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.

Notes:
K Satchidanandan, noted Malayalam Poet and literary critic, has been selected for the prestigious 2017 Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary award of the Government of Kerala, him for his contributions to Malayalam literature and poetry. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation. Satchidanandan is the former Editor of Indian Literature journal and the former Secretary of Sahitya Akademi. He is also a public intellectual of repute upholding secular anti-caste views, supporting causes like environment, human rights and free software and a well known speaker on issues concerning contemporary Indian literature. Moreover, he is the festival director of Kerala Literature Festival.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang won a silver medal in the men’s 50m rifle prone event of the Commonwealth Shooting Championships on November 2, 2017. Another Indian, Swapnil Suresh Kusale bagged the bronze in the same event, while Dane Sampson of Australia won the gold. In women’s 25m pistol final, India’s Suraj Singh won the bronze, while the gold and silver went to host country’s L Yaumleuskay and E Galiabovitch respectively.

Notes:
Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, has led the Indian delegation at the IEF  7th Asia Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER7), which took place in Bangkok, Thailand from 1-3 November 2017. India is the current chair of International Energy Forum (IEF) which is promoting the AMER – a biennial event bringing together Energy Ministers and experts from Asian countries.

Notes:
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”.

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:
The Punjab government will soon start a campaign to organise village level sports tournaments across the state in order to wipe out the menace of drugs. These tournaments will promote sportsmanship amongst the youth besides channelizing their unbounded energy in a positive direction. In these games, the dope test will be made mandatory in order to ensure free and fair competition in these tournaments.

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:
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.