Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
The traditional Bonderam festival has started in Divar Island of Goa on September 9, 2017 . The word “Bonderam” originated from the involvement of flags. It is stated that during the Portuguese rule in Goa there were frequent disputes between two sections of the Divar village over property issues. These often led to violence and fights in the village. To find a solution to this problem, the Portuguese introduced a system of demarcation of boundaries with flags. The festival is a memoir to the protest by the local villagers against the Portuguese while trying to resolve the property ownership disputes. This festival starts with a flag which is accompanied by the brass band. Bonderam is a very popular monsoon festival in Goa and it draws huge crowds from all parts of Goa and world over.

Notes:
The Punjab National Bank (PNB) and state-run owned BSNL has signed an agreement to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country. Under the agreement, BSNL will expand Speedpay services in Punjab, Chandigarh(UT), Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. PNB’s Speedway wallet will operate like any other mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone besides its users will be able to deposit and withdraw money from authorised retail outlets. Also, Speedway users will be able to operate Internet banking services from the application.

Notes:
Konjum Taba has clinched gold in the junior men’s 94 kg category by lifting 317 kg at the 2017 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. In the senior men’s 94 kg, Vikas Thakur won the bronze medal by lifting 340 kg, while Punam Yadav won silver in the 69 kilogram senior category by lifting 217 kg. In the youth girl 75 kg event, A Anju Devi won the silver medal by lifting 167 kg overall. On day 5 of the championship, India bagged six medals, including two Gold.

Notes:
Dr Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DONER), has inaugurated North East Festival ‘North-East Calling’ at India Gate in New Delhi on September 9, 2017. On the occasion, Dr Singh launched three initiatives, viz. North-East Venture Fund (NEVF), North East Tourism Development Council (NETDC) and Science and Technology Intervention in North Eastern Region (STINER). The purpose of the 2-day fest is to promote the art, culture, handicrafts, business and tourism of North East India. The event will showcase all activities and products of North-East and the entry for the general public is free. The event will include music festival for bands of North-East, Cultural night for dances of North-East and Handloom Demo Show presenting the clothes of North-East.

Notes:
Ajay Bhushan Pandey, the CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) has been appointed as interim chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). He succeeded Navin Kumar, who completed his term on August 29. GSTN is a not-for-profit entity owned by the Centre, states and non-government financial institutions, and is responsible for building and running the Information Technology (IT) backbone for new GST tax regime. Pandey has been given additional charge of the post of Chairman of GSTN with immediate effect and until further orders.

Notes:
Rattihalli Nagendra Sudarshan (78), the veteran Kannada actor, producer and singer, has passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on September 8, 2017. In his five decade film career, Sudarshan acted in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was one of the villains in Nayagan directed by Manirathnam. His last film was Super (2010) by Upendra in Kannada. Music lovers still remember him for songs such as Hoovandu Balibandu and Irabeku, Irabeku, Ariyada, which he sung in Shubhamangala (1975) directed by Puttanna and songs from his own film Naguva Hoovu (1971).

Notes:
R M Hidayathulla, who is from Androth in Lakshadweep, in his research work stated that biodiversity-rich uninhabited ‘Parali I island’ of Lakshadweep has been eroded to an extent of 100% due to coastal erosion. The study stated that the complete erosion and inundation of Parali I was pointing to the gravity of issues associated with coastal erosion within the atoll. Apart from Parali I, net erosion was higher in Parali II (80%), followed by Thinnakara (14.38%), Parali III (11.42%) and Bangaram (9.968%). Hidayathulla was awarded a doctoral degree in July 2017 by Calicut University in Kerala for his work entitled “Studies on coastal erosion in selected uninhabited islands of Lakshadweep archipelago Archipelago with Special Reference to Biodiversity Conservation.” He conducted studies on the biodiversity of five uninhabited islands — Bangaram, Thinnakara, Parali I, II and III, of which Parali I has been inundated.

Notes:
The joint bilateral air force exercise “Shaheen VI” has started between air forces of China and Pakistan in China on September 7, and will run until September 27, 2017. The “Shaheen” joint training was launched by the Chinese and Pakistani air forces in March 2011 and has since gone through five major iterations.

Notes:
Halimah binti Yacob, the former Speaker of Parliament, has been declared the President-elect of Singapore, after her nomination papers were found to be in order. She will be Singapore’s first female President and the first Malay head of state in 47 years. On September 13, Yacob was certified by the Presidential Elections Commission as the only eligible candidate, and since she has no opponent, there will be no election. Halimah will be sworn in as country’s 8th President at the Istana on September 14, 2017. The 2017 Presidential Election was reserved for candidates from the Malay community. Under amendments to the Constitution that came into effect in June 2017, applicants had to show that they helmed a company with at least 500 million Singapore dollar in shareholders’ equity. Halimah meets the criteria set out for those in the public sector, having held office for at least three years as Speaker.

Notes:
The 4-day annual Border Security Force (BSF) sports meet has started in Jammu on September 12, 2017 in which about 1,200 personnel would participate in sports such as wrestling, boxing, weight-lifting and Kabbadi. The Inter-Frontier Sports Competition of the BSF is aimed at preparing the jawans for national and international-level championships. The 11 teams participating in the competition are from Gujarat, Guwahati, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Manipal and Cachar, North Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, South Bengal and Tripura.