Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
India has signed a financing loan agreement with the World Bank for $74 million for Uttarakhand Workforce Development Project (UKWDP). The purpose of the project is to improve the quality and relevance of training at priority Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and to increase the number of labour-market-relevant workers through short-term training in Uttrakhand. The project has 3 components — improving the quality and relevance of ITI training; increasing the number of skilled workers certified under National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQE); and policy and institutional development and project management. The project has a 5-year grace period & a maturity of 17 years. The closing date for the project is June 2023.

Notes:
Anna Rajam Malhotra (91) was the India’s first woman IAS officer after Independence, who passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 17, 2018. Born in July 1927 in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, she joined the civil services in 1951 and had served in the Madras cadre under then CM C Rajagopalachari and in the central government. Besides serving under Rajagopalachari, she had worked closely with Rajiv Gandhi when he was in charge of the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. She had also accompanied late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on many state trips. She married RN Malhotra, who had served as the Governor of RBI between 1985 and 1990. Anna, who retired in 1996, was also responsible for building the country’s first computerised port Nhavasheva in Mumbai. In 1989, she was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award.

Notes:
Anushka Sharma has been bestowed with the prestigious Smita Patil Memorial Award 2018 at the 34th edition of Priyadarshni Academy’s Global Awards in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 19. The Priyadarshni Academy is a non-profit, socio-cultural and educational organization.

Notes:
The joint air tactical exercise “Aviaindra-18” has started between Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Air Force of the Russian Federation at Lipetsk, Russia from September 17 to 28. The second session of Aviaindra 18 would be conducted in Jodhpur, India from December 10 Dec to 22. The aim of the exercise is focused towards anti-terrorist operations in a bi-lateral scenario. The exercise would further enhance the co-operation and understanding each other’s Concept of Operations. In addition to flying exercise, there would be formal interactions, discussions, exchange of ideas and friendly sports matches to enhance bonhomie between the two Air Forces. Exercise Aviaindra is an Air Force level exercise between India and the Russian Federation. First Aviaindra was conducted in 2014 and has been planned as a bi-annual exercise.

Notes:
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has signed a MoU with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to set up a state-of-the-art Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response (ICR-ER) Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response. ISRO will render its technical expertise for setting up of proposed ICR-ER whereas the project will be executed under overall supervision of MHA. The proposed Control Room is expected to be established in next one-and-a-half year. The ICR-ER will cater to the requirement of Disaster Management as well as Internal Security. ICR-ER will address the requirement of receipt of information on near real-time basis, strategic level monitoring, situation awareness, command and control, preparedness and response in the diverse internal security situation and disaster related emergencies. Resultantly, it will increase the operational effectiveness and will be helpful in rendering timely response / assistance during various emergency situations.

Notes:
India and Sri Lanka have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of a 5000-metric ton temperature controlled warehouse in Dambulla of Central Province. The warehouse will be constructed with an Indian grant assistance of 30 crore Sri Lankan rupees for fruits and vegetables to minimize its post-harvest losses. This initiative will benefit the farming community by reducing the wastage particularly in the peak season when there is surplus production. This project is in continuation of Government of India (GoI)’s efforts to partner with Government of Sri Lanka in people oriented development projects. India’s overall commitment of development assistance to Sri Lanka stands at a total of around 3 billion US dollars, out of which 550 million US dollars is pure grant assistance.

Notes:
Kondapalli Koteswaramma (96), the revolutionary communist leader, writer and feminist, has passed away in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on September 19, 2018. Born in a prosperous family in Pamarru area of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, she grew up in a political environment. She had joined the Congress party when she was around 10 years old by placing her jewellery at the feet of Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Vijayawada, but was soon disenchanted with the party’s stand against freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. She was a widow of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, the founder-member of People’s War Group (PWG). Koteswaramma had gone underground from 1946 for 5 years during the Telangana Armed struggle supported by communists against the Nizam rule. An enthusiastic reader from childhood, she had developed the love for the language and words. She had written four books, including her autobiography ‘Nirjana Varadhi’ at the age of 93 in 2012.

Notes:
India’s biggest cyclotron facility “Cyclone-30” has become operational at the Kolkata-based Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for treatment of cancer. The facility produces a 30MeV beam that will be used to produce radioisotopes for medical imaging & diagnosis. The Cyclone-30 is in the first phase of production generating Flouro Deocyglucose (FDG), a radioisotope used for date imaging and oncological tissue imaging. It will be the first and only facility in the country to produce Germanium 68 isotopes, which is used in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Simultaneously, it will also produce Palladium 103 isotopes, which is used for the treatment of prostate cancer. The machine has a capacity of catering to 60 to 90 patients in a day. In its future stages, the machine will also work on the production of Iodine 123 isotopes, which can help detect thyroid cancer. The machine can also be used for research in the fields of material science and nuclear physics.

Notes:
India has contributed US $1 million for the installation of solar panels on the roof of the imposing UN building at the world body’s headquarters in New York. The contribution will help reduce carbon footprint and promote sustainable energy. According to India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, India is the first responder to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for climate action. This year, India was the global host for the 2018 World Environment Day (WED) celebrations. On 5th June 2018, during a session on WED, India had proposed to partner with the UN Secretariat to use renewable solar energy at the world body’s premises as part of the efforts to protect and preserve environment. In it, the Indian government announced its pledge to eliminate by 2022 all single use of plastics in India. It also committed to making a 500-metre area around 100 historic monuments, including the iconic Taj Mahal litter-free and free from plastic pollution through the Taj Declaration.

Notes:
Nepal is set to become the world’s first country to double its tiger population. On the occasion of 2018 National Conservation Day (NCD), Nepal announced that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the country, nearly doubling the baseline of around 121 tigers in 2009. According to a press release issued by WWF-Nepal, if these trends continue, Nepal could become the first country to double its national tiger population since the launch of ambitious TX2 goal at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010 to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022. Nepal conducted its national tiger survey between November 2017 and April 2018 in the trans-boundary Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), a vast area of diverse ecosystems shared with India. The earlier tiger survey in 2013 had estimated the tiger population at 198.