Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

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The Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has launched a Digital Signature campaign on Constitution Day affirming faith in Indian Constitution and to generate awareness on fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution. People can join the campaign by filling a form online. The Constitution Day is celebrated every year in India on 26 November to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950.

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Nine States and the Union territory of Lakshadweep have entered into collaboration with the Film Facilitation Office (FFO) of Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to showcase their shooting locations to filmmakers from India and abroad. These States are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Karnataka and Delhi. The Film Offices of these States entered into collaboration with FFO and NFDC at Film Bazaar, which was organized under the banner of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Panaji in Goa. The focus of the 5-day event of Film Bazaar was on discovering, supporting and showcasing South Asian content and talent in filmmaking, production and distribution. The headquarters of NFDC is located in Mumbai to encourage high quality Indian cinema.

Notes:
The 2017 Constitution Day (or Samvidhan Divas) is celebrated every year in India on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950. From 2015, the Government of India (GoI) is observing 26th November as Constitution Day. On the occasion of Constitution Day, in 2017, the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has launched a Digital Signature campaign to generate awareness on fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution. People can join the campaign by filling a form online.

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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.

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Private sector lender Axis Bank has recently launched instant international payment services using Ripple’s enterprise blockchain technology solution for retail and corporate customers. The bank has launched a service for its retail customers in India to receive payments from RAKBANK in UAE and for its corporate customers in India to receive payments from Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. Ripple makes international remittances faster and transparent for customers while ensuring security and improving efficiencies. The transactions reach their destination account in minutes, with the certainty of settlement, and with end-to-end visibility over the journey of the payment.

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India and Russia have recently signed anti-terror pact to help each other in combating terrorism. The agreement between the two countries for cooperation in tackling all forms of terrorism was signed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Russia’s Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev in Moscow, Russia. Indian and Russian representatives also signed a joint action plan for countering the threat posed by narcotics. This agreement will provide legal framework for bilateral cooperation in this field.

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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.

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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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In its 2018 edition of Indian Pharmacopoeia, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has approved modern, animal-free tests for drug manufacturers. This step would spare animals from suffering due to drug experiments. The 2018 edition of Indian Pharmacopoeia has provided guidelines on tests for drugs manufactured and marketed in India. In it, IPC has replaced the pyrogen test carried out on rabbits and the abnormal toxicity test carried out on guinea pigs and mice with tests that can be done in test tubes. The guidelines in the edition will come into effect from July 1. The pyrogen test is carried out to check impurity or substance that can cause adverse side-effects. For the test, the drug is injected into a rabbit and the animal is closely observed for feverish symptoms. The abnormal toxicity test is carried out to check potential hazardous biological contamination in vaccine formulation. IPC is an autonomous institution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which sets standards for all drugs that are manufactured, sold and consumed in India. It is headquartered in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.