Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2018

Notes:
In Jammu, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently signed pact with the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) to set up the ‘Satish Dhawan Center for Space Science’ to expand its presence to the northernmost state of India. The space centre at CUJ is proposed to be spread on an area of about 1,150 square metres. It will have facilities for Geospatial Data analysis that will help in sustainable use of natural resources and planning land-use pattern. It will have ground-based observations for Atmospheric Studies, research lab for astrophysics, Atmospheric Sensing and Glacier studies Lab for better use of large quantity of water stored in the form of seasonal snow, ice and glaciers in the rivers of North India. Apart from this, Disaster Management Center will also be set up here that would be able to take up research in the area of different disasters like flood, Landslides, forest fires, drought and climate change.

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On October 11, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched a Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) service in Assam from Neamati to Majuli island. This service will reduce the road route distance of 423 km that trucks take from Neamati to Majuli Island via Tezpur Road Bridge to only 12.7 km with the use of river route. The IWAI has procured a new vessel MV Bhupen Hazarika at a cost of Rs 9.46 crore for the new service. The vessel which is 46.50 meter long and 13.30 meter wide has a carrying capacity of 8 trucks and 100 passengers. The vessel can sail at the speed of 22 km per house. Majuli is one of the biggest riverine islands in the world located on river Brahmaputra and faces serious challenges of connectivity. It has 144 villages with a population of over 1,50,000. The RoRo service was launched in collaboration between IWAI and Assam government.

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NITI Aayog has signed pact with Microsoft India to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to address challenges various sectors such as agriculture and healthcare. As per the pact, Microsoft will support NITI Aayog by combining the cloud, AI, research and its vertical expertise for new initiatives and solutions across several core area. It will also accelerate the use of AI for the development and adoption of local language computing, in addition to building capacity for AI among the workforce through education. Under the agreement, Microsoft will provide Niti Aayog advanced AI-based solutions such as farm advisory services, healthcare screening models at primary health centers along with building capacity for AI through education.

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Sikkim has won the Gold at the 2018 FAO’s Future Policy Award (FPA) for its achievement in becoming the world’s first totally organic agriculture state. All of its farmland is certified organic. At the same time, Sikkim’s approach reaches beyond organic production and has proven truly transformational for the state and its citizens. Uniquely, the state has totally banned the sale and use of chemical pesticides. The transition has benefitted more than 66 000 farming families. The Sikkim tourism sector has benefitted greatly from the state’s transition to 100 percent organic: the number of tourists increased by over 50% between 2014 and 2017. Sikkim beat out 51 other nominees from around the world for the award. Brazil, Denmark, Quito and Ecuador shared the Silver award. Nicknamed the “Oscar for best policies”, the award is co-organised with the FAO by The World Future Council (WFC) and IFOAM — Organics International, and recognises “the world’s best laws and policies promoting agroecology”.

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The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has recently signed pact with the Uttarakhand government to provide access to capital to MSMEs, which will fuel growth of such entities in the state. The bourse will play an active role in nurturing the SMEs and start-ups by increasing awareness along with the government on the opportunities to raise capital, SME exchange guidelines, listing processes, compliances with listing agreement among others. As part of the pact, the exchange will support the efforts of the government in enhancing the financing opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state, through listing on NSE’s SME platform– Emerge. On its part, the government will facilitate MSMEs to get listed on the NSE Emerge, by supporting such entities financially or otherwise, in bearing the expenses related to listing.

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Great Britain lifted the 8th edition of Sultan Johar Cup Junior Hockey tournament in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on October 13, 2018. In the final, Great Britain defeated India 3-2. The other teams in the tournament were Japan, Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand.

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Dr. Shekhar C Mande, a biologist, has been appointed Director-General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Research (DSIR). The position of CSIR DG fell vacant recently with its previous chief Girish Sahni superannuating on August 31. At present, Dr. Mande is the director of the Pune-based National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) and a top functionary of Vijnana Bharati, the RSS-affiliated swadeshi science movement. He is a fellow of all three major science academies: The Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences India, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Mande has also worked at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad.

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The ICICI Bank was originally established by ICICI Limited as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1994. Though, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) was formed in 1955 as a joint-venture of the World Bank, the Government of India (GoI) and representatives of Indian industry. The principal objective was to create a development financial institution for providing medium-term and long-term project financing to Indian businesses. Recently, it is in news because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved appointment of Sandeep Bakshi as Managing Director and CEO of the private sector lender ICICI Bank for 3 years. He succeeded Chanda Kochhar, who is facing enquiry over the charges of nepotism and conflict of interest. Ms Kochhar had quit the bank on October 4 before her current tenure was to end. She also resigned from all subsidiaries of the bank, including ICICI Securities where she had sought reappointment as the chairperson.

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Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has officially adopted a proposal to rename the historic city of Allahabad as Prayagraj. The city was known as Prayag before 16th-century Mughal emperor Akbar built a fort near the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna and named it “Ilahabad”. His grandson Shah Jahan renamed the entire city “Allahabad”. An area near the confluence of the river continues to be known as Prayag. The confluence of two rivers is a ‘prayag’, and in Allahabad three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet. Hence, it is the king of ‘prayags’. That is why it is ‘Prayagraj’. Now, the proposal will now go to the Centre before the city is officially renamed even though an Uttar Pradesh minister seemed to suggest the change has already come into effect.

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The World Trauma Day (WTD) is observed every year on October 17 to highlight the increasing rate of accidents and injuries causing death and disability across the world and the need to prevent them. It emphasizes the importance of saving and protecting a life during the most critical moments and preparing and applying critical measures to deal with and avoid trauma fatalities.Trauma means “any injury caused to the body”. The injury may be caused due to many reasons like road accidents, fires, burns, falls, acts of violence and crimes against the vulnerable population including women, children and elderly.