Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
The 3-day International Hindu Conference has started in Kathmandu, Nepal with the theme of ‘Emerging spiritualism: Renaissance of Hinduism’ on August 31, 2017. The aim of the conference is to make Kathmandu the global capital of Hinduism. Approx 500 Hindu scholars, religious leaders, Hindu activists and officials from different countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the US and the UK are are taking part in the conference. The conference will discuss papers on various contemporary issues including, scientific basis of Hinduism, climate change and global warming.

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:
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:
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:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former India captain, has become the first wicketkeeper in world cricket to effect 100 stumpings in One Day Internationals (ODI). He surpassed former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, who had 99 stumpings in 404 matches. Dhoni achieved the feat in his 301st ODI in Colombo on September 3, 2017 when he whipped off the bails to remove Sri Lankan batsman Akila Dananjaya off leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s bowling. Till date, Dhoni has also taken 281 catches apart from scoring 9,657 runs so far. He played 90 Tests and 77 T20 Internationals as well. In 90 Tests, Dhoni has taken 256 catches and effected 38 stumpings. In T20 Internationals, Dhoni has taken 43 catches and affected 23 stumpings. Recently, Dhoni has become the 6th Indian player to play 300 matches in the 50-over format. With this, he joined the elite club comprising of Mohammed Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh.

Notes:
The Indian pair of Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg bagged the mixed doubles title at the Hellas Open International badminton series after registering a straight-game victory in Livadia on September 3, 2017. The top-seeded Indian combination of Garg and Kapoor defeated compatriots Karishma Wadkar and Utkarsh Arora by 21-19 21-19 in the final.

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 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:
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:
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.