Current Affairs Quiz -25th August, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

Industry chamber Assocham appointed former bureaucrat Uday Kumar Varma as its new Secretary General. He succeeds DS Rawat who held the position for nearly 14 years. Varma retired from the position of Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India in 2013, and has extensive administrative experience at the highest levels of administration both in the state government (of Madhya Pradesh) and central government.

India bagged silver medal in Women's kabaddi at the Asian Games 2018 after losing to Iran in the final match. The Indian women's kabaddi team finished second for the first time at Asiad after having won gold in the 2010 and 2014 editions.

Indian Tennis players Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan defeated Aleksander Bublik and Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-4 in 52 minutes. India have claimed the men's doubles gold on four occasions at the Games, the last pair being Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh in the 2010 Guangzhou edition.

The Sri Lanka National Efficiency Awards 2018 commenced in Colombo. The Sri Lanka National Efficiency Awards 2018 was instituted by Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority. Forbes Marshall won the Gold Flame Award in the Energy Efficiency Improvement category of the Best Energy Services Companyfor its contribution to reduce energy use through energy management efforts. This award ceremony was organised annually by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has appointed former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice S J Vazifdar as head of a 3-member committee to decide mining company Vedanta Limited's plea challenging the Tamil Nadu government's order to close the Sterlite copper plant at Thoothukudi. The committee may, if necessary, visit the site and consider the technical data and take a decision as early as found viable preferably within 6 weeks after it assumes it's working. Recently, on 9th August 2018, the Tribunal had allowed Vedanta to access the administrative unit inside its Sterlite copper plant at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Though, the plant would remain closed and the company would not have access to its production unit and directed the district magistrate to ensure this. In March 2013, Sterlite's factory came into limelight when a gas leak led to the death of one person and injuries to several others, after which then chief minister J Jayalalithaa had ordered its closure.

Uttar Pradesh teenager Shardul Vihan (Fifteen-year-old) became the youngest Indian shooter to win a medal at the Asian Games. He shot 73 to claim the silver medal, while Korea's 34-year-old Shin Hyunwoo clinched the gold medal with a score of 74. The Union Sports Minister Rahyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won a Olympic silver in the same event at Athens 2004, tweeted his congratulations to the young marksman.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reported as Odisha aims to leverage its ports. This move is a part of a push to develop the State as a manufacturing hub in eastern India that could serve the larger South Asian regional market. He inaugurated 2 manufacturing plants, a caustic soda facility and Jyoti Solar Solutions solar power plant. He also laid the foundation stones for 13 units entailing a total investment of Rs. 2,901.20 crore. OCL India, the flagship company of the Dalmia Group, will be investing Rs.2,000 crore, Hindustan Urban Infrastructure Ltd. Rs.389 crore, IFFCO Rs. 63.55 crore and Jaipur Cement with Rs. 63.5 crore.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee launched the National Electoral Transformation (NETA) mobile application to rate Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The Neta App aims to build political accountability and transparency among leaders. It will enable users to rate their MLAs and MPs. It is billed as an instrument to measure voter sentiment in Indian constituencies. The Neta app has been developed by Pratham Mittal, a 27-year-old entrepreneur. It uses Artificial Intelligence, advanced algorithms, one time password and Aadhaar numbers to make sure that the users are genuine.

Five-day long 'International water colour festival' is held in Ranchi at Audrey House, to promote the rich art and culture of Jharkhand. This is the first time in the country that international artists will paint together. In this program 24 countries of the world, 25 states of India and 24 districts of the state are participating. On this occasion, the artist Victoria from Ukraine and artist Uttam Karmakar from Italy did the live painting and presented it to the Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

Indian Tennis player, Ankita Raina has won a bronze after losing a hard fought women's singles semifinal 4-6, 6-7 in straight sets against Shuai Zhang of China at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games on August 23. With this, she became the 2nd Indian female tennis player after Sania Mirza to win a medal in singles' competition at the Asian Games. For India, Mirza won silver in Doha in 2006 and a bronze in Guangzhou 2010. Ankita from Maharashtra is currently India's number one women's singles.

For the first time, India's only aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will be fitted with a marine hydraulic system to boost the air operations of the ship. Hydraulics technology uses fluid pressure to power machines. Technodinamika, a subsidiary of Russia's Rostec State Corporation, will install the system in the Indian Navy ship by May 2019. The GS-1MF hydraulic system is used in helicopters, while GS-3 is used in aircraft.

India and Singapore have signed the Second Protocol amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in New Delhi which will boost bilateral trade between the two countries. The Protocol was signed in New Delhi by Rajneesh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Francis Chong, Senior Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Government of Singapore.

NITI Aayog Releases 5 Thematic Reports On Indian Himalayan Region. It was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant and member Dr V K Saraswat in New Delhi. The themes include Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security, Sustainable Tourism, and Transformative Approach to Shifting Cultivation, Strengthening Skill and Entrepreneurship Landscape in the Himalayas. Himalayan Tourism is growing annually at 6.8% has created a huge challenge related to solid waste, water, traffic, loss of bio-cultural diversity.

Telangana State Government increased the free electricity supply to the families of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for domestic purpose from the current 50 units to 101 units. This was announced by Telengana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao at a review meeting in Hyderabad. This decision has been made keeping in mind, the increasing usage of electrical appliances. The state government will pay these charges to the distributary agencies. Telangana State Government has also increased the honorarium paid to Imams and Moazins of Masjids to 5000 rupees from the current 1500 rupees per month.

In a big step forward to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Rajasthan, the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched India's largest business incubator the Bhamashah Techno Hub in Jaipur. The incubator will provide end-to-end support to startups, ranging from infrastructure, technology, angel funding, access to venture capitalists, mentorship, exposure to national and international organisations and experts and much more.