Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
Ganpatrao Andalkar (83), the former Asian Games champion wrestler, has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on September 17, 2018. Andalkar, who took part in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, had bagged the coveted “Hind Kesari” title in 1960. He also went on to clinch Gold and Silver medals in two different weight categories in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. He was also a recipient of the Arjuna award (1964) and the Maharashtra government’s ‘Shiv Chhatrapati Award’ in 1982 for his contribution to wrestling.

Notes:
India’s first ‘smart fence’ pilot project was launched by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along the Indo-Pak border at the BSF Headquarters in Ploura, Jammu on September 18, 2018. The purpose of the project is to make security system more strong and effective.The smart fencing uses a number of devices for surveillance, communication and data storage. The pilot project entails deploying laser-activated fences and technology-enabled barriers to plug vulnerable gaps along frontiers. The system provides for round-the-clock surveillance on the border and in different weather conditions be it dust storm, fog or rain. The initiative is part of the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) proposed to be deployed at these two borders by the Government of India (GoI) as part of its decision to completely seal the two borders to stop infiltration and illegal migration.

Notes:
The Odisha government has launched a ‘Star-Rating’ system for industries to check air pollution. It’s a first-of-its-kind initiative in the state to ensure transparency in compliance to pollution standards. The initiative will help public find out whether industries in their vicinity are fair in their environmental compliance. It will also recognise the efforts of industries that take responsibility to maintain clean environment. The system will rate industries from 1 to 5 based on their efforts to meet the standards set by Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB). It will be implemented with the help of Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India) researchers and Tata Centre for Development at Chicago (TCD) in a phased manner. The programme will cover 20 industrial plants initially and will eventually cover all the 136 plants with continuously monitored data.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has proposed to merge state-owned Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda (BoB) to create India’s third largest lender as parts of reforms in the public sector banking segment. The decision was taken at the meeting of a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley which oversees merger proposals of state-owned banks. One of the reasons behind the choice of these banks was perhaps the fact that all three use the same core banking system—Finacle from Infosys—making the task of merging the technology platforms and back-ends relatively easier. Now, the boards of the three banks will consider the proposal. The combined lending entity will have a strong presence across the nation with more than 34% of low-cost deposits, a capital buffer of nearly 12% and a business book of Rs 14.82 lakh crore. Bank of Baroda is the biggest of the three with Rs 10.29 lakh crore of total business, followed by Vijaya Bank at Rs 2.79 lakh crore and Dena Bank at Rs 1.72 lakh crore.

Notes:
Germany has recently rolled out the world’s first hydrogen-powered trains that only emit steam and water. These bright blue Coradia iLint trains are built by French TGV-maker Alstom, which are costlier than diesel powered trains but eco-friendly. The new trains are equipped with a hydrogen tank and fuel cells on the roof and will produce electricity by combining water and hydrogen. The company revealed that the excess energy produced will be stored in ion-lithium batteries. The green trains can travel 600 miles (1,000km) on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains. The two Coradia iLint trains will replace conventional diesel engines on the 100 km route that links German towns- Cuxhaven and Buxtehude. Germany will introduce 14 other hydrogen train in the Lower Saxony region of the country by 2021.

Notes:
On 2018 World Ozone Day (WOD), the Union Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan released a draft India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) and a booklet on ‘Montreal Protocol – India’s Success Story’. With this, India has become the world’s first country to develop such a document (ICAP), which addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand. This will help in reducing both direct and indirect emissions. The thrust of the ICAP is to look for synergies in actions for securing both environmental and socio-economic benefits. The overarching goal of ICAP is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society. The Montreal Protocol is the only environmental treaty, which enjoys universal ratification of 197 UN numbers countries, to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

Notes:
ISRO has recently launched its first Space Technology Incubation Centre at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Agartala via remote from Bengaluru. It was jointly launched by ISRO Chairman Dr. KV Sivan and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. The incubation centre was launched at the first edition of ‘Spacetronics’ organised by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA). Through such incubation centres, ISRO is looking to incubate start-ups that would build applications; offer services and products that it can use internally and help them scale up so that these firms can exploit opportunities globally. Within the next 6 months, ISRO plans to set up five more space technology incubation centres at Jalandhar in Punjab, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Each centre will be set up at a cost of Rs 2 crore, and will help the start-ups develop prototypes of components required for space technology, in partnership with the industry. ISRO will also provide the necessary mentorship and guidance to individuals and businesses at the incubation centres.

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:
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:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has proposed to the Andhra Pradesh government its plans to establish a drone manufacturing facility in Anantapur district, a cyber security centre in Amaravati, and turn Rajahmundry and Vijayawada airports into asset positioning bases. IAF also plans to set up a major helicopter training facility at Donakonda in Prakasam district. IAF currently has a base at Arakkonam near Chennai, while the Navy has INS Dega in Visakhapatnam.