Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
In the latest round of reshuffle of Parliamentary panels, the former Union Minister Kalraj Mishra has been appointed new Chairman of the standing committee on Defence. He succeeded B.C. Khanduri, who has been delivering a series of critical reports on the defence preparedness and slammed the government for critical low stock of armaments. In the latest 2018 March report of Khanduri, it was pointed that 68% of equipment with the armed forces was in the vintage category. Apart from this, Chintamani Malviya has been appointed new Chairman of Coal and Steel panel with another BJP MP from the same State, Chintamani Malviya. There are no changes in Finance Committee and External Affairs Committee, both headed by Congress leaders. Finance Committee is headed by Veerappa Moily. The External Affairs Committee is headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

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:
The indigenously developed surface-to-surface Short-range tactical ballistic missile “Prahar” has been successfully flight tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha. Fuelled by a solid propellant, Prahar is about 7.3 m long and can carry a payload of 200 kg. The missile has a strike range of 150 km & can be transported to anywhere within a short span of time. It is a quick-reaction, all-weather, all-terrain, highly accurate battlefield support tactical weapon system. It is equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation, guidance and electro-mechanical actuation systems with latest onboard computer. The missile is capable of carrying different types of warheads & will operate as battle field support system to the Indian Army. It has a greater manoeuvring capability, acceleration and can be deployed in different kinds of terrain making it more effective against strategic targets.

Notes:
Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman and MD of JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, has been conferred with the ‘Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle’, the highest honour accorded to non-nationals by the Government of Mexico at the 128th National Day of Mexico. The honor is given because of the efforts to strengthen bilateral ties between India and Mexico.

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:
The first-ever General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) will be held at Delhi-NCR from 2nd October 2018. The 3-day Assembly will include an Inaugural Session, followed by the Assembly Session and Technical Sessions. The India and France-led ISA — international treaty-based alliance of 121 solar-rich nations — had become a legal entity in December 2017. Its aim is to undertake joint efforts to reduce the cost of finance and the cost of technology and mobilise more than US $1000 billion of investments by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy across 121 potential member-countries. The founding Conference of the ISA was jointly hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in New Delhi on 11th March 2018.

Notes:
Tran Dai Quang (61), the current President of Vietnam, has passed away in Hanoi on September 21, 2018. Quang was appointed to the role in April 2016. He is a former police general who presided over a crackdown on free speech in that one-party state. Originally from a small farming community 115 km south of Hanoi, Quang rose through party ranks to become a police general and member of Vietnam’s powerful decision-making Politburo. Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by the President, Prime Minister and Communist Party chief. The country has a power structure in which responsibilities at the top are split among a party chief; a president, who serves as head of state; and a prime minister, who runs the government.

Notes:
The New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved a $525-million loan to Madhya Pradesh for infrastructure projects. The loan will be used by the Indian government for on-lending to the Madhya Pradesh government for rehabilitating major district roads with a total length of about 2,000 km to improve the connectivity of the rural interior with the national and state highway networks. The project will improve the road conditions and enhance the transport capacity, which will lead to a less travel time, reduced vehicle-operating cost, reduced emissions and improved road safety. The NDB will also provide a $ 175-million loan to the Madhya Pradesh Bridges Project, under which 350 bridges will be built or upgraded. The NDB was set up by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations to promote green and infrastructure projects in the member countries.

Notes:
Opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won the 2018 presidential election of Maldives. He will take office on 17th November 2018, after having defeated President Abdulla Yameen in the election. The Maldives is a key battleground in the rivalry between China and India. Solih’s win presents an opportunity for India to rebuild the traditionally strong ties between the two countries in order to counter China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region. The Maldives is made up of 26 coral atolls and 1,192 islands. More than 400,000 people live there but its future hangs in the balance due to climate change. Tourism is a vital part of its economy.

Notes:
Carolina Marin from Spain has won the women’s singles 2018 China Open badminton title. In the final, she defeated Chen Yufei in Changzhou, China. Earlier, in 2018, she won the BWF World Championships for the third time and became the first ever female badminton athlete to have achieved this feat. Apart from this, Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting beat Japan’s Kento Momota to take the 2018 Men’s singles China Open title.