Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
The World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is observed every year on September 10 to raise awareness about suicide prevention. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) survey, across the world nearly 800,000 commit suicide each year which is one person every 40 seconds. Thus, the day aims to open up the conversations and help those in the darkness. The 2017 theme “Take a minute, change a life” highlights the importance of speaking up, taking the time, and listening.

Notes:
The BWF World Senior Badminton Championship has started at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi, Kerala on September 11 and will continue till September 17. It is for the first time that India is hosting the Championship. The President of Badminton Association of India (BAI) Himanta Biswa Sarma has formally inaugurated the week long Championship. The tournament will see a total of 665 players from 40 countries battle it out in eight different age groups and will be played in all the five categories. About 175 players are representing India including Olympians in the Championship.

Notes:
London has retained its position as the world’s top financial centre in the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). The index is compiled and published by Z/Yen Group, which ranked 92 financial centres globally on factors such as infrastructure and access to high-quality staff. New York has acquired 2nd position followed by Hongkong, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, etc. Meanwhile, Mumbai is the only India that has been listed in the index and acquired 60th rank. The GFCI is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 financial centre assessments from an online questionnaire together with over 100 indices from organisations such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Notes:
Peter Thomson, the outgoing president of the General Assembly, has been appointed as the first special envoy for the oceans by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Thomson played a leading role at the first-ever UN conference on oceans in June 2017. The 193 UN member states issued an urgent call for action to reverse the decline in the health and productivity of the world’s oceans.

Notes:
The Indo-Sri Lanka Hindi conference was organized at Kelaniya University near Colombo with theme ‘Hindi E-learning : Identity and possibilities’ on eve of Hindi Divas celebrations on September 13, 2017. High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu was the chief guest on the occasion. The Kelaniya University is distinct as it has a full-fledged Hindi department which offers courses ranging from degree to doctorate and research. Hindi is quite popular among Sri Lankan youths and many of them are enrolled for special Hindi classes offered by Indian Cultural centre in Colombo.

Notes:
The Union Finance Ministry has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced in the implementation of GST. The GoM will be assisted by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). Apart from this, the government has also constituted a committee on exports convened by revenue secretary Dr Hasmukh Adhia to look into issues of export sector and to recommend suitable strategy for helping the export sector in the post-GST scenario to the GST Council.

Notes:
The Phrumsengla National Park (PNP) is located in Bumthang, Lhuntse, Mongar and Zhemgang districts of Bhutan and covers an area of 905.05 square kilometers. The park is home to six species of threatened birds: the rufous-necked hornbill, rufous-throated wren-babbler, satyr tragopan, beautiful nuthatch, Ward’s trogon and Chestnut-breasted partridge as well as the near-threatened wedge billed wren babbler. It has scenic views, including forests ranging with elevations from alpine to sub-tropical.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has launched a nationwide campaign ‘Swacchata Hi Sewa’ from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on September 15, 2017. He will administer nation-wide Swachhta Hi Seva pledge initiating parallel action in all the two lakh 50 thousand plus Gram Panchayats and cities in India. Eminent personalities, community organizations and private sector organizations will undertakes shramdaan activities. The fortnight long campaign will conclude on 2nd of October, Gandhi Jayanti. The purpose of the campaign is to mobilize people and reinforce the public movement for sanitation to contribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India.

Notes:
India has signed a loan deal of $76 million with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a project to upgrade the environment management plan at Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yards. The total cost of the project will be $111 million, out of which $76 million will be provided as soft loan from JICA. Out of the remaining amount, $25 million as taxes and fees will be borne by Government of Gujarat and the balance $10 million will be shared by Ministry of Shipping and Government of Gujarat. The project will be executed by Gujarat Maritime Board and is likely to be completed by 2022. The project will help the Alang-Sosia ship-recycling yards to comply with international safety and environmental regulations. It will attract more business at the recycling facilities at Alang, thereby further consolidating India’s share in the global ship-recycling industry. The project will also help in safeguarding the marine and coastal environment.

Notes:
The book ‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’ has been authored by tennis star Maria Sharapova. The book talks about Sharapova’s rise from nowhere to tennis stardom and the unending fight to stay on top. The book tells how a seventeen-year-old Maria Sharapova became an overnight sensation by defeating the two-time defending champion Serena Williams to win the prestigious Wimbledon.