Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

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Akshay Kumar, the National Award-winning actor, has been made the first Honorary Ambassador of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation. It is the social organisation founded by the family of India’s second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

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The 6th International Geriatric Orthopaedic Society of India Conference 2018 has been inaugurated by Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on September 7. The purpose of the conference is to spread awareness about the health needs of the ageing population and to bring together everyone involved in geriatric orthopaedic care under one roof to interact and arrive at consensus on best practices. It’s theme is “Increased Longevity with Reduced Fragility and Enhanced Mobility”.

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The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a committee, headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan, to select the next Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). Apart from Jalan, secretary of the department of personnel and training C Chandramouli and economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg will be members of the panel which will vet the applications received and conduct the interviews. Recently, Arvind Subramanian resigned from CEA post before his tenure ends in May 2019 citing personal reasons. He has since joined as a visiting professor at Harvard University. The CEA is under the direct charge of the Minister of Finance and is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service (IES).

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The researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have developed cheaper and more flexible organic solar cells using a synthetic derivative of vitamin B12. An organic solar cell is made up of acceptor and donor materials. The donor absorbs light from solar radiation and the harvested energy is passed to the electrodes with the help of the acceptor. In the present study, the researchers synthesized the donor using an artificial aromatic chemical (corrole) which has a similar structure to the corrin ring in vitamin B12. The artificially synthesised corrole (Cor-BODIPY) absorbs light much like porphyrin in natural chlorophyll. Currently, corroles are used as sensors, catalysts and in biomedical imaging. This is the first study wherein a corrole has been utilised for a bulk heterojunction solar cell as a donor material.

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The Indian Air Force has successfully carried out the first-ever mid-air refuelling of the indigenously build fighter aircraft Tejas MK 1 with an IL-78 MKI tanker of the 78 Sqn. The feat was achieved when 1,900 kg of fuel was transferred from the mid-air refuelling Russian-built tanker IL78 to the Tejas LSP8 at an altitude of 20,000 feet. The tanker aircraft was launched from Agra, while the fighter was launched from Gwalior. The specially modified Tejas aircraft carried out a series of test profiles including a ‘Dry Contact’ with the tanker. The IAF IL78, piloted by Wing Commander Siddarth Singh, accomplished the task with designers from HAL and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) closely monitoring system parameters from the ground station at Gwalior. With this first trial, the aircraft gets much closer to the important battle-ready tag, called the FOC or the final operational clearance. Beside this, India has also joined an elite group of countries having air-to-air refuelling capacity for military planes.

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The World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is observed every year on September 10 to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides. It is estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) that over 800,000 people die by suicide each year across the world – that means one person every 40 seconds. Thus, the day aims to open up the conversations and help those in the darkness. The 2018 theme “Working Together to Prevent Suicide” highlights the most essential ingredient for effective global suicide prevention- collaboration.

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The Rajasthan government has decided to hold convention on preserving heritage properties & promoting heritage tourism in Bharatpur on September 13-14, 2018. Organised by the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), the convention on ‘Revitalising India as a Heritage Destination’ will witness national and international experts speak on preservation of heritage buildings, museums and promoting lesser-known destinations. The convention will strive to preserve heritage properties from decay while promoting heritage tourism in the in-bound tourism market. It will also bring to the forefront ‘battlefield tourism’, which aims to recreate the grand battles of Rajasthan. Similarly, role of next generation heritage owners and spousal participation in property management will also be discussed.

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At the first-ever Women in Film and Television (WIFT-2018) India Award, Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been honoured with the Meryl Streep Award for Excellence in Washington, United States. The award was established to honour the best female talent in Bollywood and Hollywood. WIFT India is part of WIFT International, a network which promotes professional development and achievement for women in the film industry, video, and other screen-based media.

Notes:
Actor R Madhavan will host the National Geographic’s new series ‘Mega Icons’, which examines the success stories of five prominent personalities. It is scheduled to premier on September 24. The five-part television series will feature episodes on former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, movie star and politician Kamal Haasan, Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and the first woman Indian Police Service officer, Kiran Bedi. Each episode would be a journey into the life of an iconic personality, with help of not only intimate interviews with the icons and their families but also through research and analysis by experts.

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The Tamil Nadu government has banned the manufacture, sale (including online sale), distribution, trade, display, marketing, import and possession of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), which are popularly known as e-cigarettes, with an immediate effect in the state. The government order stated that it is a myth that e-cigarettes are less harmful than beedis and cigarettes. The ban advisory states that the use of e-cigarettes causes adverse health effects due to second-hand exposure to metals like nickel and chromium. These poses a risk to non-smokers and bystanders. E-cigarettes are also dangerous to children and non-smokers.