Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
India and Myanmar will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the conservation of earthquake-damaged pagodas at Bagan during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Myanmar on September 6-7, 2017. Began is a renowned tourist attraction of Myanmar and India’s role in rebuilding damaged pagodas at Began will be an opportunity to showcase India’s expertise in the restoration and conservation of monuments not only to the people of Myanmar but also tourists from other countries. This pact will further strengthen India’s enduring ties with Myanmar, in culture and religion.

Notes:
The 9th edition of BRICS summit-2017 has started at Xiamen in the Fujian Province of east China on September 3, 2017 with theme “BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future”. For this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a two nation tour of China and Myanmar. On the first leg of his visit, Mr. Modi will attend the 2017 BRICS Summit. In the 3-day summit, at least four documents, BRICS Action Agenda on Economic and Trade Development, BRICS Action Agenda on the Innovation Cooperation, BRICS Customs Cooperation and an MoU between BRICS Business Council and New Development Bank are expected to be signed. On the second leg of the visit, Prime Minister Modi will pay a State visit to Myanmar from September 5th to 7th. This will be Prime Minister Modi’s first bilateral State visit to Myanmar. During the visit, Prime Minister will hold discussions with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on matters of mutual interest and also call on President U Htin Kyaw. Apart from his engagements in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, Mr Modi will visit Yangon and Bagan.

Notes:
The world’s highest sandcastle 54.72 feet (16.68 metres) tall has recently built in the German city of Duisburg. It was constructed in over 3 weeks and is supposed to stand until at least September 24, 2017. The representative of Guinness World Records (GWR) has certified the record. It takes the title from a 14.84-meter (48.69-foot) sandcastle built early this year in India. The new sandcastle is decorated with sand models of tourist attractions such as Athens’ Acropolis, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Notes:
The Jaldapara National Park (JNP) is located at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Alipurduar District of northern West Bengal and on the banks of the Torsa River. It is home to Indian leopard, Indian elephants, sambar, barking deer, spotted deer, hog deer, wild boars, gaur, etc. Jaldapara is a paradise for bird watchers. It is one of the very few places in India, where the Bengal florican is sighted. The other birds to be found here are the crested eagle, Pallas’s fish eagle, shikra, Finn’s weaver, jungle fowl, peafowl (peacock), partridge, and lesser pied hornbill. Pythons, monitor lizards, kraits, cobras, geckos, and about eight species of fresh water turtles can also be found here.

Notes:
Konsam Ormila Devi from India bagged a gold medal in 44kg weight category at the Commonwealth Youth (boys & girls) weightlifting championships at Gold Coast, Australia on September 4, 2017. Ormila lifted 57kg in snatch and 76kg in clean and jerk for an overall effort of 133kg, to finish on the top of the podium. With this effort, Ormila has registered her best lift so far.

Notes:
The Union Environment Ministry has launched an environment awareness initiative on September 5 on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. Under the initiative, an online environmental quiz competition named “Prakriti Khoj” will be conducted at the national level. The objective of the quiz is to generate interest among school children about the science related to environment. This will help in sensitizing the children on the issues related to environment and development. The initiative is to motivate children towards environment conservation-oriented lifestyles. It will also trigger their sensitivity towards nature appreciation and conservation, leading to positive environmental actions at different levels.

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:
The researchers at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Chemical Laboratory in Pune have developed an artificial leaf that absorbs sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel from water, an advance that may provide clean energy for powering eco-friendly cars in the future. The device consists of semiconductors stacked in a manner to simulate the natural leaf system. When visible light strikes the semiconductors, electrons move in one direction, producing electric current. The current almost instantaneously splits water into hydrogen – which researchers believe is one of the cleanest forms of fuel as its main byproduct is water.

Notes:
The 13th edition of the joint military training exercise “Yudh Abhyas – 2017” will be conducted at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, USA from September 14 to 27. The exercise is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavors between India and USA. The exercise Yudh Abhyas will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level. It is also an ideal platform to learn from each-other’s experiences of planning and execution of operations. Both armies will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed operations for neutralization of threats of varied nature.

Notes:
The Gujarat Government and Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation-Amul have recently signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to save the children of anganwadi from malnutrition. According to the MOU, under the ‘Take Home Ration’, district dairies in cooperation with the Gujarat milk marketing federation will provide nutritive foods to more than 42-lakh children of more than 53 thousand anaganwadis, pregnant-mothers, lactating mothers and young girls. Apart from this, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has flagged off statewide ‘Narmada Mahotsav Yatra’ from Surendranagar district to create awareness about the importance of increased water supply from Narmada canal-based projects in different parts of the state. The 10 days long Narmada Mahotsav Yatra will end at Dabhoi- in Narmada district in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday on 17th September.