Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

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:
Odisha will be the ‘Focus State’ in the mega international food event “World Food India (WFI) 2017”, which is scheduled to be held at New Delhi on November 3-5. In the WFI 2017, Japan, Denmark and Germany are partner countries, and Italy & Netherlands are ‘Focus Countries’. More than 200 global companies and 41 global CEOs from 30 countries will participate and will also see 21 ministerial and business delegations. Besides, 450 domestic companies and leading Research and Development (R&D) institutes along with 95 Indian industry captains are likely to participate in WFI.

Notes:
Ministries of Power and Textiles have jointly launched a new scheme SAATHI under which Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will provide energy efficient power loom equipment to small and medium units at no upfront cost. The use of the efficient equipment would result in energy and cost savings to the unit owner and he will repay in instalments to EESL over a 4 to 5 year period. The SAATHI initiative of the government will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office of the Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis. The EESL will procure energy efficient powerlooms, motors and rapier kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium power loom units. The acronym of SAATHI stands for “Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries”.

Notes:
The global conference on consumer protection has inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on October 26, 2017 with theme “Empowering Consumers in New Markets”. This is the first time that an international conference on consumer protection is being organised by India for countries of the region which account for a majority of the global consumers and share common challenges and experiences. The 2-day conference will deliberate upon steps taken by Asian countries to implement the United Nations guidelines on consumer protection as well as challenges faced by consumers of financial services and e-commerce. Experts from different countries and India will present their papers and views. Twenty two countries from East, South and South-East Asia are participating in the conference. These include China, South Korea, Singapore, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Notes:
The Akan Mashu National Park (AMNP) is located on the island of Hokkaidō, Japan and covers an area of 90,481 hectares. The park is famous for its crystal clear lakes, its hot springs and its large marimo. It is the only place where marimo of appreciable size form naturally in Japan.

Notes:
Vikram Singh, the 1997 batch officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), has been appointed Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind for a period of two years. Apart from him, IAS officer P C Meena was appointed Private Secretary to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary.

Notes:
The National Unity Day (NUD), also known as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (RED), is celebrated every year across India on October 31 to commemorate birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel, one of the founding leaders of Republic of India. The day is observed to foster and reinforce the government’s dedication to preserve and strengthen unity of the nation. This year, in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the ‘Run For Unity’ in New Delhi to mark the 142nd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. A large number of people, including sports personalities like Sardar Singh, Deepa Karmakar, Suresh Raina and Karnam Malleswari participated in the Run.

Notes:
Giriraj Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), has launched MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan (http://msefc.msme.gov.in) on October 30. The purpose of the portal is to empower Micro and Small Entrepreneurs (MSEs) across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments by Central Ministries/Departments/CPSEs/State Governments. The information on the portal will be available in public domain, thus exerting moral pressure on the defaulting organisations. The CEO of PSEs and the Secretary of the Ministries concerned will also be able to monitor the cases of delayed payment under their jurisdiction and issue necessary instructions to resolve the issues. The MSEs will also be empowered to access the portal and monitor their cases.

Notes:
The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) will be hosted by India in 2020. The CMS COP is also known as a Global Wildlife Conference & is held once in three years. It was officially announced at the CMS COP 12, which is held in Manila, Philippines from 23 to 28 October 2017 and was attended by delegates from over 120 countries. The slogan for the CMS COP 12 was “Their Future is Our Future – Sustainable Development for Wildlife & People”. It is first time that the COP was held in Asia. The CMS is the only global and UN-based intergovernmental organization established exclusively for the conservation and management of terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range.

Notes:
Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM has taken charge as the new Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS) at a formal ceremony held in New Delhi on October 30, 2017. He succeeded Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, who has taken charge as the new Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (ENC) on 31 Oct 17. Kumar is an alumni of the National Defence Academy. The VCNS is second in command of the Indian Navy. The office is held by a Three Star Officer in the rank of Vice Admiral. He is responsible for operation of naval related tasks.