Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2018

Notes:
The 2018 Under-19 Asia Cup cricket tournament was held in Bangladesh from September 29 to October 07 at Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. In the final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 144 runs to win the tournament for the 6th time. India outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments by first scoring an imposing 304 for six after skipper Prabh Simran Singh won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (85) and Anuj Rawat (57) made solid foundation with 121-run stand. Ayush Badoni’s unbeaten knock of 52 off 28 balls helped India to reach a mammoth total. The island nation were never in the chase as they were all out for 160 in 38.4 overs losing wickets at regular intervals with left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi’s registering brilliant figures of 6 for 38 in 10 overs. For his consistency (318 runs in the tournament), Jaiswal was adjudged man-of-the-tournament.

Notes:
India have opened their medal account in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games with two Silvers in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 7. The first went to Tushar Mane in shooting and later Tababi Devi Thangjam in Judo in Girl’s 44kg category. With this, Thangjam from Manipur has created history by becoming the India’s first judoka to win a medal at the Olympics – junior or senior. While Mane bagged silver in the men’s 10m air rifle event with a score of 247.5. India is being represented by 46 athletes in 13 sports in the prestigious event. This is India’s largest ever contingent at the Youth Olympics. Earlier, India won two medals – a silver and a bronze – in the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing in China.

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.

Notes:
The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has won the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for Administrative Solution for Coverage Extension at the “Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific” held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently. The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage-SPREE (Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees), reduced rate of contribution rates for 24 months in newly implemented areas and raising the wage limit for coverage under the ESI Act, etc. The ISSA (International Social Security Association) is the principal international organization for Social Security Organizations, Govternments & Departments of Social Security. The Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific is a triennial Forum, which is the most important social security event in the Region. The Forum provides unique opportunities to CEOs and Managers of ISSA Member Institutions to discuss key social security challenges and share their experiences.

Notes:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a growth rate of 7.3% for India in FY19 and 7.4% in FY20. In 2017, India had clocked a 6.7% growth rate. The latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) Report has predicted a slightly lower growth rate than it made projections in the April 2018 WEO for 2019. The prediction is lower due to recent increase in oil prices and the tightening of global financial conditions. The report said, in India, important reforms have been implemented in recent years, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the inflation-targeting framework, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), and steps to liberalise foreign investment and make it easier to do business. India’s medium-term growth prospects remain strong at 7.75%, benefiting from ongoing structural reform. If the projections are true, then India will regain the tag of the fastest growing major economies of the world, crossing China with more than 0.7 percentage point in 2018 and an impressive 1.2 percentage point growth lead in 2019.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) with the support of World Health Organization (WHO) is organizing the ‘2nd World Conference on Access to Medical Products – Achieving the SDGs 2030’ at New Delhi from 9 -11 October 2018. The main purpose of the 2nd World Conference 2018 is to take forward the recommendations from the 1st World Conference 2017 and build on the work done for access to medical products in the context of SDGs (including trade agreements) in line with GPW 13 of WHO, foster new approaches in innovation landscape for medical products and health technologies for accelerating research and innovation and identify knowledge, information and policy options on the interface of international trade and health to achieve SDG 2030 goals.

Notes:
Researchers at the Washington University in the US have developed the world’s first bio-electronic medicine — an implantable, biodegradable wireless device that speeds nerve regeneration and improves the healing of a damaged nerve. According to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine, the device is the size of a dime and the thickness of a sheet of paper.The technology, called “bioelectronicmedicine,” provides therapy and treatment over a clinically relevant period of time and directly at the site where it’s needed, thereby reducing side-effects or risks associated with conventional, permanent implants. Though, the device has not been tested in humans, the findings offer promise as a future therapeutic option for nerve injury patients.

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.

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The Haryana government has decided to set up an Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) ‘Kavach’ to strengthen the present-day security arrangements in the state. The selected Haryana police recruits will be trained by the National Security Guard (NSG). The headquarters of Kavach would be at Gurugram and it would be headed by an officer of inspector general or additional director general of police rank. To deal with terrorist activities, Kavach would have 150 police personnel who would be provided 14 weeks training by the NSG at Manesar.

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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.