Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
The Union Law Ministry has finalized the appointment of a Second National Judicial Pay Commission to recommend salary hikes for the 21,000 lower court judges in India. The proposed commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge PV Reddi. The commission will submit its recommendations in early 2019 and the hike again is expected to be given with retrospective effect. The move comes after directions from the Supreme Court in May. The first judicial pay commission, headed by Justice Jagannatha Shetty, was set up in March 1996 and it submitted its report in November 1999. The judges and judicial officers got the last pay hike in 2010, a three-fold jump, from their salaries decided in 1999. The 2010 hike was applied retrospectively from January 1, 2006. The current entry level salary for a junior civil judge is Rs 45000 while a senior judge gets nearly Rs 80,000.

Notes:
M K Sanu, the well-known critic, biographer and orator, has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2017 in recognition of his rich contribution to the Malayalam literature. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a citation and a statuette. Sanu is a permanent member of International body for Human rights. He is also the founding member of Mithram, School for Mentally Handicapped, at Mulanthuruthy village in Ernakulam District, Kerala.

Notes:
The Rajasthan assembly has become the first in India to call attention and adjournment motions and proposals online from legislators to send them to the state government. The new system is expected to save time, labour and use of paper in the functioning of the assembly, and also help legislators in bringing attention to urgent public issues. It will also streamline the exchange of information and reports among respective departments.

Notes:
The 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan from Oct 16-18, 2017. From India, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in the conference to enhance the bilateral engagements in the Oil and Gas sectors within the overall framework of India-Japan Energy Dialogue. The visit also aims to enhance cooperation in establishing a transparent, efficient, truly global and balanced Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market. The conference is a global annual dialogue to promote active dialogue among LNG producers, consumers and other stakeholders with a view to deepening shared understandings of market trends and to develop a global LNG market. Energy Ministers from Qatar, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Japan and other leading hydrocarbon experts will participate in the Conference.

Notes:
Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis tournament by defeating his old rival Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 at Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China. It was a 94th title for the Swiss legend, drawing him level with the great Ivan Lendl. Federer is now close to world number one Nadal in terms of rankings points.

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Noted Indian-American attorney Ajay Raju has been honoured with the 3rd American Bazaar Philanthropy award in recognition of his philanthropic activities in the US. Asif Ismail, publisher of The American Bazaar, an online ethnic news publication about Indian-Americans stated that Raju was honoured for his commitment to revive Philadelphia through the Germination Project. 

Notes:
The AYUSH Festival of Stamps 2017 was inaugurated by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar at Maquinez Palace in Panaji, Goa on October 17, 2017. The two-day exhibition event is being jointly organised by the Goa Postal Region, Indian postal department and the Ministry of AYUSH. The objective of the first-of-its-kind festival is to promote healthy hobbies such as stamp collection among students and healthy lifestyle habits. He said the event should initiate a movement of philately at schools. Stamps related to ayurveda, yoga and related traditional practices from India and abroad are being displayed at the event. About 150 schools and 5,000 students have registered for the festival.

Notes:
The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India has signed an investment agreement worth $1 billion with a wholly owned unit of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). As part of the partnership agreement, ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in NIIF’s investment management company. The agreement marks the culmination of an extensive process of collaboration with ADIA to develop an investment structure that is attractive to international investors while remaining closely aligned with the NIIF’s objectives.The Indian government has set up NIIF in 2015 with the aim to attract investments from both domestic and international sources for infrastructure development in commercially viable projects.

Notes:
The Karera Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is located at the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh and is spread over an area of 202 km2, of which as much as 146 km2 is privately owned land. It is established in 1981 to protect a population of the great Indian bustard in the region, it is now in the process of being denotified due to opposition by the local people and the extinction of the bird locally. The decision is now awaiting a final approval from the Supreme Court of India (SCI) and should it come through, the sanctuary will become India’s first such reserve to lose its official recognition.

Notes:
Shamsher Khan (86), India’s first swimmer who had participated in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, has passed away at his native village Repalle in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh on October 15, 2017. Mr. Khan had enrolled himself in the Indian Army in 1949. He had taken part in various national swimming competitions. He won a place in the Indian Olympics contingent that had visited Australia in 1956. However, he secured 4th place in the competition. He continued to serve in the Army till he retired in 1973.