Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
The Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) is located at Ponda taluka in northeastern Goa and covers an area of 8 km2. It is a popular destination for both tourists and schoolchildren. It is home to sambar deer, Indian bison, Malabar giant squirrel, Indian peafowl and many species of snakes. Bondla zoo is known for its successful breeding of gaur. The zoo provides an excellent environment to breed and do research on animals.

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:
Nepal has recently signed a $635 million United Nations (UN) assistance package for 2018-2022 to lay out the country’s development strategy for the next five years. The package involving 26 individual UN agencies, spans interventions aimed at assisting in four broad areas: inclusive economic growth, social development, resilience, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and governance, rule of law and human rights. The National Planning Commission, apex advisory body of the Government of Nepal, and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Nepal signed the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The UNDAF will lay out the development strategy for the UN Country Team for the next five years.

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:
Kenneth I. Juster, the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council at the White House, has been nominated as the next U.S ambassador to India. The appointment will take effect once the U.S Senate confirms him. The post is vacant since January 20, 2017. Juster has been a strong supporter of India-U.S ties and played a key role in the civil nuclear deal and in the advancement of defence ties between the two countries when he was under secretary of Commerce under former president George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the co-chair of the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group set up during the George W. Bush presidency, and was instrumental in the formation of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership, a diplomatic initiative between the United States and India on cooperation in strategic areas such as nuclear, space and military, in 2004.

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:
Arunachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Jomde Kena (52) has passed away in Guwahati, Assam on September 4, 2017. Since 2014, Kena, who represented Likabali seat from Lower Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2004. He was re-elected to the House from the same constituency in 2009 and 2014.

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:
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and K Sanjita Chanu has recently qualified for 2018 Commonwealth Games after winning a gold each in their respective weight categories (48kg & 53kg) at the Commonwealth Senior (men & women) weightlifting championships at Gold Coast in Australia. Mirabai lifted 85kg in snatch and 104kg in clean & jerk for an overall total of 189kg to finish on top of the podium in women’s 48kg weight division. She broke Commonwealth record in snatch event with a lift of 85kg, bettering her own record by one kilogram. Meanwhile, Sanjita also bagged the yellow metal in women’s 53kg with a total effort of 195kg and qualified for the Commonwealth Games which would be held at the same venue next year.