Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

Notes:
The 36th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2017 has open at the Expo Centre in Sharjah on November 1 with theme “A World inside My Book”. The book fair will see the participation of 1,650 publishing houses from 60 countries. More than 15 lakh titles will be on display throughout the 11 day celebration of literature, knowledge and culture. The 2017 edition will feature 393 guests from 48 countries who will take part in more than 2,600 events. The United Kingdom (UK) will be the ‘Country of Honour’ at the Book Fair. The SIBF is an annual event and is considered the 3rd largest book Fair in the world. The most extensive of the programmes on offer at this year’s edition is the Kids’ Programme, which will see 1,632 activities presented by 44 guests from 20 countries. Publication Division is also participating in the SIBF 2017 with its latest collection of books.

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Japanese lawmakers have reelected Shinzo Abe as the country’s 95th Prime Minister on November 1, 2017 after his party won a landslide victory in last month’s general election. Abe was reelected by both Houses of the Diet. The prime minister will now form his cabinet. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reappointed all of his Cabinet Ministers, following his reelection by the Diet as country’s leader, to ensure continuity of his policies.

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The 9th edition of CMS Vatavaran, India’s only International Environment & Wildlife Film Festival and Forum, has started at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti in New Delhi on November 2, 2017. The theme of the 5-day fest is “Conservation 4 Water”. The aim of fest is to create awareness and sensitize people through films and discussions regarding water conservation and the inter-connectedness of climate change and water, water struggles in a world dealing with global warming, climate variability, bio-diversity loss, and environmental damage. It will showcase 113 films, including four from Kashmir, one of the most ecologically sensitive zones facing the threat of global warming. The event is supported and partnered by Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, National Geographic, UNESCO, UNDP and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

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The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has increased the maximum age of joining National Pension Scheme (NPS) Private Sector from the 60 to 65 years of age to increase the pension coverage in the country. Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident, of 60-65 years of age can join the NPS and continue up to the age of 70 years. A subscriber joining NPS after the age of 60 years will now have an option of normal exit from NPS after completion of three years. In this case, the subscriber will be required to utilise at least 40% of the corpus for purchase of annuity and the remaining amount can be withdrawn in lumpsum. However, if the subscriber wants to exit from NPS before completion of 3 years, he or she will have to utilize at-least 80% of the corpus for purchase of annuity and the remaining can be withdrawn in lumpsum. In case of death of the subscriber during his/her stay in NPS, the entire corpus will be paid to the nominee of the subscriber.

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The 21st World Congress of Mental Health has started in New Delhi with theme “Partnerships for Mental Health” on November 2, 2017, which is organised by the World Federation for Mental Health in partnership with Caring Foundation and other institutions. It was inaugurated by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. The 4-day WFMH World Congress is hosted in the SAARC region for the first time and will witness participation of over 1000 delegates from across the world. It will have sessions on yoga, meditation and traditional approaches to mental health.

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PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 3-day long World Food India (WFI) 2017 fair at the India Gate Lawns in New Delhi on November 3, 2017, which aimed to attract $10 billion investment in food processing sector and to generate 1 million jobs in the next 3 years in India. The purpose of the WFI 2017 is to transform food economy and realize the vision of doubling of farmers’ income by establishing India as a preferred investment destination and sourcing hub for the global food processing industry. Approx 200 companies from 30 countries, 18 ministerial and business delegations, etc are participating in the food fair.

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The Pan India scholarship program for school children “Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana” has launched by Union Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha to increase the reach of Philately. Under the scheme of SPARSH, the annual scholarships will be awarded to children of Standard VI to IX having good academic record and also pursuing Philately as a hobby through a competitive selection process in all postal circles. Every Postal Circle will select a maximum of 40 scholarships representing 10 students each from Standard VI, VII, VIII & IX. The amount of Scholarship will be Rs. 6000/- per annum @ Rs. 500/- per month. The acronym ‘SPARSH’ stands for “Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby”.

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The 2017 World Youth Forum has started at Sharam El Shiekh in Egypt on November 4, 2017. The 5-day forum has inaugurated by the President of Egypt Mr Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. From India, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Col Rajyavardhan Rathore is participating in the forum. The Forum aims to provide a platform to the youth from all over the globe to engage with the key global policy makers. It will also cover role of youth in business and innovation, challenges and making of future leaders, gender equity and women empowerment among other things. The Summit segment is expected to be attended by the Heads of State/Government, Ministers of youth from 14 countries and representatives of UN, Arab League and the African Union.

Notes:
The India women’s national field hockey team has won the 2017 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup Tournament by defeating China in the final by 5-4 via a shootout at Kakamigahara in Japan on November 5, 2017. Savita was adjudged Goalkeeper-of-the-Tournament while Monica won the Woman-of-the-Match award. With this win, Indian team has qualified for the 2018 Women’s Hockey World Cup i.e. scheduled to be held in England. South Korea secured third place with a 1-0 win over Japan. India had to wait long for their second Women’s Asia Cup title with the last one coming way back in 2004, when they had beaten Japan in New Delhi for the trophy. The triumph of the Indian women’s team follows the Asia Cup victory of the men’s side in October 2107.

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Mohan Joshi, the veteran Indian film and television actor, has been honoured with the prestigious Vishnudas Bhave award for his contribution to theatre on November 5, 2017. He was honoured with the award at a ceremony held in Sangli on the eve of Marathi Rangbhumi Din. Joshi has acted in a number of Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Kannada films, besides in plays. The award is conferred in memory of Vishnudas Bhave, the founder of Marathi theatre. The award includes a trophy, a citation and a cash of Rs 25,000.