Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

Notes:
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.

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:
Suresh Chukkapalli, Chairman of Phoenix Group of Hyderabad, has been appointed as Honorary Consul General in Hyderabad by the Republic of Korea, with consular jurisdiction over the state of Telangana. He was given charge/invested formally at a ceremony in New Delhi.

Notes:
The book titled “Dreamnation: Uniting a Country with Handwritten Dreams” has been co-authored by Saji Mathew and Jubie John and is published by Bloomsbury. Its’ an illustrative book containing inspiring words of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, which was released online by Indian women cricket team captain Mithali Raj on the 86th birth anniversary of the former Indian President. It has been neatly divided into four sections — Spark, Resilience, Decision, and Take-off, each based on a dream-quote of the Missile Man of India. The book includes a collection of 200-plus handcrafted and handwritten postcards from across India

Notes:
The Assam government has recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and Terms of Reference (ToR) with Singapore for skilling over 78,000 rural youths in the state by 2019 and greening Guwahati. The MoU and ToR for setting up the North East Skills Centre (NESC) was signed between Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department of Assam government and ITE Education Service of Singapore. The NESC will train up to 400 students each year. The MoU for Guwahati city’s greening was inked between the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority and Singapore Corporation Enterprise.

Notes:
The World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD) is observed every year on November 5 to spread awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of tsunami and shall stress on the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage from the often devastating natural hazard. It also aims at reviving traditional knowledge about tsunamis.

Notes:
Kenneth Juster, a top economic expert on India, has been appointed as the new US Ambassador to India, which is unanimously confirmed by US Senate on November 3, 2017. He will replace Indian-American Richard Verma as the top American diplomat to India. The position has been lying vacant since January 20 after Mr. Verma resigned from the post after the swearing-in of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the U.S.

Notes:
The awards for the ‘Best Urban Transport Practices’ were announced by Central Government at UMI Conference in Hyderabad on November 6, 2017 . In it, Surat Municipal Corporation has been chosen for the ‘Best City Bus Services Award’ by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for succeeding in attracting 87% of the private vehicle and auto rickshaw users to use city buses. Mysuru’s Public Bicycle Sharing has won the ‘Best Non-Motorised Transport’ Award while Kochi (Kerala) has been chosen for the ‘Best Urban Transport Initiative’ Award for completing its Metro Rail Project in a quick time besides integrating the metro with other modes of transport.

Notes:
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new Finance Secretary of India. Adhia is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre. The post was vacant after former Finance and Expenditure Secretary Ashok Lavasa retired on October 31, 2017. As per the convention, the senior most Secretary in the Finance Ministry is designated as the Finance Secretary. Adhia’s appointment comes ahead of the 10 November GST Council meeting in Guwahati that is likely to see a revision in the tax rates for some common use items and easier GST returns filing norms for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

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.