. He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his autobiography ‘Kathayillathavante Katha’ in 2013. Some of his major collections include ‘Pedithondan,’ ‘Theerthayathra,’ ‘Bhangiyum Abhangiyum,’ ‘Sangamasangeetham,’ ‘Pachamanga’ and ‘Sarga Dhara’. Paloor won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, the state’s highest literary honour, in 1983 for his collection ‘Kalikalam’. He also received the Asan Prize for poetry in 2009.

Notes:
The Union government has constituted the high-level Strategic Policy Group (SPG) to assist the National Security Council (NSC), which advises the prime minister on matters of national security and strategic interests. The SPG will be chaired by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and its members include the NITI Aayog vice chairman, the cabinet secretary, the chiefs of the three defence services, the RBI governor, the foreign secretary, the home secretary, the finance secretary and the defence secretary. The secretary of the Department of Defence Production and Supplies, the scientific adviser to the defence minister and the secretary (R), Cabinet Secretariat will also be members of the panel. The group will assist the National Security Council and undertake among other tasks, a long-term strategic review of country’s security affairs.

Notes:
Jharkhand will be the partner state at Goa International Film Festival (GIFF-2018), which is scheduled to be held from 20th to 28th of November. The decision was taken recently in meeting between Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ,Mr. Amit Khare and Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, Sudhir Tripathy at Ranchi. This will allow Jharkhand to showcase its culture and favourable film making incentives announed by the state government. It was decided to open community radio station at every districts of Jharkhand. It was also decided to organize Jharkhand Film Festival (JFF), under Indian Panorama, in two towns of Jharkhand in the first month of next year.

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On October 9 , External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched the “India for Humanity” in New Delhi under which the Jaipur Foot artificial limb will be distributed free of cost to the needy across the world. The initiative is launched in collaboration with the charitable organization “Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti” (BMVSS) to honour Mahatma Gandhi’s service to humanity. ‘India for Humanity’ features a year-long series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number of countries spanning the globe to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The purpose of the initiative is to provide for the physical, economic and social rehabilitation of the differently-abled around the world by helping them regain their mobility and dignity to become self-respecting and productive members of society. The BMVSS was founded in 1975 & is better known by its trademark limb Jaipur Foot. It is among the world’s largest organisations for the fitment of artificial limbs and till date has served over 1.73 million amputees.

Notes:
The 17th edition of Old World Theatre festival 2018 is being organised by India Habitat Centre and the audiences will be able to experience 15 plays starting from October 20 in New Delhi. The theatre festival has been recognised by UNESCO as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. It will open with “Kutiyattam”, which is one of the most stylised and earliest forms of Sanskrit theatre. The 9-day fest will bring to stage productions that mirror the continuities in Indian theatre from the earliest to the most contemporary with a special focus on the next generation of theatre artistes and directors.

Notes:
At the 2018 Asian Para Games, Indian javelin thrower Sundar Singh Gurjar won a silver in the men’s F46 category with an effort of 61.33m in which two-time Paralympic gold medalist Devendra Jhajharia finished fourth. In the same event, Rinku picked up a bronze to make it an India-dominated podium. The F46 category of disability covers upper limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has participated in the 17th Council of Heads of Government (CHG-2018) meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from October 11th to 12th .The SCO CHG meeting is a forum that enables India to engage with SCO member countries and Observer states of Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. It is the first major meeting since Kyrgyzstan took over as chair of the Organisation. The leaders discussed prospects for further development of SCO and exchanged in-depth views on current international and regional issues. This was the 2nd CHG meeting since India became a full member of SCO in June 2017. Last year, CHG meeting was held in Sochi, Russia and was also attended by EAM.

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The Meghalaya government will launch a new scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’ on 26th October 2018. The Blue Revolution is being implemented to achieve economic prosperity of fishermen and fish farmers and contribute towards food and nutritional security through optimum utilisation of water resources in a sustainable manner keeping in view the bio-security and environmental concerns. Under the Blue Revolution, the state government will develop new ponds on another 1,000 hectares of land, feed mills and retail outlets since many people do not know the places where they can get local fishes. For the scheme, the Central Government has sanctioned Rs 51 crore.

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Tata Group veteran Sunil Bhaskaran has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of low cost carrier AirAsia India with effect from November 15, 2018. He will oversee the next phase of expansion and growth of the company, AirAsia India said in a statement. The airline, jointly owned by Tata Sons and Air Asia Bhd, has been without a CEO for the past six months. Currently, Bhaskaran is vice president of corporate services at Tata Steel and has over three decades of experience in the fields of manufacturing, export and commercial operations with the Tata group. AirAsia India has a market share of less than 5% and a fleet of 19 aircraft.