Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
Anita Karwal, a Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the new Chairperson of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). She succeeded Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, who has been moved to the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) as Director General. At present, she is Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD).

Notes:
Divya Deshmukh (11) has won gold in the girls’ Under-12 category at the World Cadets Chess Championship at Pocos de Caldas, Brazil. She scored a total of 9.5 points to give India its only medal in the championship this year. It is Divya’s second world title after her victory in the under-10 World Youth Chess Championship-2014 in Durban.

Notes:
Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat, has been formally accorded the status of India’s first World Heritage City (WHC) by UNESCO. Irina Bokova, the Director General of UNESCO, has handed over the certificate declaring Ahmedabad as a ‘World Heritage City’ to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar on September 1, 2017. The 606-year-old walled city of Ahmedabad was founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati River, presents a rich architectural heritage. It has 28 Archaeological Survey of India’s centrally protected monuments. The city was also the center for India’s non-violent freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi. In July 2017, the UN agency had inscribed Ahmedabad as India’s first World Heritage City (WHC) at the 41st session of UNESCO’s world heritage committee at Krakow in Poland.

Notes:
Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, has been promoted as Cabinet Minister and got additional charge of Union Ministry of Skill Development after latest Union cabinet reshuffle on September 3, 2017. In the latest reshuffle, four Union ministers were promoted to Cabinet rank and nine new Ministers of state were inducted in the Union Council of Ministers. Excerpts are as follows: Nirmala Sitharaman has been appointed as new Union Defence Minister while Piyush Goyal is the new Rail Minister in addition to Coal. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been elevated to the Cabinet rank. Suresh Prabhu is now new Commerce Minister, while Nitin Gadkari has been given additional charge of Water resources.

Notes:
Lt. Col. (Retd.) Rajyavardhan Rathore, the Olympic silver medallist and a former professional shooter, has been appointed as a Cabinet minister with independent charge for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on September 3, 2017 in the latest cabinet reshuffle of the Narendra Modi government. He replaced Vijay Goel. Rathore is also holding the portfolio of Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). He is Member of Parliament (MP) from Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha constituency.

Notes:
Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy and Mumbai-born scientist Veena Sahajwalla have been conferred the PLuS Alliance Prize – a prestigious honour that recognises Research Innovation, Education Innovation, Global Leadership and Global Innovation. The Prize of $ 50,000 was awarded in two categories; Education Innovation and Research Innovation. Both winners were recognised for the development and implementation of innovative solutions to significant global issues. Murthy was presented the PLuS Alliance Prize for Global Leadership while Professor Sahajwalla was awarded the PLuS Alliance Prize for Research Innovation for her project ‘The new science of green manufacturing’. The awards were presented to Murthy, Sahajwalla and the other winners by Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, Chairman of NHS England and Chair of the PLuS Alliance Advisory Board, at a ceremony at the T-H-E World Academic Summit in London on September 3, 2017. The PLuS Alliance is an international collaboration between Arizona State University, King’s College London, and UNSW Sydney.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has recently launched the National Nutrition Strategy in New Delhi with an aimed at Kuposhan Mukt Bharat. It was launched by Leader of the Green Revolution, Dr M S Swaminathan and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar on September 5, 2017. The Nutrition Strategy intends to bring nutrition to the centre-stage of the National Development Agenda. It lays the roadmap for targeted action to address India’s nutritional needs. The Nutrition Strategy framework envisages a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat – linked to Swachh Bharat and Swasth Bharat. It enables states to make strategic choices, through decentralized planning and local innovation, with accountability for nutrition outcomes.

Notes:
India will host the 2019 edition of the Commonwealth (Youth, Junior and Senior) Weightlifting Championships. It was decided by the Executive Board of Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation to allot the 2019 edition of the competitions to India at Gold Coast, Australia. The 2018 edition of the tournament is being held at the Gold Coast.

Notes:
The 2-day event ‘North East Calling’ will be organized by the Union government under its Destination North East series at India Gate lawns in New Delhi on September 9, 2017. The purpose of the event is to promote the art, culture, handicrafts, business and tourism of North East India. The event will showcase all activities and products of North-East and the entry for the general public is free. The event will include music festival for bands of North-East, Cultural night for dances of North-East and Handloom Demo Show presenting the clothes of North-East.

Notes:
The Union Government has recently told Supreme Court that an expert committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of former apex court judge Justice BN Srikrishna to identify key data protection issues in India and recommend methods to address them. The government told the apex court that after the committee’s report is submitted, there is a possibility that the law shall be passed regulating data protection. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, state that the committee will study various issues and make specific suggestions for consideration of the government on the principles to be considered for data protection. The apex court has fixed the matter for further hearing on November 20, 2017.