Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

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 2nd edition of India International Cherry Blossom festival, which is the World’s only autumn cherry blossom festival, has started on November 8, 2017 in Shillong, Meghalaya. The 4-day festival is being organized by Government of Meghalaya, Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development with support from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. According to Meghalaya government, such festivals will not only boost tourism but also protect and preserve the forest and wildlife biodiversity. The festival has successfully attracted a large number of tourists from different parts of the country and abroad. The festival will also have guided night walks under illuminated cherry blossoms, live music, and stalls showcasing the cuisine, wine, arts and craft of the region. In it, the state government has also released the special cover of the 2nd India International Cherry Blossom Festival Postage Stamp.

Notes:
H S Prannoy has won the men’s singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship Senior National Badminton Championships in Nagpur, Maharashtra on November 8, 2017. He defeated higher ranked Kidambi Srikanth in the final by 21- 15, 16- 21, 21-7.

Notes:
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted a flight test of its indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’, which can carry warheads of up to 300 kg. The state-of-the-art missile was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, Odisha. The missile has the capability to cruise at the speed of 0.7 Mach and loiter at altitudes as low as 100 m. Powered by a solid rocket motor booster, Nirbhay missile with a turbo-fan engine is guided by a highly advanced inertial navigation system. The missile is capable of carrying 24 kinds of war weapons, the missile is able to target multiple places simultaneously. Nirbhay is very manoeuvrable and can fly at tree-top level, making it difficult to detect on radar, and strikes targets of 1,000 km away carrying nuclear warheads, giving India the capability to strike deep into enemy territory.

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Indian boxer M C Mary Kom won gold medal in 48kg category at Asian women’s Boxing Championships by defeating North Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam on November 8, 2017. It is her first Asian gold medal in this category.

Notes:
Natalie Portman, an acclaimed Israeli-born actress and director, has been awarded Israel’s 2018 Genesis Prize in recognition of her commitment to social causes and deep connection to her Jewish and Israeli roots. It is announced by the Genesis Prize Foundation on November 7, 2017. The $1 million award, known as “the Jewish Nobel Prize,” is granted each year to a person recognised as an inspiration to the next generation of Jews through professional achievement and commitment to Jewish values. Ms. Portman is the fifth winner and first woman to receive the prize.

Notes:
The think tank NITI Aayog in collaboration with Proffer, a blockchain startup founded by graduates of MIT and Harvard, will organise a ‘Blockchain Summit’ and hackathon at IIT Delhi from Nov 10-13, 2017. The objective of the event is to explore how blockchain architectures can enable a new digital infrastructure for India, improving efficiency, transparency, privacy, and cost across all sectors. 1,500+ students from IITs, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, and top engineering institutions around the world will be participating in the event, with 500 attending in-person on IIT Delhi’s campus. Multinational majors that include Microsoft, IBM, Accel, Coinbase, and Amazon AWS are sponsoring $17,000+ in prizes to reward the top 5 blockchain-based applications addressing problems in government/enterprise infrastructure, finance, energy markets, supply chain, decentralized Aadhar identities, information exchange, and more.

Notes:
The Mathikettan Shola National Park (MSNS) is located in Poopara village of Udumbanchola taluk in Idukki district of Kerala and covers an area of 12.82 square kilometres. It is notified as a national park to protect the wildlife and rich biodiversity of the area. It is home to beautiful and rare animals like panthers, wild elephants, spotted deer, Nilgiri tahrs and giant grizzled squirrels, etc. Among reptiles, species like rat snakes, crocodiles, vipers, cobras, turtles, lizards and pythons inhabit the park.

Notes:
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India. Its headquarters is located in New Delhi. Recently, it is in news because Consumer Affairs Ministry led-Price Stabilization Fund Management Committee (PSFMC) has decided to import onions through government agency to augment the availability of onions in market and moderate prices in New Delhi. In it, Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash Srivastava stated that NAFED will procure 10 thousand tonnes and the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) two thousand tonne of onions from producing areas and supply it to consuming areas to enhance its availability.