Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2017

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.

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The Beijing 2022 Organising Committee (BOCOG) has recently launched the official emblems for the 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at a ceremony held at the National Aquatic Center in the Chinese capital on December 15, 2017. The emblems for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games have been named “Winter Dream” and “Flying High”, respectively. The emblems combine traditional and modern elements of Chinese culture, as well as features embodying the passion and vitality of winter sports. The chief designer of the two emblems is Lin Cunzhen, deputy dean of China Central Academy of Fine Arts’ Design School.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has recently approved the establishment of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography, as a Category-2 Centre (C2C) of UNESCO, in Hyderabad. The purpose of this Agreement is to establish a training centre towards development of capacity for the countries on the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR), African countries bordering the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, small island countries under the framework of UNESCO. The operational oceanography is an activity of conducting systematic oceanographic studies towards providing information services to various sectors viz. fisherman, disaster management, shipping, ports, coastal states, navy, coast guard, environment, offshore industries for conducting their day-to- day operations.

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The United Nations (UN) International Migrants Day is observed every year on December 18 to recognize the efforts, contributions, and rights of workers and members of their families worldwide. The 2017 theme is “Safe Migration in a World on the Move”

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The Gautam Budha Wildlife Sanctuary (GBWS) is a wildlife sanctuary located in Gaya district of Bihar state and Koderma district of Jharkhand state in east-central India. The sanctuary covers an area of 259 square kilometres. It is home to tigers, leopards, wolves, sloth bears, chitals, chinkaras, and many species of birds.

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Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama “Mo” Farah, who is Britain’s most successful-ever distance runner, has won the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Farah, a four-time Olympic champion, has won his third successive world 10,000m gold medal in London in August 2017. He is the first athlete to win ten global outdoor long-distance titles on the track and the first Briton to win outdoor titles in four World Championships (both consecutively and outright). With this award, he became the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.

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G. Satheesh Reddy, the scientific adviser to Raksha Mantri and Director General of Missiles and Strategic Systems, has been conferred with the prestigious National Design Award. He has bagged this award for his significant national contribution towards indigenous design and development of diversified missile systems, guided weapons, avionics technologies and for his sustained efforts leading to the advancement of aerospace technologies and industries in India.He is known for being a navigation expert and is the only scientist from India holding the distinction of being inducted as Fellow of Royal Institute of Navigation, London and Royal Aeronautical Society, UK.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has signed an agreement with Maruti Suzuki Ltd to impart training to youth and enhance their employment potential. The Flexi MoU was signed by Vijay Kumar Dev, Director General, DGT (MSDE) and Mukesh Kumar Gupta, Vice President (Maruti Suzuki India Limited) in New Delhi on Dec 18, 2017. As part of the agreement, Maruti Suzuki in consultation with Directorate General of Training (DGT) will develop specific training modules as per need of the automobile industry. The company shall conduct courses at pan-India locations leveraging the facilities and services available at ITIs, regional training centers, training centers of training partners, vendors and dealers associated with Maruti Suzuki. The courses include Manufacturing, Automotive Service & Repair, Automotive Body Repair and Automotive Paint Repair.

Notes:
India will host a meeting of WTO member countries in February 2018 to muster support for food security and other issues. This was stated by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu while speaking at an event organised by Apparel Export Promotion Council, AEPC in New Delhi on December 18, 2017. He further stated that the government is trying to call a meeting of almost 30 to 40 countries in Delhi to help multi-lateral process. India has been keenly pushing agriculture issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It has also been raising its voice against bringing new issues, especially those which are not directly linked to trade, on the negotiating table.

Notes:
The 17th Indian Science Communication Congress (ISCC-2017) has started at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi on December 21. It is organized by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Indian Science Writers’ Association (ISWA), Society for Information Science (SIS), Vigyan Bharati (VIBHA) and Indian Science Communication Society (ISCOS). The purpose of the 2-day ISCC-2017 to engage in narratives around India’s scientific wisdom, assess the current status of communicating India’s scientific wisdom and deliberate the ways and means of communicating India’s scientific wisdom to the global audience. The Focal Theme of the ISCC-2017 is “Communicating India’s Scientific Wisdom: Changing Paradigms”.