Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2017

Notes:
The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has unanimously passed a Bill awarding death to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 and below on December 4, 2017. With this, Madhya Pradesh has become the India’s first State where those convicted of such rapes will face the gallows. The Capital punishment would be awarded to convicts under Section 376 (A), which is related to rape, and Section 376 (D, A), pertaining to gang rape. The Bill will now be sent to the President for his assent after which it will become a law.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the BR Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on December 7, 2017 to encourage research and original thinking among the youth. The purpose of the centre is to promote the thoughts and teachings of Dr Ambedkar. It will be an important place for research on social and economic issues. The prime minister also unveiled two statues of the Dalit icon at the centre in Janpath.

Notes:
The 11th Ministerial conference of the 164-member World Trade Organization (WTO) has started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 10, 2017. At the meeting, India is represented by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu who will be pushing for a permanent solution to the public food stock-holding issue which is crucial for operating the food security programme. In it, he will not only have to safeguard the interests of Indian farmers, but will also have to put his foot down on blocking introduction of new issues such as e-commerce. During the course of the 4-day deliberations, the developing nations will resist the efforts by the developed nations to formally set aside the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and place new issues including e-commerce on the negotiating table.

Notes:
Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker booked their men’s and women’s quota places for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) by winning a gold and a silver each at the 10th Asian Championship 10M Rifle/Pistol at Wako City, Japan on December 11, 2017. Chaudhary won both the individual as well as the Team gold in the men’s 10m Air Pistol Youth event, while Bhaker clinched a silver in the women’s 10m Air Pistol Youth. Earlier, Mehuli Ghosh and Tushar Mane became the first Indian shooters to secure the women’s and men’s quota places for the 2018 YOG by winning a gold and bronze each in the tournament. In all, India added four medals to their kitty on the final day of the competition to finish with a total haul of 21 medals over four days, including six gold, eight silver and seven bronze, besides four Youth Olympic Games (YOG) quotas.

Notes:
The Australian hockey team has defeated Rio Olympics champions Argentina 2-1 in the final of the Hockey World League Final to win gold at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on December 11, 2017. Goals from Blake Govers and Jeremy Hayward helped the defending champions to beat Argentina hockey team. Earlier in the day, India reclaimed the bronze medal in the tournament. In the third-fourth place classification match, they defeated Germany 2-1. Indian took the lead in the 21st minute through SV Sunil. Germany equalised through its reserve custodian Mark Appel in the 36th minute. A penalty corner conversion by Harmanpreet Singh in the 54th minute sealed the win and the third place for the Indians. India had also won the bronze in the last edition of the tournament in Raipur in 2015

Notes:
Ram Naik, the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, has officially launched the new multi-coloured logo for the Allahabad Kumbh Mela 2019 in Lucknow on December 12, 2017. The logo consists of temples, seers, a kalash (pitcher) and a ‘Swastika’. . All official documents, government advertisements and hoardings would carry the logo to remind people about the event. A website to facilitate tourists was also launched. Naik has also launched the Kumbh’s tagline “Chalo Kumbh Chalo-Chalo, Kumbh Chalo”, Uttar Pradesh Tourism’s slogan “UP Nahin Dekha to India Nahin Dekha” and a one-stop travel solution portal. Recently, Kumbh Mela was recognised by the UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” on December 7, 2017. The festival is held at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik every four years by rotation and is attended by millions of people irrespective of caste, creed or gender.
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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.

Notes:
Jitesh Singh Deo from Lucknow has won the title of Peter England Mr India 2017 at the Bandra Fort in Mumbai, Maharashtra on December 14, 2017. Now, he will represent India in Mr World for 2020. Following him, Indian footballer Prathamesh Maulingkar won the title of Peter England Mr. India Supranational 2017 and will compete at Mr. Supranational 2018. Abhi Khajuria and Pavan Rao won the titles of Peter England Mr. India 1st Runner-Up and Peter England Mr. India 2nd Runner-Up, respectively.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared Gabon a “polio-free country” because of lack of new reported or suspected cases in the central African country. Polio is a highly-infectious viral disease which mainly affects young children and can result in permanent paralysis. There is no cure and it can only be prevented through immunization. The cases of polio have decreased by 99% since 1988, when polio was endemic in 125 countries and 350,000 cases were recorded worldwide. Now the disease is endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the WHO recorded four cases this year—two in each country. Last year, there were 37 cases globally.

Notes:
The Gita Research Institute will soon be set up by the Uttar Pradesh government in Mathura for research on Gayan (singing), Vadan (the art of music) and Nratya (dance) of the Krishna age. It is a research institute for the study of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’.