Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

Notes:
The Nameri National Park (NNP) is located in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam and covers an area of 200 km2. This forest has over 600 species. Some notable species are Gmelina arborea, Michelia champaca, Amari and Bonjolokia. The park is an ideal habitat for a host of other animals including the tiger, leopard, sambar, dhole (the Asiatic wild dog), pygmy hog and Indian wild bison. It is home for orchids like Dendrobium, Cymbidiumand Cypripedioideae.

Notes:
Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India, will be honoured with the 2017 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for his leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India’s stature globally. According to a statement from the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Dr Singh was unanimously chosen for the award by an international jury chaired by former President Pranab Mukherjee. The Trust stated that Dr Singh is only the third Indian prime minister to complete two full terms as the PM between 2004 and 2014. The award, named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was announced on the eve of Gandhi’s birth anniversary on November 19, 2017.

Notes:
The World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day to raise awareness and inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. It is observed every year on November 19 and the 2017 theme is “Wastewater”.

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The 42nd World Congress of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) has started in New Delhi on November 19, 2017. The 5-day event is organised for the first time in India, and is the largest medical conference ever organised by the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS). The theme of this 42nd World Congress is “Military Medicine in Transition: Looking Ahead”. The ICMM is an international inter-governmental organisation created in 1921 with its secretariat at Brussels in Belgium and currently has 112 nations as members. Approx350-400 foreign delegates from 80 countries are participating in the event.

Notes:
Jana Novotna (49), a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic, has passed away in Brno, Czech Republic on November 19, 2017. She won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, 12 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles and four mixed doubles titles. She was also inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in 1997, and achieved the No. 1 ranking in doubles.

Notes:
The sixth edition of India’s premier open water swimming competition ” Swimmathon” will be held at Colva beach in South Goa on December 3, 2017. The event had been accredited by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) as the national selection trials. This year, the event will have four categories for both men and women. Around 1000 participants are expected to participate in the event across various categories.

Notes:
Veteran journalist Manik Banerjee, who is also an acclaimed mountaineer, has been conferred with the 2017 Nain Singh-Kishen Singh Life Time Achievement (LTA) award by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) on November 19 for his achievements in mountaineering over a period of four decades and invaluable contribution in promotion of mountaineering. Beside him, Lt col RS Jamwal was presented the IMF Gold Medal. Lt. Col Jamwal has the distinction of reaching the top of Mt. Everest thrice (in 2013, 2016 and 2017) besides climbing many other peaks in Indian Himalaya.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is observing ‘Vasectomy Fortnight’ from November 21 to raise awareness about male sterilisation and to promote the participation of men in family planning. Under this awareness campaign, all states and union territories will observe Vasectomy Fortnight till December 4, 2017 by providing quality of male sterilization services at public health facilities. The theme for this campaign is “Zimmedar Purush ki yehi hai Pehchan, Parivar Niyojan mein jo de Yogdaan”. The Vasectomy fortnight will be observed up to block level with a focus on family planning service delivery along with information, education, communication, and advocacy.

Notes:
Andhra Bank has launched a new scheme “Pattabhi Sitaramayya — Self Business Group (PS-SBG)” on November 21, 2017 to encourage entrepreneurship. The scheme was launched to commemorate the 138th birth anniversary of its founder Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, and the Silver Jubilee of the SHG-Bank linkage programme in the country. Under the scheme, maximum financial assistance will be Rs. 25 lakh without collateral security. The Self Help Groups (SHGs), which have had five years of association with Andhra Bank, will be eligible for the scheme. The SHGs should also have completed three credit rotations with good repayment record to be considered eligible. The bank aims to encourage SHGs to Self Business Group model by helping these collectives take up substantial economic activity. Bank will also facilitate capacity building workshops for SHG members.

Notes:
Basel, a city in northwestern Switzerland, will become the first city to jointly host the Badminton and Para Badminton World Championships after it was awarded the 2019 edition of the Para event. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) confirmed on November 23, 2017 that the two tournaments will be staged simultaneously for the first time. The Swiss city defeated Tokyo to land the 2019 Para Badminton World Championships in a vote which was delayed by the BWF Council to allow “further discussion”. The event will be the last held in the sport before Para Badminton makes its Paralympic Games debut at Tokyo 2020. There will be 14 medal events in badminton at the 2020 Paralympic Games.