Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
Noted economist Rajiv Kumar has taken over charge as the new vice-chairman of government think tank Niti Aayog. He replaced Indian-American economist Arvind Panagariya who left the think tank to return to academia. Kumar was a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from Oxford and a PhD from Lucknow University. He also served as Secretary General of industry association, FICCI. He was a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) between 2006 and 2008. He also served as the Chief Economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and held senior positions in the Asian Development Bank, the Indian Ministry of Industries, and the Ministry of Finance.

Notes:
The state-owned NTPC has signed a term loan agreement for Rs. 3,000 crore with ICICI Bank for partially funding its capital expenditure. The loan which has a door-to-door tenure of 15 years will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of NTPC.

Notes:
J Y Pillay, an Indian-origin veteran civil servant, has been appointed as the acting president of Singapore. He succeeded Tony Tan Keng Yam, who completed a six-year term. He will act as the president until after polling day on Septemeber 23 – or after nomination day on September 13, if a candidate is elected unopposed. According to the report, this is the first time the office has fallen vacant since the elected presidency was introduced in 1991.

Notes:
Sultan Ahmed (64), the Trinamool Congress MP and former Union Central Minister passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on September 4, 2017. He was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Uluberia (Lok Sabha constituency) on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2014. Previously, he was a two-time MLA from Entally. Ahmad also served as a Minister of State for Tourism in Manmohan Singh government.

Notes:
The biennial Joint Indo-Lanka Maritime Fleet Exercise – SLINEX 2017 is scheduled to be conducted from September 7-to-14. The focus of SLINEX 2017 will be on fleet work, seamanship, communication, replenishment at sea as well as helicopter operations. Approx, a complement of 368 Sri Lanka Navy personnel comprising 43 naval officers and 60 mid-shipmen are taking part in the exercise. Sri Lanka Navy’s offshore patrol vessels, SLNS Sayura and Sagara will arrive at Port of Visakhapatnam soon to participate in the joint maritime naval exercise with the Indian Navy. The joint naval operations enable both Navies to rehearse and improve own capabilities and enhance operational effectiveness required to maintain maritime security in the region.

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:
Raj Kumar Singh has recently take charge as new Union Minister of State (IC) in Ministries of Power & New & Renewable Energy after latest reshuffle in the Union Cabinet on September 3, 2017. He succeeded Piyush Goyal, who is now Cabinet Minister for Railways. Singh is the Member of Parliament (MP) from Arrah Lok Sabha constituency. Singh is also the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Notes:
Till date, India has bagged a Gold and two Silver medals in the Men’s Double trap event at the 2017 ISSF World Shotgun Championship in Moscow. India won the Gold in the Junior team section of the event with a combined score of 401. Ankur Mittal won the Silver in the senior event, while 17-year-old Ahvar Rizvi finished second in the junior section. India is now fourth in the medals table with one Gold and two Silver medals. Italy is at the top with 11 medals, including 6 Gold. Australia is second, while Russia is third.

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:
Dr Inder Jit Singh, the 1985 batch IAS officer, has been given additional charge of the post of Chairperson of National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC) with immediate effect. He is an Additional Secretary in Cabinet Secretariat. According to a release issued by Ministry of Personnel stated that the Mr Singh will hold this additional charge until further orders. The NACWC has been established under the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000 for implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction. Its’ headquarters is located at Cabinet Secretariat in New Delhi.