Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
Kalpana Lajmi (64), the renowned filmmaker, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 23, 2018. She was the daughter of painter Lalita Lajmi and niece of filmmaker Guru Dutt. Lajmi was known for working on real subjects Her films were often woman-oriented like “Rudaali”, “Daman”, “Darmiyaan”. Her last movie as a director was “Chingaari” in 2006, based on a novel “The Prostitute and the Postman” by Bhupen Hazarika, who was her partner.

Notes:
On September 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rolled out the Centre’s flagship Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) from Ranchi, Jharkhand. The ambitious scheme aims to provide coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually. It will cover around 50 crore people and there is no cap on family size and age in the scheme ensuring that nobody is left out. Eligible people can avail the benefits in government and listed private hospitals. According to the latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, the scheme will target poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers’ families: 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas. The entitlement is being decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. The scheme will provide cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service. In it, Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab are not among the states which have opted for the scheme.

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.

Notes:
Israel has recently set October deadline to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin village in West Bank. Regarding to this issue, the Israeli military has informed residents of West Bank hamlet that they have until October 1 to leave before their homes face demolition. The Khan al-Ahmar is located between the Israeli settlements of Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim. It consists of tin and wood shacks built on a desert hillside beside an Israeli highway that runs from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. Israel plans to demolish the village and relocate its 180 Bedouins residents – who scrape a living by raising sheep and goats – to a site 12 away, near the Palestinian village of Abu Dis and adjacent to a landfill site. The move has drawn criticism from Palestinians and some European states, who cite the impact on the community and prospects for peace. Earlier this month, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against the slated demolition of Khan al-Ahmar.

Notes:
Luka Modric, who led Croatia to their first-ever FIFA World Cup final, was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player at the Best FIFA Football Awards in London. Modric won the Champions League for the third time in a row with his club “Real Madrid” in May 2018 before leading Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final, where they lost 4-2 to France. He is the first player other than Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to win the FIFA award since Kaka in 2007. Beside Modric, Brazil and Orlando Pride forward Marta was named the FIFA women’s player of the year for the 6th time but the first time since 2010. France’s Didier Deschamps — whose side beat Modric’s Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final — was named best men’s coach. Mohamed Salah won the Puskas award for the best goal for his effort against Everton in the Premier League at Anfield in December 2017.

Notes:
The United Nations (UN) has recently declared the period from 2019 to 2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in New York on 24 September 2018. UN has called for redoubling efforts to pursue international peace and security, development and human rights. This political declaration was unanimously adopted by nearly 100 nations from around the world to revive the values for which Nelson Mandela stood by emphasising human dignity. A statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled at the United Nations to honour the late South African leader’s 100th birth anniversary.

Notes:
On September 26, Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Smart City Expo India-2018 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The purpose of 3-days expo is to have discussions among different experts and groups to utilize benefits of new technology, town planning, capacity management, challenges before socio-economic development and development of networking in the Smart City sector. Near about 6000 delegates from MNC’s of different countries, researchers, CEO’s of different Smart cities, Mayors and corporates are participating in the expo.

Notes:
On September 26, the Supreme Court of India (SCI) declared the Centre’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid for filing of IT returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN), but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions. A 5-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra held that Aadhaar would not be mandatory to link with bank accounts and telecom service providers cannot seek its linking for mobile connections. The CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory and it is not compulsory for school admissions. The bench struck down the national security exception under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act. The bench also struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act permitting private entities to avail Aadhaar data and ruled that Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months. It directed the government not to give Aadhaar to illegal immigrants.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has approved the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018 which aims to provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 megabit per second (MBPS) to every citizen. It will also provide one Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022. This estimated speed is much faster than the present speed being provided to Gram Panchayats and will enable fast Internet surfing and download of data. It aims to attract $100 billion investment and create 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022 in the digital communication sector. This will also ensure connectivity to all uncovered areas. The policy advocates establishment of National Digital Grid by creating a National Fibre Authority.