Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

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The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. Its headquarters are located in London, England.

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IKEA, the Swedish furnishing retailer, has launched its first experiential centre “IKEA Hej (Hello) HOME’ in India at Hyderabad. The Hej Home, designed and set up over a six-month duration, highlights what the retailer stands for and what to expect from an IKEA store. It is an exhibition of IKEA products and solutions which its future customers can actually buy it from its store (in Hyderabad) in spring 2018. The display includes the bedroom, living area, kitchen and dining, play area among others. After the Hyderabad store, the second store will open in Mumbai during 2019, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi NCR.

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Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister, has chaired the 12th Standing Committee meeting of the Inter-State Council (ISC) in New Delhi on November 25, 2017. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations. The issues discussed in meeting included, financial transfers from Centre to States, GST, devolution of functions to local bodies, district planning, special provisions for Fifth and Sixth scheduled areas, communal harmony, deployment of central forces, migration and criminal justice system. The committee also finalized 118 recommendations.

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Gopi Thonakal from Kerala has become the first Indian man to win Asian Marathon Championship. He achieved the feat in the 16th edition of the prestigious event, at Dongguan in China on November 26, 2017. Gopi clocked 2 hours 15 minutes and 48 seconds to clinch gold. He, thus, became the first Indian man to win the title after the formation of separate Asian Marathon championships. Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan bagged silver while Byambalev Tseveenravdan of Mongolia won bronze. Earlier, Asha Agarwal won the women’s title when it was part of the biennial Asian Track and Field Championships.

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The Band-e Amir National Park is the Afghanistan’s first national park, located in the Bamyan Province. It is a series of six deep blue lakes separated by natural dams made of travertine, a mineral deposit. The site of Band-e Amir has been described as Afghanistan’s Grand Canyon, and draws thousands of tourists a year. The river is part of the system of the Balkh River.

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The Golden Temple in Amritsar has officially been declared the most visited place of the world in 2017 by London-based organization World Book of Records (WBR). The WBR team presented the award certificate to Shriomani Gurdwara Pharbandhak Committee (SGPC), the management body of the Golden Temple. The certificate was given to Golden Temple as over a lakh devotees visit the holy shrine every day. The award, which is bestowed after every three months, has been conferred basis observations made from September 2017. The international organization, established in 2015, catalogues and verifies world records with authentic certification. The Golden Temple stands as a symbol of peace, unity and spirituality and is the holiest pilgrimage site of Sikhism.

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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.

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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.

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The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted the regional level marine oil pollution response exercise ‘Clean Sea-2017’ at sea off Port Blair on November 29. The purpose of the exercise was to ascertain preparedness of the ICG, resource agencies and other stakeholders in responding to a major oil spill in line with the provisions of the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP). The highlight of the exercise was participation of one ICG Pollution Control Vessel and integration of the Indian Coast Guard Dornier/Chetak aircraft into the Oil Spill Disaster Management System for aerial assessment/ delivery of Oil Spill Dispersant for mitigation of the spilled oil. The Indian Coast Guard has established three pollution response centres at Mumbai, Chennai and Port Blair. It is responsible for marine environment protection in the maritime zones of India and is the coordinating authority for response to oil spills in Indian waters.

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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.