Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

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The National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) has signed MoU with Ludhiana based Bonn Food Industries to promote coloured wheat with antioxidant qualities beneficial for control of diabetes, cholesterol and obesity. It has been developed by routine way of plant breeding by crossing high yielding Indian cultivars PBW550, PBW621, HD2967 with colored wheat procured from Japan and America, which is as rich in anthocynanins as blueberries and high in zinc. Anthocyanins can act as antioxidants that remove free radicals from the body and help in prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, inflammation, cancer, obesity and aging. Anthocyanin rich colored wheat developed at NABI also has enhanced Zinc content-one of the most deficient micro-nutrients in the developing countries. The NABI is an autonomous body of Ministry of Science and Technology.

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The National Engineers Day (NED) is celebrated every year on September 15 in India as a remarkable tribute to the greatest Indian Engineer Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was born on this day in 1861 in a village called Muddenahalli in Karnataka. He was not only known for his contributions in the field of engineering but was also called the “precursor of economic planning in India”, according to the Institution of Engineers India (IEI). It stated that he is best known for his discourse “Planned Economy for India and Reconstructing India” which is the first of its kind to describe the country’s planning efforts. The 2017 theme is “Role of Engineers in a developing India”.

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Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has been honoured with Global Diversity Award at Britain’s House of Commons on September 15 for his outstanding contribution to Global Diversity. The Global Diversity Award is given to people of immense stature in terms of diversity in the world.

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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.

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Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, has launched Google’s UPI-based digital payment service ‘Tez’ in New Delhi. The app that will let users link their phones to their bank accounts to pay for goods in physical stores and online. It is available for both Android and iOS users that allows person-to-person money transfers. Google Tez will support several local languages including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

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The high-level committee headed by retired judge Arvind Kumar Goel has recommended that Non-resident Indians (NRIs) who harass or desert their wives could face impoundment or cancellation of their passport. The panel has also recommended that cases of domestic violence be included in the scope of extradition treaties that India inks with other countries. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has constituted the committee in May 2017 to look into various legal and regulatory challenges and suggest measures to address them due to several complaints lodged by women deserted by their NRI husbands.

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The first ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This exercise will be a platform for sharing best practices on all aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), strengthening regional response and coordination for Disaster Management among the BIMSTEC member countries. The main focus of the exercise will be on testing the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response. The delegates from all 7 nations of the BIMSTEC grouping, – namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are participating in the event.

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The National conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign 2017 was organised by Agriculture Ministry at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on September 19, 2017. The 2-day conference was inaugurated by Radha Mohan Singh , the Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister. During the conference, group discussions were held on important topics including Soil Health Card Scheme, management of drought and harvest and doubling farmers’ income. Agriculture Secretary, Shobhan Patnaik laid emphasis on measures to bridge the yield gap among districts and States in a planned manner and steps to ensure payment of remunerative price to the farmers. In addition, Joint Secretaries and senior officials made presentations on the flagship schemes including seed quality control, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Soil Health Card and organic farming. Many States used the opportunity to offer valuable comments and observations on many aspects of the flagship programme of the Government.

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Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has been appointed as brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission for Uttarakhand. Earlier, Akshay Kumar was also appointed as the brand ambassador for cleanliness drive by the Uttar Pradesh Government and his film ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ was interest-free in the state. The film focuses on importance of building toilets and ending open defecation in the country.

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Yesteryear Bollywood actress Shakila (82), who was known for her work in films like “Aar Paar” and “CID”, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 20, 2017. She was a star in her own right in the 50’s n 60’s. The famous song ‘Baabuji dhiire chalanaa…’ from Aar Paar was filmed on her. Besides her roles in Guru Dutt classics like ‘Aar Paar’ and ‘CID’, Shakila also starred with Shammi Kapoor in Shakti Samanta’s hit ‘China Town’.