Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2017

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.

Notes:
India has become the 42nd participating State of Wassenaar Arrangement after completing the internal procedures in Vienna on December 8, 2017. The membership will facilitate high-technology tie-ups for country’s defence and space programmes. This membership is the second diplomatic success for India for the membership of export control regimes after it joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016. India’s entry into the export control regime would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Wassenaar Arrangement is an elite club of countries which subscribe to arms export controls, similar to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the MTCR.

Notes:
Giriraj Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MSME, has launched a Public Procurement Portal ‘MSME Sambandh’ in New Delhi on December 8, 2017. The purpose of the portal is to monitor the implementation of the Public Procurement from MSEs by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The procurement policy mandates the Central government departments/CPSEs to procure an overall 20% of their total annual purchases from MSEs.

Notes:
Pistol aces Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu bagged a bronze each to continue India’s medal charge at the 10th Asian Championship 10m Rifle/Pistol in Wako City, Japan on December 10, 2017. Jitu won an individual bronze in the men’s 10m Air Pistol, which also helped the Indian team comprising Shahzar Rizvi and Omkar Singh besides Jitu, to bag the Team gold in the event.Heena claimed an individual bronze in the women’s 10m Air Pistol. Her effort, along with teammates Shri Nivetha Paramantham and Harveen Srao, helped the Team clinch a silver. India added another individual bronze through Anmol Jain in the junior men’s 10m Air Pistol as well as the Team silver in the event, with combined efforts of Anmol, Gaurav Rana and Abhishek Arya.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has decided to recognize political prisoners held in jails during emergency 1975-77 as ‘Loktantra Sainani’. The state Cabinet has decided to change the name of Rajasthan Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Rules (DIR) 2008 to the Rajasthan Loktantra Sainani samman Nidhi 2008. So far, only those persons who were detained under MISA and DIR and kept in any of Rajasthan jails were given the per month pension of Rs. 12,000 and a monthly allowance of Rs. 1200. After the cabinet decision, citizen of Rajasthan who were held in any jail in the country during emergency period will also be eligible for this pension. At the same time, such people will not need to produce the certificate of the respective Jail Superintendent or Superintendent of Police for getting pension. Now only self certification has to be given. The government will direct all the district collectors to invite such Loktantra Sainanis to the programs on Republic Day and Independence Day to be organized at district level.

Notes:
The 90th edition of Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has started in New Delhi, which was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13, 2017. It was the Mr Modi’s first address to an AGM of a national business association after becoming the Prime Minister. It was his first major interaction with India Inc since the launch of GST. The theme of this year’s AGM is, ‘Indian Business in a New India’. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia are also scheduled to address different sessions of the AGM. Finance Ministers of Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir will speak on GST at a special session during the AGM.

Notes:
OBOPAY, the global mobile payment solutions company, has recently secured a license for Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate a semi-closed loop wallet in India. Using the PPI license, OBOPAY will solve various payment related problems for their partner clients – bringing efficiency and transparency to the payments process, improving reporting, and reducing turnaround times for funds transfers. The PPI license can be implemented in a variety of industry segments. The license will enable the customers to do everything a prepaid payment instrument does: P2P, cash-in, bill payments, mobile recharge, and shopping. The headquarters of OBOPAY is located at California, United States.

Notes:
The 2nd UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development was held in Muscat, Oman from December 11 to 12, 2017. This conference was hosted by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman. It was conducted within the framework of International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017) to build and strengthen partnerships between the Tourism and Culture sectors. The conference discussed the synergies and strategies for the sustainable development of cultural tourism that generate resources for the conservation of cultural heritage while creating socio-economic benefits for the communities.

Notes:
India has been ranked 100th out of 149 countries at the 11th edition of Legatum Prosperity Index (LPI-2017). The index offers an insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world. It is the world’s leading global measure of economic and social well-being that studies 104 indicators under these categories: Economic Quality, Business Environment, Governance, Personal Freedom, Social Capital, Safety and Security, Education, Health and Natural Environment. The list is topped by Norway, followed by New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.

Notes:
The Karnataka government will soon launch a digital platform “Seva Sindhu” to address the issues of the common citizens in order to strengthen the ecosystem for government services. For this, the state cabinet has ratified the proposal of “Seva Sindhu. The interactive platform would provide all useful information about local events, employment opportunities, and others. The portal will provide services like income, domicile, caste, birth, death certificates, ration card, approval of social welfare schemes and other administrative work.