Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

Notes:
India has gained 30 places to rank 100th among 190 countries in the latest ease of doing business ranking by the World Bank (WB), in its Doing Business 2018 report. The improvement was due to a slew of reforms in taxation, licensing, investor protection and bankruptcy resolution. New Zealand has topped the list, followed by Singapore, Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong, United States and United Kingdom.

Notes:
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).

Notes:
The Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS) is situatuted in Jharkhand and is about 89 km north of Ranchi. It covers an area of 184 km2. It is home to leopards, pantherswild boars tigers, sambar, nilgai, chital, peafowl, sloth bears, black bears, hyenas and pigeons.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Science (DIPAS) of DRDO is organizing the International Conference on Human Physiology – VII Congress of Federation of Indian Physiological Societies (FIPS) “FIPSPHYSIOCON 2017” along with XXIX Annual Conference of the Physiological Society of India (PSI) in New Delhi from November 5-7, 2017. The purpose of the conference is to update the scientific community about most recent advances in human Physiology in extreme environments, Neuroscience, Yoga, Sport Physiology and translational research.

Notes:
The annual ‘Bali Jatra’ festival was started in the city of Cuttack at Gadagadia Ghata of the Mahanadi river, Odisha on November 4, 2017. The week-long famous fair on an area of 30 acres on the river bank will continue till November 10. The fest is celebrated to mark the day when ancient traders of Odisha would set sail to distant lands of Bali, as well as Java, Sumatra, Borneo (all in Indonesia), and Sri Lanka for trade and cultural expansion.  It is celebrated every year from the day of Kartika Purnima according to the Oriya Calendar. In all, Bali Jatra bears testimony to the rich maritime legacy of ancient Odisha.

Notes:
The Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) is a 400-hectare zoo and botanical garden in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It is home to endangered species such as the Asiatic lion, three Indian crocodilians, Sangal lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri langur, Indian pangolin, mouse deer and countless birds, reptiles and fish that have been breeding successfully. The zoo includes 34 aquaria which are home to a large variety of fresh water fish. It also enjoys a good reputation internationally for successfully breeding black panthers, gharials, and white tigers in captivity.

Notes:
The 2-day conference of Ministers for Power and New and Renewable Energy of States and Union Territories will be held at Rajgir in Bihar from November 10, 2017. The conference will be inaugurated by Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh. The objective of the conference is to review the implementation of various ongoing schemes and deliberate upon a host of issues pertaining to Power and Renewable Energy sectors. Ministers and Secretaries of States and senior officials will participate in the conference.

Notes:
Binoy Kumar, a 1983-batch IAS officer of the Telangana cadre, has been appointed the new Special Secretary in commerce ministry. He is the Director General of Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D), the procurement arm of the central government that closed on October 31. The closure of the DGS&D follows the governments shift to the commerce ministry’s e-market platform (GeM) launched in 2016 for public procurement of goods and services. DGS&D has its origin in the India Stores Department, which was established in 1860 in London by the British for a centralised purchase of goods for India.

Notes:
India has pledged additional 100 million towards India-UN Development Partnership Fund to help the poorest nations achieve the world organisation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce poverty and raise the quality of life. This contribution would be in addition to 10.582 million India is contributing to various other UN programmes. Anjani Kumar, a Counsellor in India’s UN Mission, announced the multi-year contribution at the 2017 UN Pledging Conference for Development Activities on November 6, 2017.