Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has bagged the National Award for ‘Excellence’ in Energy Management at a conference hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The conference was focused on recognising companies that are engaged in energy efficiency initiatives by adopting best practices and technological advancement in their daily operations in turn displaying commitment towards energy conservation. The airport is operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd GHIAL, a public–private venture.

Notes:
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched Gyankunj e-class project on the occasion of Teachers day on September 5, 2017. The project has been launched at Shahpur primary school in Gandhinagar in presence of state Chief Secretary. The entire project will work on pilot basis with Interactive e-class room and smart boards have been provided under this initiative. According to official sources, 1609 government primary schools have been provided laptop, projector, infrared camera, smart board, speaker and wifi router facilities for 3,173 class rooms of standard 7 and 8. About 10,000 tablets are to be given to standard 7 and 8 students across 100 more schools on free of cost. Education for all courses in standard 5 to 8 will be given through e-content and internet.

Notes:
The Shirui National Park (SNP) is located in the state of Manipur. It has dense tropical forests all over and temperate forest in the hilltops. The park is famous for shirui lily (Lilium maclineae) that grows naturally. The main peak of Shirui abounds with flowers during the monsoon and it is a veritable paradise. It is home to tragopan, the tiger, leopard, etc.

Notes:
Gauri Lankesh, the noted journalist and activists, was shot dead at her Rajarajeshwari Nagar’s residence in Bengaluru, Karnataka on September 5, 2017. She was the editor of popular Kannada tabloid Lankesh Patrike founded by her father and well-known writer P Lankesh. Lankesh was also part of a panel formed by State government to help surrender Naxals to reform. She was known to be a notable social and political commentator and acclaimed for her lifelong support for free speech and strong journalistic ethics, her works were popular in all quarters, her critics alike. The state government has formed a three team comprising of senior police officer to investigate the crime. AIR correspondent reports that killing of senior journalist known for her out spoken views, is being compared with the murder of rationalist, liberal thinkers, M M Kulburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar in recent years. Several associations of writers and journalists are holding protest in the state demanding immediate arrest of the perpetrators of crime.

Notes:
The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) has started at Russky Island, which is part of Russia’s city of Vladivostok, on September 6-7, 2017. The delegates from at least 24 countries including the US, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Britain and Germany are attending the gathering. From India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is attending the forum. The EEF is considered as the biggest international communication platform for cooperation between businesses leaders and senior government representatives from Russia, the Pacific Region and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Notes:
Indian weightlifters Sivalingam Sathish Kumar and Ragala Venkat Rahul have qualified for 2018 Commonwealth Games after winning a gold medal each in their respective weight divisions at the 2017 Commonwealth Senior (men & women) Weightlifting Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. Two Indian women weightlifters- S.Nirupama Devi and Nikeeta Kale- also claimed gold medals in 69 kilogram weight division of junior section in the Championships.

Notes:
The 2018 World University Rankings (WUR), released by Times Higher Education, has found that India’s flagship Indian Institute of Science (IISc) fall from previous year’s 201-250 band to 251-300. This was attributed to drops in its research influence score and research income. In it, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has been named the top university in India, followed by IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Kharagpur. Globally, the University of Oxford has retained its first place in the rankings, followed by University of Cambridge, California Institute of Technology and Stanford University. The World University ranking is the only global university performance table to judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Notes:
Recently, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is in news because it will constitute a committee to advise the method and process for undertaking large scale community reform program within the Islamic Shariah. A resolution was passed in this connection in the one-day meeting of the Board’s executive body held in Bhopal on September 11, 2017. The committee will also look into the Supreme Court’s verdict on the triple Talaq. The Board reiterated that Talaq-e-biddat or triple Talaq in one-sitting, is sinful but valid. It claimed that it has taken steps to discourage this practice through community reform programmes for a long time. The AIMPLB is a non-government organisation that focuses primarily to defend the Sharia laws from any law or legislation that they consider infringes on it. Syed Mohammad Rabe Hasani is the president of the AIMPLB.

Notes:
According to a recent study “Manufacturing Excellence and Emergence in India: The state level analysis” conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM), Karnataka ranks first among states in terms of manufacturing excellence. Kerala stood second despite poor industrial growth over a five-year period from 2009.

Notes:
The World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is observed every year on September 10 to raise awareness about suicide prevention. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) survey, across the world nearly 800,000 commit suicide each year which is one person every 40 seconds. Thus, the day aims to open up the conversations and help those in the darkness. The 2017 theme “Take a minute, change a life” highlights the importance of speaking up, taking the time, and listening.