Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

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 parliamentary committee on External Affairs, which will examine the relations between India and China, is headed by Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor. The committee will examine in detail the issue of cooperation between both the countries in international organizations including Doklam standoff. The standing committee has also decided to closely look at India’s “Relations with Myanmar and the Rohingya situation”, India’s “Act East Policy, including BIMSTEC”, the “Situation in the Far East: Japan and North Korea”, India’s engagement with SAARC countries, global terrorism and voting rights for NRIs.

Notes:
India has been ranked 100th out of 119 countries in the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, which is released by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). As per report, India’s score (31.4) is at the high end of the serious category, and is one of the main factors pushing South Asia to the category of worst performing region on the GHI 2017, followed closely by Africa South of the Sahara.The list is topped by Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Chile, Croatia and Cuba. The GHI score is a multidimensional index composed of four indicators—proportion of undernourished in the population, prevalence of child mortality, child stunting, and child wasting. On the severity scale, a GHI score of less than 10 means low prevalence of hunger while a score of more than 50 implies an extremely alarming situation.

Notes:
The 3rd edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF-2017) has inaugurated by Union Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on October 13, 2017. The fest is being jointly conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).The prime objective of the 4-day festival is to instill scientific temper among the masses and showcasing India’s contribution in the field of S&T over the years. It aims to build a strategy for rural India through the advancement of Science and Technology. Further, the science festival also intends to make innovation beneficial for the people and develop technology that is affordable to the masses. Approx 3000 people including young scientists, students,teaching faculties and international delegates are participating in the fest.

Notes:
The International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) is observed every year on October 13 to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. The day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face. The 2017 theme “Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement” seeks to raise global awareness about effective actions, policies and practices taken to reduce exposure to disaster risk at the community level, thereby contributing to saving homes and livelihoods.

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Audrey Azoulay, a French civil servant and politician, has been elected to become the new Director-General (DG) of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She will succeed outgoing DG Irina Bokova of Bulgaria. Azoulay was born in Paris to a Moroccan Jewish family from Essaouira, and is the daughter of Andre Azoulay, who is current adviser to king Mohammed VI of Morocco.

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The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), the public sector undertaking , has become the first Oil Marketing Company (OMC) from India that has started marketing lubricants in Myanmar and has chosen commercial hubs of Yangon and Mandalay.

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Jackson Singh Thounaojam from Manipur is in news recently because he created history at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium by scoring India’s first-ever goal in a FIFA U-17 World Cup during India’s match against Colombia on October 9, 2017. The moment for which the entire country was waiting with baited breath, came in the 82nd minute of the match when Jackson headed home from a corner and the 48000 odd-crowd erupted in sheer joy.

Notes:
Mohun Bagan has won the 37th All India Governor’s Gold Cup football tournament-2017 for the 10th time by defeating Partha Chakra by a narrow 1-0 margin in the final match played at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok on October 15, 2017. Mohun Bagan’s striker GA Kramah scored the lone goal in the seventh minute to win the match.

Notes:
The Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) has launched India’s first commodity options in gold and gave stakeholders a new set of financial instruments to hedge their price risks. It is launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on October 17, 2017. MCX has currently launched a Gold Option contract, with Gold (1 Kg) futures as the underlying asset, with expiry on November 28, 2017 and January 29, 2018. The options product is unique and the first of its kind, giving buyers the right to buy or sell the underlying asset, but no obligation, at a specified price at the expiry. Thus, for buyers, the risk is limited only to the premium paid to the option seller (i.e. Option writer).