Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
The 3-day international exhibition – ‘World Dental Show 2017’ has opened in Mumbai, Maharashtra  on October 6, 2017 to showcase the evolving global technologies and techniques in dentistry. The show will facilitate the exhibitors from across the globe to meet the ‘who is who’ in the Indian dental arena and provide them to use this platform to build networks of influence, launch new products and create awareness about new clinical claims. The exhibition, hosted by the Indian Dental Association (IDA), has witnessed participation from the international exhibitors from China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Russian Federation, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and US.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a mass marriage scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana’. In it, the state government will spend Rs 35,000 on each couple, besides gifting them mobile phones and household items, and the social welfare department will conduct the mass marriages. The marriage programs regarding the scheme will be organized by urban local bodies like Nagar panchayat, Nagar Palika and Nagar Nigam, kshetra panchayats, Zila panchayats, overnment/semi-government organizations and NGOs, which will be authorized by district magistrates of respective districts. As per the scheme, the parents of the brides must be the residents of Uttar Pradesh and must belong to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in order to avail the benefits of the scheme. There must be minimum 10 couples in the mass marriage ceremony.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has appointed senior advocate and former additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan as amicus curiae on a petition seeking reprobe into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The matter is posted for further hearing on October 30, 2017. The petition filed by Mumbai-based Dr. Pankaj Phadnis , a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history. According to petition, there is possibility of involvement of more people in the murder. Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.

Notes:
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Richard H. Thaler for his contributions to behavioural economics. Thaler is an US economist and the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The Nobel Prize for Economics, worth 9 million kronor, will be presented in Oslo on December 10, 2017.

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Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt has clinched the men’s singles title at the Bulgarian International Future Series Badminton tournament on October 9, 2017. Gurusaidutt, who has been out of action since the US Open in July 2016 due to an injury, defeated Muhammed Ali Kurt in the final by 21- 17, 21-16.

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IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy on the institute’s campus. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the institute will host the Samsung Innovation Lab and train students on the Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances. The academy was a part of Samsung’s corporate social initiative that aims at bridging the digital divide in the country by imparting skills to students on cutting-edge technology, Through this partnership with IIT-KGP, the academy planned to train over 100 students in the next three years. The course would be taught over 14 weeks through classroom lectures, assignments, lab room sessions, self-study and mini projects.

Notes:
India has been ranked 8th out of 100 countries on a list of most valuable nation brands, according to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017 report. The list is topped by US, followed by China, Germany, Japan and United Kingdom. In terms of valuation, India’s National Brand Value in 2017 is 2.04 trillion, down one percent from last year’s 2.06 trillion. However, India’s brand rating has improved from ‘AA-‘ to ‘AA’. Despite a rating improvement, India does not feature in the list of 10 best performing nation brands. Iceland topped the ‘Top 10 best performing nation brands’ list. Brand Finance measures the strength and value of the nation brands of 100 leading countries using a method based on the royalty relief mechanism employed to value the world’s largest companies.

Notes:
Rajasthan has become the India’s first state to incorporate skill development programme in higher education. In collaboration with IGNOU, the College Education department has prepared 16 courses for entrepreneurship and skill development for colleges in the state. Under the project, 12 certificates and 4 diploma courses will be run and each college will have to choose five courses.

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The World Bank (WB), in its biannual economic update “South Asia Economic Focus (Fall 2017)”, has reduced India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.0% for 2017-18 from 7.2% estimated earlier. As per report, the unexpected slowdown in India’s growth story is because of the delayed consequence of demonetization, sharp decline in the growth rate of public expenditures and uncertainty created by the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Apart from WB, Both the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have also cut their growth projections for India to 7% and 6.7%, respectively, for fiscal 2017-18.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently approved signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Japan on establishing a Liquid, Flexible and Global LNG Market. The MoC will provides a framework to cooperate in facilitating flexibility in LNG contracts, abolition of Destination Restriction Clause (DRC) and also explore possibilities of cooperation in establishing reliable LNG spot price indices, reflecting true LNG demand and supply. This MoC is expected to be signed during the forthcoming visit of Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship during October 16-18, 2017 at Tokyo. Apart from this, India and Japan will also sign MoC for a Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). The TITP is an ambitious program to send Indian technical interns to Japan for on the job training for a period of three to five years.