Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2017

Notes:
The 14-day long Combined Military exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior- 2017’ between India and the United Kingdom (UK) has started in the Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner of Rajasthan on December 1, 2017. The purpose of this exercise is to increase mutual cooperation and coordination between the two countries. Both armies will learn and share from each other’s experiences. The 20 Rajputana Rifles unit of the Indian Army and the first battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment of the UK Army are participating in the exercise, which is third joint military exercise between the two countries. The first exercise of this series was held in Belgium in 2013 and the second maneuvers were held in the UK in 2015.

Notes:
The World AIDS Day (WAD) is observed every year all over the world on December 1 to raise the public awareness about Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It is a pandemic disease caused due to the infection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Under the 2017 theme “Right to health”, the World Health Organization (WHO) will highlight the need for the 36.7 million people living with HIV and those who are vulnerable and affected by the epidemic, to reach the goal of universal health coverage.

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Indian actor Parvathy Thiruvoth Kottuvatta has won the Best Actor Female Award at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2017) for her role in Malayalam film “Take Off”. The movie, directed by Mahesh Narayan, is based on the ordeal of Indian nurses in the city of Tikrit, Iraq, in 2014. It also won the Special Jury Award which included a Silver Peacock, a certificate and cash prize of Rs 15 lakh. Beside this, Marathi film “Kshitiz A Horizon” (directed by Manouj Kadaamh) won the ICFT Unesco Gandhi Medal 2017. The Prestigious Silver Peacock Award for the Best Debut Film of a Director goes to Director Kiro Russo for the film “Dark Skull”. The theme of IFFI 2017 was “Celebrating the Future of Cinema” and Canada was the focus country.

Notes:
Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Industry and Commerce, was the chief guest for the Shared Value Summit 2017 in New Delhi on December 1. The summit was organised by Shared Value Initiative India, Institute for Competitiveness (India), and SoulAce & India Council on Competitiveness in association with BusinessLine. The theme of the summit was “Equity and Empowerment”. The purpose of the summit is to encourage businesses to adopt the practice of shared value by imbibing the spirit of inclusivity in their business models. The summit aims to provide a platform to identify and address the barriers that exist to equality and empowerment in the Indian society.

Notes:
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed every year on December 3 to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The annual observance of the day was proclaimed in 1992 by a United Nations General Assembly resolution. The 2017 theme is “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all”.

Notes:
The International conference on climate change has inaugurated by Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari to draw attention towards the adverse effects of global warming in the Hindu Kush mountain range. The conference ‘Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya: Developing Solutions towards a Sustainable Future for Asia’ is organized by Nepal’s Ministry for Environment in collaboration with International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The 4-day conference is attended by more than 300 experts from different countries of Asia including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar. V K Saraswat, member of India’s Neeti foundation is leading the Indian delegation in the conference. The Hindu Kush Himalaya, a mountain range that spans from Afghanistan to Myanmar sources 10 major river systems in Asia that provide water, ecosystem services and livelihoods to more than 210 million people. The region holds and distributes water for more than 1.3 billion people living in downstream river basins.

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Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh has launched the UNICEF-ICC’s adolescent campaign “Power of Sports to Shape the Future of Adolescents” in Colombo, Sri Lanka to promote a UNICEF sports initiative for youngsters in South Asia.

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Michael I (96), the former King of Romania, has passed away in Aubonne, Switzerland on December 5, 2017. He ruled Romania twice – first in the 1920s, when he was just five years old and then again from 1940 to 1947. He was one of the last people alive to have served as a head of state during World War Two. King Michael was known for ousting fascist ruler Antonescu and ending his country’s alliance with the Nazis in 1944, switching sides to the Allies. However, in 1947 he was forced to abdicate by the country’s communists, who ruled until the revolution of 1989. He went into exile until the 1990s when he returned to Romania after the fall of the country’s communist leader, Nicolae Ceaucescu. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2016, he retired from public life.

Notes:
The National Commission for Minorities has set up a 3-member committee to look into whether Hindus should get minority status in seven states and a Union Territory where they are not the dominant religious group. The panel, led by the commission’s Vice Chairman George Kurien, has been given three months to submit its report. The commission’s decision is based on a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Upadhyaya, whose petition on the matter was rejected by the Supreme Court on November 10. The court had directed him to approach the minorities’ commission. The states and the Union Territory named in the plea are Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab.

Notes:
United States has officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. With this, the United States will be the first country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. At present, Jerusalem is the seat of the modern Israeli government. It is the home of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, as well as the Israeli Supreme Court. It is the location of the official residence of the prime minister and the president. It is the headquarters of many government ministries. Other countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.