Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

Notes:
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, an Indian table tennis player from Tamil Nadu, has clinched the men’s singles gold medal at the 2017 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open in Almeria, Spain. Sathiyan beat Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura 11-7 3-11 11-6 6-11 13-11 11-7 in the men singles final on November 26, 2017. He is currently being supported by the Go Sports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the India’s first mission to the Sun “Aditya-L1 mission” from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on the PSLV- XL launch vehicle in 2019. The Aditya-1 mission was conceived as a 400kg class satellite carrying one payload, the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) and was planned to launch in 800 km low earth orbit. It will be launched into the halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. This orbit has the advantage of allowing continuous monitoring of the sun. The main aim of the solar mission is to improve the understanding of dynamical processes of the sun and help resolve some outstanding questions in solar physics.

Notes:
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Defence Minister, has been elected as the new President of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA). The IDSA was set up in 1965 by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as an autonomous think tank, and it is customary to have the Defence Minister as its President. The Minister chairs the Executive Council which governs the Institute. IDSA is funded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and its faculty conducts research in military, foreign and strategic affairs. Significantly, the Government has sought its views before taking major policy initiatives, like conducting nuclear tests, as in 1974 and 1998. IDSA also executes specific assignments from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The headquarters of IDSA is loacted in New Delhi.

Notes:
Shaktikanta Das, the former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has been appointed as India’s G20 Sherpa till December 31, 2018 for the Development Track of the G20 summit. There are two tracks in G-20 — Finance Track and Development Track. Finance Track is managed by the secretary (economic affairs) as India’s Deputy to G-20 and the Development Track is coordinated by the Sherpa. A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit meeting such as the G8, G20 or the Nuclear Security Summit and are responsible for thrashing out the details before the meeting of the leaders. There is only one Sherpa per Summit for each member country; he/she is assisted by several sous Sherpas. Prior to Das, former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, held the responsibility of the G20 Sherpa.

Notes:
Pradeep Singh Kharola, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India. He will succeed Rajiv Bansal, who has been serving as the interim CMD for a little over 3 months. Currently, Mr. Kharola is the Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.

Notes:
The first edition of the International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE 2017) has started in Jaipur, Rajasthan on November 27, 2017. The 5-day symposium is being organized by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in partnership with World Bank (WB) and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE). INSPIRE 2017 is a global conference which aims to bring together various stakeholders like policymakers, innovators, financiers to showcase best practices in the sector. It is designed to provide global and national thought-leaders and implementers to expand perspectives on energy efficiency. Approx 350 participants from 13 countries across North America, Asia, Europe and Middle East are attending the event.

Notes:
Badri Narain Sharma, the 1985 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed the chairman of the newly constituted National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Prior to this appointment, Sharma was an Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue. The NAA has been set up for a two-year period and is mandated to ensure that the benefits of input credit and the reduction in tax rates effected by the GST Council are passed on to the consumers.

Notes:
Professor Hiroshi Marui of Japan has been conferred with the 3rd Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Distinguished Indologist Award -2017 by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, for his exemplary contribution to Indology at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Professor Marui has spent over 40 years working on Indian philosophy and Buddhist Studies. His many acclaimed publications and research papers are considered a final authority on several subjects the world over.

Notes:
The Bank of Baroda (BoB) has launched a digital supply chain finance solution to offer working capital loans to small and medium enterprise and large corporate clients. The solution will cover pre and post shipment products – dealer or channel finance, vendor finance and payable finance. This service will accelerate working capital loans by enhancing reporting capabilities. It will bring down the risk and ensure greater satisfaction to the clients.

Notes:
Mirabai Chanu from Manipur has become the first Indian in over two decades to claim a gold medal at the International Weightlifting Federation World Weightlifting Championship (IWFWWC) in Anaheim, USA on November 30, 2017. Chanu lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the women’s 48kg, in the process setting a new national record. Two decades earlier, Olympic bronze medalist Karnam Malleshwari had won the top prize in worlds twice – in 1994 and 1995.