Current Affairs Quiz -8th August, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

The Jatayu sculpture at the Jatayu Earth Center (JEC) at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, Kerala, said to be world's largest bird sculpture, will be inaugurated on August 17 by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. This Rs 100 crore-project is a creation by film director and sculptor Rajiv Anchal.

GST Council meeting, a sub-committee was formed to address issues of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. Shiv Pratap Shukla is the head of the commitee. The committee will consist of Manish Sisodia, Sushil Modi, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Thomas Isaac and Manpreet Badal. The issues related to law would be taken up by the law committee and issues related to rates would be taken up by the fitment committee. The reports would be presented before the sub-committee.

During the second phase of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), central assistance is provided for opening of new Model Degree Colleges (MDCs) in 'Aspirational Districts' identified by NITI Aayog and in unserved & underserved districts in North Eastern and Himalayan States. These districts have been selected on the basis of the composite index which includes published data of deprivation enumerated under Socio-Economic Caste Census, Health & Nutrition, Education and Basic Infrastructure.

Public sector non-life insurance firm United India Insurance Company announced the appointment of S Gopakumar as its Director and General Manager with immediate effect. Prior to taking up the new role, Gopakumar was serving GIC Housing Finance Ltd as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

China successfully tested "Xingkong-2" or "Starry Sky-2", its first waverider hypersonic aircraft that could carry nuclear warheads and penetrate any current generation anti-missile defence systems. Xingkong-2 or Starry Sky-2 was launched in a target range in Northwest China. It was launched in a rocket and was released in the air after 10 minutes. It flew independently and landed in the targeted area after making large-angle turning maneuvers. It reached an altitude of30 km with a speed of Mach 5.5-6. It was designed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA) along with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Andhra Pradesh Government signed an MoU with electronics company Holytech. Under this MoU, Holytech will set up its plant in 75 acres land in Tirupati and Chittoor districts. It will have cost of Rs. 1400 crores. This would be the first-of-its-kind facility in India. The production of the facility is estimated to begin in the first quarter of 2019.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed non-fund-based Umbrella organisations(UO) at State levels to revive India's co-operative banking sector. It would conduct non-fund activities in the areas of training, capacity building and IT infrastructure and research. Gujarat is the first State in the country to have an UO for the UCB sector. Along with this, it is conducting a two-day conference and exhibition of co-operative banking sector under the name Sahakar Setu 2018, in Ahmedabad, from August 4-5.

Gaganjeet Bhullar won the title at the Fiji International with a six-under 66 for a four-day total of 14-under 274. Australia's Anthony Quayle finished in the second position. South Africa's Ernie Els finished at tied third with Australia's Ben Campbell. Another Indian Ajeetesh Sandhu finished at tied 43rd position. This is Gaganjeet Bhullar's 10th overall title. Now he has become the most successful Indian golf player on Asian Tour.

Women's Hockey World Cup 2018 was held in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. Defending champions the Netherlands defeated Ireland 6-0 in the finals and won the Women's Hockey World Cup 2018 title. The Netherlands have emerged as the world champions in Women's hockey for a record 8th time. They have extended their unbeaten performance in all competitions to 32 matches. Kitty van Male, one among the 6 different goal scorers emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 8 goals.

The biennial Asian Nations Cup Chess Tournament was held in Hamadan, Iran. It was organized by Iran Chess Federation on behalf of Asian Chess Federation. India won 5 medals: 1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze. India ranked 2nd in the overall ranking. he winning team of Gold consisted of : Grand Master Harika Dronavalli , International Master Eesha Karavade, International Master Padmini Rout and Women's International Masters (WIMs) Vaishali R, Aakanksha Hagawane.

Indian men's hockey team has improved one rank and has reached the 5th spot in the latest FIH rankings chart. Germany, England, Spain, New Zealand and Ireland are the other teams in the top 10. In the women's rankings, the Indian team improved one spot to and reached 9th position.

PayU India announced entering into a strategic partnership with Reliance Money, leading NBFC brands in India, to offer instant app-based personal loans, via LazyPay. It is an attempt to reach out to the underserved consumers in India. The loan amount will start from as low as Rs. 100 and will extend up to Rs. 1,00,000 with a duration varying from 15 days to 24 months. The loan amount will start from as low as Rs. 100 and will extend up to Rs. 1,00,000 with a duration varying from 15 days to 24 months.

India's Swastika Ghosh won a bronze medal in the junior girls' doubles along with Singapore's Jingyi Zhou in the 2018 Hang Seng Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open, in Hong Kong. Swastika Ghosh and Jingyi Zhou pair was defeated by Li Lin Jassy Tan of Singapore and Ruei Ling Wen of Taipei 2-3 in the semi finals. In the junior boys' doubles category, Indian pair of Raegan Alberquerque and Payas Jain pair reached pre-quarters. But they were knocked out as they lost to Yanapong Panagitgun and Supakron Pankhaoyoy of Thailand.

5th Act East Business Show -2018 was held in Shillong, Meghalaya. It aims to strengthen business ties between ASEAN countries and northeastern states. Also, to explore the potential of Meghalaya and its neighboring states. This is Indian Chamber of Commerce along with Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER). Main focus was to boost the bamboo sector of the region. North eastern states have great potential for development of bamboo-based industries.

Spain's Rafael Nadal maintained his lead in the men's Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles rankings, with 9,310 average points, ahead of Switzerland's Roger Federer.