Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2018

Notes:
Kishour Giri (63), the noted Assamese singer and music director, has passed away in Guwahati on October 7, 2018 . He lent his voice to various social issues. He would often be seen on the streets of Guwahati, strumming a guitar and singing or raising his voice against the many evils that plague the society. Giri, who could play a number of musical instruments, including the guitar, violin and mandolin, composed music for a few Assamese films and television serials. Recently, he had appealed to the public and the state government, in his signature style, for financial support to ‘Village Rockstars’, India’s official entry to 2019 Oscars. Like the legendary Bhupen Hazarika, he too believed that the society needs ‘gaan’ (songs) instead of gun.

Notes:
The section 151A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951 mandates the Election Commission of India (ECI) to fill the casual vacancies in the Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures through bye elections within six months from the date of occurence of the vacancy. But, this is only if the remainder of the term of a member who is newly elected is one year or more. The term of 16th Lok Sabha is upto 3rd June, 2019. Therefore, it is understood that some newspapers have reported that the ECI on the one hand announced the bye elections to fill the 3 casual vacancies in Lok Sabha from Karnataka while the bye elections to fill 5 vacancies in LS from Andhra Pradesh have not been announced. As the vacancies from Karnataka have occurred more than one year before the expiration of the term of House, bye elections are required to be held under Section 151A of R. P. Act 1951 to fill these vacancies within 6 months from the date of occurrence of vacancies that is 18th& 21st May, 2018. In the case of vacancies from Andhra Pradesh, there is no need to hold bye elections as the remaining term of the Lok Sabha is less than one year from the date of occurrence of vacancies that is 20th June, 2018.

Notes:
Shooter Manu Bhaker has become the first shooter from India to claim a gold at the 3rd edition of Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 9, 2018. She finished on top of the podium in women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 236.5. With this, she also became the first Indian woman to win Gold in the ongoing event. Earlier, weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga won the India’s first-ever gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Men’s 62kg Group A weightlifting. At the Youth Olympics 2018, Manu Bhaker was also the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent.

Notes:
Senior Advocate Tushar Mehta has been appointed as Solicitor General of India (SGI). He will remain in office till 30th of June, 2020 or till further orders. Mr Mehta is currently serving as the Additional Solicitor General. The post of Solicitor General was vacant since October last year after the resignation of Ranjit Kumar.

Notes:
On the occasion of 86th anniversary, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched an innovative mobile health App named ‘MedWatch’ in keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India, Ayushman Bharat and Mission Indradhanush’. The app is conceived by the doctors of IAF and developed in house by Directorate of Information Technology (DIT) with ZERO financial outlay. ‘MedWatch’ will provide correct, Scientific and authentic health information to airwarriors and all citizens of India. The app is available on www.apps.mgov.gov.in and comprises of host of features like information on basic First Aid, Health topics and Nutritional Facts; reminders for timely Medical Review, Vaccination and utility tools like Health Record Card, BMI calculator, helpline numbers and web links. It is the first mobile health app in the three Armed Services and was launched by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa at New Delhi on 08 Oct 18.

Notes:
India’s first second generation (2G) Ethanol Bio-Refinery will set up in Bargarh district of Odisha by 2020, where ethanol will be produced from rice straw. The proposed plant will be set up by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore. The foundation stone of which was laid on 10th October 2018. The bio-refinery will have a capacity to produce 3 crore litre of fuel-grade ethanol annually using rice straw as feedstock. The Bargarh Bio-Refinery will utilise about 2 lakh tonne of rice straw annually as feedstock which will be sourced from nearby locations including Bhatli, Ambabhona, Attabira, Sohela, Burla and Lakhanpur. The refinery will be based on zero-liquid discharge plant technology where water will be recycled back into the plant. Blending of ethanol in petrol will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions as compared to fossil fuels. Apart from Odisha, BPCL will also set up bio-refineries in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. . The National Biofuel Policy of India 2018 targets 20% Ethanol blending to Petrol by 2030. However, due to non-availability of Ethanol, the current Ethanol blending in Petrol is about 3 to 4%.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Veena Sendre from Chhattisgarh has been chosen as India’s first ‘Miss Trans Queen’. She defeated Namita Ammu of Tamil Nadu to claim the title at the national-level beauty contest organised in Mumbai on October 7. Sendre, a former Miss Chhattisgarh, belongs to Mandir Hasaud village in Raipur.

Notes:
India has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with the highest number of votes among all 18 countries in the five regional categories. It secured 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category for a period of three years beginning January 1, 2019. It is followed by Fiji with 187 votes, Bangladesh 178, Bahrain and Philippines 165 each. This will be the fifth time that India will serve on the Geneva-based Council, the main body of the UN charged with promoting and monitoring human rights.

Notes:
India’s first-ever India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC), an entrepreneurial technology hub, was launched at the 3rd edition of IoT India Congress in Bengaluru, Karnataka on October 10, 2018. The IIIC is a significant step towards facilitating penetration of Israeli companies in India and aims to forge local partnerships and joint ventures between companies from the two countries. It will provide an ecosystem to support entrepreneurship, partnership with vendors, mentoring and non-formal community development that will assist the growth of the companies in different verticals and covers business, technology, investors and customers. The start-ups that are part of IIIC will be given mentorship and guidance and opportunities to participate at all IIIC’s global events and experience networking avenues with potential customers. The IIIC was launched by Ramanan Ramanathan, the Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).