Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
Pranab Bardhan (60) and Shibnath Sarkar (56) have created history by clinching India’s first-ever gold in bridge at the Asian Games. They finished at the top after scoring 384 points in the final of the men’s bridge pair event at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. The Chinese pair of Lixin Yang and Gang Chen won the silver with a score of 378 and the Indonesian combination of Henky Lasut and Freddy Eddy Manoppo bagged the bronze scoring 374 here. The card game has been featured as a sport at the Asian Games for the first time, in the 2018 edition.

Notes:
Sunil Mehta, the MD &chief executive of Punjab National Bank (PNB), has been elected as the new chairman of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) for 2018-19. Apart from him, Dinabandhu Mohapatra, MD & CEO of Bank of India (BoI), has been elected as IBA’s Deputy Chairman. The IBA is a representative body of management of banking in India and has its headquarters in Mumbai.

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:
In Men’s hockey, Indian men’s national field hockey team defeated arch rival Pakistan 2-1 to clinch a Bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Akashdeep hit the first goal and 2nd was scored by Harmanpreet. Pakistan’s lone goal came from a counter-attack scored by Muhammad Atiq. With this, India ranked at 8th position with 69 medals – 15 gold, 24 Silver and 30 Bronze – at the 18th Asian Games. China leads the medals tally followed by Japan.

Notes:
On September 3, India and Cyprus signed two agreements on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia. Both the countries also agreed for the revision in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) made in 2016 to further enhance investment partnership to grow by strengthening the institutional framework to facilitate investment cross flows. Beside this, Cyprus also reaffirmed its support to India for its membership of the Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG) and UN Security Council (UNSC). Mr. Kovind is in Cyprus on the first leg of his three-nation visit to Europe to continue India’s high-level engagements with European countries.

Notes:
The 2018 edition of Maralal International Camel Derby event was held at Maralal town in Kenya. It is best Kenya’s best known and most prestigious camel race that attracts both local and international competitors. The event is a major draw for spectators as well as racers. It is an entertaining festival of fun and local competition that brings this small desert town to life.

Notes:
The International Day of Charity (IDC) is observed every year on September 5 to raise awareness and provide a common platform for charity related activities all over the world for individuals, charitable, philanthropic and volunteer organizations for their own purposes on the local, national, regional and international level. The day also recognizes the efforts of charitable organizations and individuals. The date was chosen by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in order to commemorate the anniversary of the passing away of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.

Notes:
Turkey is hosting the 87th Izmir International tradeshow 2018 in Izmir from September 7th to 11th, in which India is the Partner Country. In this tradeshow, India will also launch a mega business pavilion ‘Source India’ to increase India’s exports to Turkey and other neighbouring countries. Owing to India’s participation as Focus Country status, India’s National Anthem will be played and the National Flag displayed on the screens put up in the show. Special signage will be erected to lead buyers and visitors to the ‘Source India’ pavilion. Source India, with 75 Indian participating companies, is a multi-product pavilion though some of the key potential areas for increasing trade with Turkey are ceramics, cereals and machinery or mechanical appliances.

Notes:
At the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, Indian athlete Govindan Lakshamanan won bronze but was later stripped as he was disqualified for lane infringement. Though, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has recently rewarded Lakshamanan with Rs 10 lakh and acknowledged the long distance runner’s performance in the 10,000m race in which he was dramatically disqualified after finishing third. He had stepped off the track momentarily, as he was hit by the spike of another athlete. The Indian team protested against the disqualification at two levels but it was turned down.

Notes:
Olympic bronze medalist Mary Kom has been appointed the new Brand Ambassador of state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for two years. The two-year contract will see boxer Mary Kom endorse as well as engage in various promotional events organized by BSNL for its different telecom services. Beside this, BSNL has also signed pact with Indian Army to provide various telecom services like PRIs, basic telephone, and leased circuits, among others on a pan India basis for a period of 3 years. Besides these services, BSNL will also provide broadband and mobile services under another existing agreement with the Indian Army.