Current Affairs Quiz -14th August, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon passed away at the age of 90. He was admitted to a hospital in Raipur after he suffered cardiac arrest.

Justice Mukesh R Shah was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Justice Shah was a judge of the Gujarat High Court before his appointment as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik administered the oath of office to Justice Shah. He became a judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004 and was confirmed as permanent judge on June 22, 2005.

Pakistan's 329 newly-elected members, including Imran Khan, of the National Assembly took the oath on 13th August. Imran Khan is all set to form the next government, only the second democratic transition of power in the country. Speaker Ayaz Sadiq administered the oath to the leaders in the 342-member house. Imran Khan and other prominent leaders including Shahbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former President Asif Ali Zardari also took the oath. The maiden session of the 15th National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, happened after the swearing of the members. The PTI's final tally reached 158 after it was allotted 28 out of 60 seats reserved for women and 10 seats reserved for minorities.

Parliament has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill,2018 with the Rajya Sabha's approval. The Bill seeks to clarify that allottees under a real estate project should be treated as financial creditors. Home buyers will get due representation in the Committee of Creditors and make them an important part of decision making process. Setting up of a special dispensation for small sector enterprises has also been made.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is considered to be the most patriotic brand, according to a survey conducted by UK-based online market research and data analytics firm YouGov, followed by Tata Motors, Patanjali, Reliance Jio and BSNL. Around 16% respondents ranked SBI to be the most patriotic brand overall, followed by Tata Motors and Patanjali with 8% each, and Reliance Jio and BSNL with 6% each. The survey, which covered 152 brands across 11 categories, is based on data collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 1,193 respondents in the country using its panel of an online representation of India.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced that Chhattisgarh is the first among the 28 other states in the country to provide Right to Skills' Development to the youth. The Chief Minister along with Union Minister of State for Skill Development Anant Kumar Hegde flagged off fifteen Skill Chariots to launch the government's project of 'Skills on Wheels' in the state. The chariots aimed at creating awareness regarding the project will tour 13 districts in the first phase and the rest 14 in the second phase.

In a cleanliness report released by the Ministry of Railways, Jodhpur and Jaipur of North Western Railway in Rajasthan captured the first two spots in the A1 Category stations. Tirupati, an important site for religious tourism and in South Central Railway, ranked third. Rajasthan's Marwar topped among the A Category railway stations, followed by Phulera and Warangal. There are over 8,000 stations on the Indian Railway network and they are classified into seven categories: A-1, A, B, C, D, E and F based on their annual passenger revenue.

The Nepal-India Literature Festival 2018 was held in Birgunj, Nepal on August 12 to strengthen Indo-Nepal ties. On this occasion, the renowned writers from both the countries were also felicitated. Approx 250 participants from India and Nepal attended the two day festival. The event was organized by Nepal India Co-operation Forum.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch a TV channel to promote scientific temper among people and conduct training camps for school students. ISRO will select students and organise training camps for 25 to 30 days and the students will be allowed to visit laboratory and make their small satellite. ISRO was planning to set up an incubation centre for startups.

Lionel Messi has succeeded Andres Iniesta as captain of Barcelona, after the Spaniard ended his 22-year stay at the club to join Japanese side Vissel Kobe in May. Sergio Busquets will be the vice-captain, with Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto the third and fourth captains respectively. Messi, 31, joined the Barcelona club in 2001 and is their record goalscorer.

Viraj Madappa (20) from Kolkata has become the youngest Indian golfer to claim the Asian Tour title after lifting the 2018 TAKE Solutions Masters trophy in Bengaluru on August 12. Beside this, Madappa has also become the first rookie and youngest player to win on Tour this season. He takes home a winner's prize purse of US$63,000 and earned a one-year winner exemption on the region's premier Tour. The earlier record was held by Gaganjeet Bhullar, who won the Indonesia Invitational, when he was 21 years and three months, while Shubhankar Sharma won Joburg Open when he was 21 years and five months old.

In Hyderabad, India's first genetic bank for wildlife conservation has been inaugurated by Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan at the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) in CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) to protect India's biodiversity and environment. It is dubbed as National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank (NWGRB), which can store 17,000 vials worth of samples. Currently genetic material, including DNA, cells and tissues besides semen and eggs of 23 wildlife species are stored. This facility would also facilitate exchange of genetic material between Indian zoos for maintaining genetic diversity and conservation management made accessible to scientists and wildlife managers for implementing conservation programmes. The Genetic Resource Bank (GRB) is the systematic collection and preservation of tissues, sperm, eggs and embryos, genetic material (DNA/RNA).

Michelle Bachelet, the former two-time President of Chile, has been officially appointed new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for a period of 4 years. She will succeed Jordanian diplomat Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein in September 2018. The High Commissioner is the principle official who speaks out for human rights across the whole UN system. It strengthens human rights mechanisms, enhance equality & fight discrimination in all its forms. It also strengthens accountability & the rule of law and widens the democratic space & protecting the most vulnerable from all forms of human rights abuse.

Of total 111 cities ranked under the 'Ease of Living Index 2018' which was released by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Pune has been ranked first while Navi Mumbai has surfaced as the second preferred spot in terms of 'liveability'. Top 10 cities in 'Ease of Living Index' 2018 list are: 1- Pune; 2- Navi Mumbai; 3- Greater Mumbai; 4- Tirupati; 5- Chandigarh; 6- Thane; 7- Raipur; 8- Indore; 9- Vijaywada; 10- Bhopal.

The lander on the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which is scheduled to be launched in January 2019 will be named 'Vikram' after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space programme. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has got clearance from the space commission. This mission, unlike Chandrayaan-1 which only orbited the Moon, involves a Lander soft-landing on the lunar surface and unloading a Rover to study and take measurements from the Moon, while the orbiter will go around the Earth's satellite.