Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
The 4th edition of ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) meeting has started in Philippines from October 23, 2017.The purpose of the 2-day conference is to promote mutual trust and confidence between defence establishments through greater dialogue and transparency. The conference is also likely to discuss enhancing maritime security cooperation among the member countries. The Indian delegation will be lead by Union defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman. During her three-day stay, Ms Sitharaman is also likely to hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from a number of countries. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners to strengthen security and defence co-operation for peace, stability, and development in the region.

Notes:
Jayant Rikhye has been appointed as the new chief executive of India operations of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd (HSBC). He will take charge from 1 December and will succeed Stuart Milne. Currently, he is HSBC’s international head for Asia-Pacific, which is responsible for 11 markets in the region.

Notes:
Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s Portugal striker, has been named the 2017 Best FIFA Men’s Player award for a second straight year at the 2017 award ceremony in London, England on October 23, 2017. He is four-time Ballon d’Or winner, who helped Real to a Champions League-La Liga double in 2016-17. Lieke Martens of FC Barcelona and the Netherlands won the best FIFA Women’s Player award and Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane was named best men’s coach and Netherlands’ Sarina Wiegman the best female coach. Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud received the Puskas award for the best goal of 2017 for his ‘scorpion kick’ against Crystal Palace in January 2017. Celtic won the fan award after they honoured the club’s 1967 ‘Lisbon Lions’ with a stunning 360-degree card display on the 50th anniversary of their historic European Cup win.

Notes:
The United Nations Day is observed every year on October 24 to make known to the people about the aims and achievements of the UN and to mark the 72nd anniversary of the UN Charter’s entry into force. With the ratification of this founding document in 1948 by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.

Notes:
The 2nd edition of World Congress on Marxism will be held at Peking University in Beijing, China, which is scheduled to be held from May 5-6, 2018, with theme “Marxism and the current world and China”. The congress will discuss Marxism in the 21st century and its development in China. It coincides with the 200th birth anniversary of Karl Marx and the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up. Approx 300 Marxism researchers from all over the world will attend the conference.

Notes:
Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (also known as I V Sasi) (69), the legendary filmmaker, has passed away at Saligramam, Chennai, on October 24, 2017. He was best known for his films “Avalude Ravukal” and “Devasuram”. In his more than three-decade career, Sasi directed over 150 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and worked with stars such as Mohanlal, Mammootty, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth.

Notes:
As per report by Coeus Age Consulting, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the top state in terms of digital initiatives undertaken, with a maximum score of 100.1 on performance index, followed by Maharashtra at 99.9 and Andhra Pradesh at 99.8. The assessment by the knowledge domain service provider was done using a scoring framework made up of two key constructs, Policy and Infrastructure Readiness (PIR) Score and Mission Mode Projects’ Performance (MMP) Score for each state. Chhattisgarh (97.4) and Karnataka (95.3) occupied the fourth and fifth positions in the list, respectively, the company said in a release. The report is based on a comparative assessment of digital initiatives by 36 states and Union Territories. The assessment is based on 109 key performance indicators related to policy, infrastructure and mission mode projects.

Notes:
The Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) is located in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand and covers an area of 8.75 Sq. Km. It is home to Leopard, Jungle Cat, Cheetal, Barking Deer, Wild Boar, Mongoose, Langur, Jackal, Fox, Wild Dog, etc. The Topchanchi Lake increases the richness of the habitat and is visited by migratory winter birds such as pochards, red crested pochards and coots. The forests here are of Dry Mixed Deciduous type with Dry Peninsular Sal in Baneshpur and Bawardaha, the other tree species being Asan, Bijasal, Dhow, Semal, Kendu, Piar, Karam, Siris, Sidha etc. The grassland and bamboo crops are also present.

Notes:
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind has constituted a Commission under Article 340 of the Constitution to examine Sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the central list. The four-member Commission headed by Justice G. Rohini will submit its report to the President within 12 weeks. The commission has commenced functioning on 11th October 2017, from its office at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The sub categorization of the OBCs will ensure that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs. On receipt of the report, the Central Government will consider ways and means for equitable distribution of the benefits of the reservation in Central Government jobs and admission in Central Government Institutions amongst all strata of the OBC.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of AYUSH hosted the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine (BITFM) on October 24-25, 2017 at Parvasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi. India being a major stake holder in the field of Traditional Medicine plays an important role in influencing the policies and strategies related to the Traditional Medicine in the BIMSTEC Forum. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an International Organisation involving a group of countries in the South Asia and South East Asia namely, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.