Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

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.

Notes:
Nisha Biswal, a former state department official, will head the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a powerful advocacy group of US companies with business interest in India. She is expected to join on November 1, 2017. The USIBC is a part of the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying organisation in the country that wields real political power in Washington.

Notes:
Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the 1988 batch of IFS officer, has been appointed as the new Ambassador to Principality of Monaco, with residence in Paris. He will take his assignment shortly. Presently, he is Ambassador of India to France.

Notes:
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has been bestowed with the 18th edition of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for year 2017 by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 10, 2017. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak is the founder of Sulabh International and has developed and implemented, on a pan India scale, a low cost and appropriate toilet technology popularly known as the Sulabh Shauchalaya system.

Notes:
The 48th Conference of Governors has started at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on October 12, 2017. The 2-day conference is being attended by 27 Governors and 3 Lt. Governors of States and Union Territories. The two-day Conference will deliberate on distinct agenda items in different sessions. The theme of the opening session was ‘New India-2022’. The second session is on the subjects of ‘Higher Education in States’ and ‘Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to Make Youth Employable’. In the third session, to take place on October 13, 2017, Governors will make brief remarks on any special issues pertaining to their respective States/Union Territories. In the concluding session, a brief report on the deliberations will be presented by the respective conveners.

Notes:
Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has been honoured with the 2017 National Awards for senior citizens by President Ramnath Kovind. Sandhu was India’s longest-serving men’s national coach, occupying the position for two decades before he was handed charge of the women campers earlier in 2017. He was the chief coach when India won its maiden Olympic medal in boxing through Vijender Singh in 2008.

Notes:
The Balpakram National Park (BNP) is located near the Garo Hills in Meghalaya and is famous for the golden cat and the barking deer. The park is often referred to as the “abode of perpetual winds” as well as the “land of spirits. Beside this, the park is home to wild water buffalo, red panda, elephant, tiger, etc.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh government has tied up with financial services company Visa for Vizag Digital Dhan Sankalp (VDDS) project, which is an initiative to develop Visakhapatnam into India’s first ‘less cash’ city as well as a Fintech valley. In collaboration with Visa, the state government will make efforts to enable digital payments to educational institutions, small and micro merchants, street market vendors, etc.

Notes:
The Himachal Pradesh government has implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide easy access to curative geriatric health care services by way of additional cover. The scheme will provide top up coverage of Rs. 30,000 per senior citizen to all existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smart card holders in addition to basic coverage of Rs.30,000 in Trust/Society mode. the targeted beneficiaries of this scheme are RSBY enrolled persons aged 60 years and above. The senior citizens of those families that are eligible for RSBY but not currently rolled in this scheme will not get benefit of SCHIS.

Notes:
Indian duo Deborah Herold and Aleena Reji have qualified for the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, which is scheduled to be held at Manchester in England from November 10 to 12. The pair obtained enough points to enter into the qualifying rounds of UCI Cycling World Cup events following their strong show in the Track Asia Cup held at the IGI Sports Complex in New Delhi.