Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
The International Day for the preservation of the Ozone Layer is observed every year on September 16 to mark the commemoration of the date of signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987 on substances that deplete the Ozone layer. It is mainly intended to spread awareness of the depletion of the Ozone Layer and search for solutions to preserve it. The 2017 theme ‘Caring for all life under the sun’. The Ozone layer is a fragile shield of gas which protects the Earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiation of the sun and thus helping preserve life on the planet. Substances like Chlorofluorocarbons, halons, Carbontetrachloride are responsible for ozone layer depletion.

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Lewis Hamilton, a British racing driver who races in Formula One for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, has won the 2017 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix tournament at Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.

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Mercedes Araoz, who is also a lawmaker and one of Peru’s two Vice Presidents, has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Peru by the Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on September 17, 2017. Araoz succeeded Fernando Zavala, who lost vote of confidence by lawmakers. All 19 ministers in the previous Cabinet were forced to resign under Peru’s constitution because of the no-confidence vote. Kuczynski reappointed six of the 19 ministers in the previous Cabinet.

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YC Modi, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed as Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and will hold the post till his superannuation, i.e. May 31, 2021. He will take over from incumbent NIA Chief Sharad Kumar Sinha after he completes his tenure on October 30, 2017. Currently, Modi is special director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). NIA was set up after an Act was enacted on December 31, 2008. The federal probe agency is tasked with probing terrorism and terror-financing related cases.

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Dr Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Public Grievances and Pensions, will inaugurate the first Pension Adalat in New Delhi on September 20, 2017. The Pension Adalats is being convened with the objective of bringing the aggrieved pensioner, the concerned department, the bank on a common table so that such cases can be settled within the framework of extant rules. Dr Singh will also award the pensioners for their outstanding contribution towards Anubhav- a platform for retiring employees for sharing their experience of working with government. The workshop on Pre-Retirement Counseling (PRC) of 300 retiring central government employees is also scheduled to be held. The objective of this workshop is to create awareness about the post-retirement entitlements as well as an advance planning for life after retirement.

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Acclaimed filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli has won the prestigious 2017 ANR National Award for his contribution to the Telugu film industry. The award was instituted by the Akkineni International foundation in the honor of Akkineni Nageswara Rao to recognise stalwarts in the Indian film industry.

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Purnima Hembram from Odisha, who is an Indian sprinter and heptathlete, has won gold in women’s pentathlon at the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on September 19, 2017. Apart from her, Tejinder Pal Singh Toor and Sanjivani Jadhav won silver each in men’s shot put and women’s 3000m respectively while Neena Varakil took a bronze in women’s long jump.

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India and Sri Lanka have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to upgrade Thondaman Vocational Training Centre at Hatton located in Nuwara Eliya district of the Island nation. The up gradation of the center will be done using a grant of around Rs 9 crore from the Government of India. The project includes construction of new infrastructure facilities as well as renovation of existing building. The project also includes supply of machinery, equipment & tools for the new courses, furniture and vehicles. A total of 500 youth of Sri Lanka are expected to be trained as skilled workers with suitable skills catering to the job market annually with the completion of the project. This project is in line with Government of India’s efforts to assist and cooperate with government of Sri Lanka in the field of vocational training and skill development.

Notes:
Ajay Kumar Saroj from India won the gold in men’s 1500m race in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on September 20, 2017. In track cycling, Deborah Herold won a silver in women’s 200m individual sprint race. Meanwhile, Neha Solanki and Jyoti bagged a bronze each in women’s kurash +87kg and —87kg respectively. With 5 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze, India are 8th in the medals tally with hosts Turkmenistan on top with a whopping 52 gold, 36 silver and 37 bronze. India are being represented by more than 200 athletes in 15 sports disciplines in the Games, touted as the second biggest multi-sporting event of the continent after the Asiad.

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Amit Masurkar’s acclaimed political satire “Newton” has been selected as India’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars 2018. Rajkummar Rao played a role of Newton Kumar, a presiding officer who is determined to hold a free and fair election in a Chhattisgarh village despite the threat of Naxalite violence and all-round cynicism. The movie, produced by Drishyam Films and distributed by Eros Entertainment, also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav, and was released on September 22, 2017.