Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
Binoy Kumar, the 1983 batch IAS officer of the Telengana cadre, has assumed charged as the new Secretary of the Ministry of Steel on September 1, 2018. He had been posted as Officer on Special Duty in the Steel Ministry since May 21, 2018. He succeeded Aruna Sharma, who recently superannuated. Prior to this, Binoy Kumar held the post of Special Secretary, Logistics, in the Department of Commerce, where he continued to hold additional charge till 31st July 2018. He also held the post of Director General (Supplies & Disposals), where he developed the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) as a one-stop online public procurement platform, in line with the digital initiatives of the Government of India (GoI).

Notes:
On September 1, Indian boxer Amit Panghal from Haryana won a historic gold after beating Rio Olympics gold medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final of Men’s Light Flyweight 49kg category at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018. It is India’s only boxing gold at the 18th Asiad. With this, Panghal became the 8th Indian boxer to claim the gold medal at the Asian Games. Beside him, Vikas Krishan Yadav (75kg) settled for the bronze in the ongoing event. In the 2014 Asian Games, M.C. Mary Kom was the lone gold medallist for India. While, Vijender Singh and Vikas Krishan were the last set of male gold medallists for India at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

Notes:
Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee (18) became the first female athlete to be named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at Asian Games after she scooped an unprecedented six gold medals in the Jakarta pool. She also won two silvers. With this, Ikee also became the first female athlete in any sport to win six gold medals at a single Asian Games. Only North Korean shooter So Gin-man, who won 7 golds and a silver at 1982 New Delhi Games, has won more titles at one Asian Games. Beside this, Ikee also became the 4th Japanese athlete to win the MVP award since its inception at the 1998 Bangkok Games.

Notes:
Singapore is currently holding the Chair of ASEAN. There, the 6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) was held in September 1, 2018. It was attended by Economic Ministers from 10 ASEAN countries and their 8 dialogue partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States. The meeting recognized the importance of ongoing work to maximize the opportunities of, and address the challenges presented by, the digital economy and the rise of regional and global value chains, as part of their efforts to promote economic growth and integration in the region. It was announced in the Singapore meeting that the next ASEAN-India Business Summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2018, which will be followed by the 4th India-ASEAN Dialogue Partner Expo and Summit scheduled for 21-23 February 2019, in New Delhi.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently released the draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies with an aim to regulate online sale of medicines across the country. It aims at providing patients accessibility to genuine drugs from authentic online portals. The draft rules on “sale of drugs by e-pharmacy” stated that no person will distribute or sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale of drugs through e-pharmacy portal unless registered. The new draft rules require e-pharmacies to be registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and obtain a trade licence — applicable across India — from any state government. The drugs sold online would need prescription and the pharmacy will have to maintain a detailed record. However, there should be strict confidentiality and no patient information should be leaked domestically or internationally. There should also be facility for customer support and grievance redressal. Though, sale of tranquillisers, psychotropic drugs, narcotics and habit forming drugs have been prohibited through these portals.

Notes:
Former England captain Alastair Cook, who is country’s highest run- scorer in Test cricket, will retire from international cricket after the 5th and final match against India at the Oval, starting September 7. So far, he scored 12,254 runs at an average of 44.88 with 32 hundreds and 56 half centuries in 160 Tests. His highest Test score of 294 came against India at Birmingham during the 2011 series.

Notes:
India will host its first-ever official FIBA 3×3 World Tour Masters 2018 in Hyderabad, which is scheduled to be held from September 22. It is one of the most prestigious basketball tournaments in the world. The Hyderabad Masters will see participation from the leading international 3×3 teams and top two Indian 3BL teams – Delhi 3BL & Bangalore 3BL. The qualification for the Indian teams was decided on the basis of the results of the inaugural season of 3×3 Pro Basketball League (3BL) which was held from June 9 to August 26 across six cities in India. Hyderabad Masters is the 7th stage of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour and is the first time an international 3×3 basketball tournament is being played in India. The participating teams will compete for a chance to qualify for the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Bloomage Beijing Final on October 27-28.

Notes:
The joint military exercise “Rapid Trident 2018″ has started in the western Ukrainian village of Starychi, which will continue from September 2 to 15. It was launched by Ukraine with the United States and a string of other NATO countries as tensions with Russia remain high over the Kremlin-backed insurgency in the country’s east. The aim of the exercise is to practice countering armed aggression in conditions of the hybrid war. The exercise is composed of a multinational, brigade-level, computer-assisted command post exercise i.e. integrated with a battalion-level field training exercise, and a platoon-level situational training exercise. The Rapid Trident 2018 started a week before Russia holds its biggest military exercise ” Vostok-2018″ since the Cold War, in the east of the country and with the participation of China and Mongolia. Approx 2,200 soldiers from 14 nations are participating in the exercise.

Notes:
In a bid to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship ‘Digital India’ campaign, the Rajasthan government has decided to provide free mobile phones to women of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families under the Bhamashah Yojana. The aim of the scheme is to transfer financial and non-financial benefits of government schemes in a transparent manner. The state government will also provide free Wifi facilities to as many as 5,000 gram panchayats to ensure that the state is well connected with the outside world. This programme commenced on September 1 and will end on September 30.

Notes:
On September 4, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu launched Coffee Connect – India coffee field force app & Coffee KrishiTharanga – an IVR-based digital mobile extension service for coffee sector which would help farmers increase production and improve quality. The Coffee Connect will gather all information relating to various coffee plantations in the country, such as geographical location, plant material, age, production and machinery available. The solution will help improve the efficiencies of field functionaries, particularly extension workers, in subsidy disbursement and real-time report generation. On the other hand, Coffee KrishiTharanga will provide customized information and services to coffee growers to increase productivity, profitability and environmental sustainability. Beside this, the Ministry also launched pilot projects on data analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain to address some of the perennial coffee production and farming issues such as rainfall, pests and diseases.