December 12, 2017 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

West Bengal State Government has announced that pilgrims coming to upcoming Gangasagar fair will be provided life insurance cover amounting to Rs 5 lakh each. Gangasagar fair is held annually on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at the confluence of the Ganges at Sagra Islands in South 24 Parganas district. Around 5-6 lakh pilgrims attend this fair. Every year, several deaths are reported from this fair that are caused due to sinking of boats, stampede, fire and cold. The premium for this insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh will be borne by West Bengal State Government.

The Jammu and Kashmir government launched SAUBHAGYA (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna) with an aim to provide free electricity connections to poor people in the state. SAUBHAGYA, an initiative taken by the prime minister, seeks to provide electricity to 4 crore families across India by December 2018. Jammu & Kashmir’s Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh launched the scheme. He said electric connections would be given to poor people, identified by the Socio Economic and Caste Census of 2011 and others sections for Rs 500, payable in 10 installments in the bill. The scheme also provides on-the-spot registration of applicants.

Telangana Prisons Department has started a drive to turn Hyderabad into “Beggar Free” city. This drive was first launched ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit that was held in Hyderabad from 28th – 30th November, 2017. Delegates from across the world, including United States President, Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump attended this summit. Under this drive, Prisons Department has started two Beggar homes, one is in Challapalli jail for female beggars and another in Chanchalguda jail for male beggars. The Beggar Homes have all kinds of facilities including cot, mattress, TV and pillows. Several programmes to give education and boost morale of beggars are also being conducted at these Beggar Homes.

Union Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the first “NIC-CERT”, a setup of National Informatics Centre (NIC). NIC-CERT has been setup with an objective to detect, prevent and respond to cyberattacks on government networks. Setting up NIC-CERT holds special significance as Government’s inter-departmental communications as well as communication between Centre, States and Districts takes place through NIC’s network. Currently, 30 cybersecurity professionals are working at NIC-CERT. By using gathered intelligence and tools, NIC-CERT team will detect any unusual movement on NIC network such as attacks/intrusion and will take action to neutralise the threat.

Bihar State Government approved a “Safe City Surveillance” scheme for curbing eve-teasing, harassment and other crimes against women at publicplaces. Decision to launch this scheme was taken at State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The scheme envisages installation of CCTV cameras at public places across the state. “Safe City Surveillance” scheme will be implemented in a phase-wise manner and Home Department of Bihar will be the nodal agency for implementing this scheme. Patna will be the first district to be covered under this scheme. Bihar State Government has already sanctioned Rs. 110.68 crore for this purpose.

19th International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices (IWPSD 2017) was inaugurated at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi on December 12, 2017. This four-day workshop was inaugurated by Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr. AS Kiran Kumar. The workshop has been jointly organised by Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi in association with Semiconductor Society (India), Society for Semiconductor Devices and Society for Information Display. IWPSD, which takes place every two years, is considered as an important international forum on Advanced Semiconductor Technologies. During the course of this workshop, scientists and academicians from educational institutes across the world, government laboratories and leading industries will interact on advanced semiconductor research and development.

An International conference on Ground water is being held in New Delhi from 11th – 13th December 2017. Theme of this conference is “Ground water Vision 2030- Water Security, Challenges and Climate Change Adaptation”. This conference has been organised by National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. On December 11, 2017, the conference was inaugurated by Union Minister for Water Resources, Ganga Rejuvenation and River Development, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minster for Drinking water and Sanitation, Ms Uma Bharti, Union Minster for Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Union Ministers of State for WR, RD & GR, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Dr. Satya Pal Singh.

Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) under Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has specified that all prposals for supplying electric buses by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) registered under FAME India Scheme shall be first brought to its notice. OEMs have thus been asked to await the directions from DHI before accepting any order for which it seeks to claim incentives for fully electric buses under the FAME India scheme. OEMs shall be eligible for FAME India incentives only after getting approval from DHI. This decision has been taken in order to facilitate smooth roll out and proper management of demand incentives for electric buses under FAME India scheme.

Sri Lanka formally handed over the strategic southern port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease. Two Chinese firms – Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) and Hambantota International Port Services (HIPS) – managed by the China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority will own the port and the investment zone around it. Sri Lanka received $292 million out of a $1.12 billion deal. The port is expected to play a key role in China’s Belt and Road initiative, which will link ports and roads between China and Europe.

In terms of mobile internet speed, India has raked 109th on Speedtest Global Index for the month of November 2017. This index has been released by broadband speed measuring firm, Ookla. India’s 109th rank in November 2017 marks a drop by one spot as compared to previous month. In January 2017, average mobile download speed in India was 7.65 Mbps (megabit per second). For November 2017, it improved to 8.80 Mbps. In terms of fixed broadband speed, India ranked at 76th spot globally for the month of November 2017. Average fixed broadband download speed too has improved to 18.82 Mbps in November 2017 as compared to 12.12 Mbps in January 2017.

Second UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development, was held in Muscat, Oman from 11th – 12th December, 2017. This conference was hosted by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman. It was conducted within the framework of International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. It is to be noted that United Nations has declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, to highlight tourism’s potential in transforming the world. Ways to build and strengthen partnerships between the Tourism and Culture sectors and increasing its contribution to UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were explored during the course of this conference. First UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture was held in Siem Reap, Cambodia in February 2015.

India’s first Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) will be coming to Andhra Pradesh. An EMC is designed and developed for providing facilities and amenities for manufacturing mobiles and allied products. In 2015, the Andhra Pradesh government announced the first exclusive mobile and electronic manufacturing cluster in the new capital, Amaravati. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Sri Venkateswara Mobiles and Electronics Manufacturing Hub Private Limited was formed. Indian mobile manufacturers Celkon, Karbonn and Lava have come forward to establish their units in the EMC. An anchor unit has been formed in the name of Seven Hills Digital Park Private Limited for the three companies. 113.27 acres of land has been allotted for the new cluster, through Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).

Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra has been honoured with Mother Teresa Memorial award for social justice 2017. Priyanka Chopra received the award for her contribution towards lending her support to social causes, such as her recent visit to Syria, where she met and interacted with refugee children. She is also UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador and is known for supporting various philanthropic activities. Her mother Madhu Chopra, received the award on her behalf.

Six top diplomats, including India’s Lakshmi Puri,have been felicitated with the inaugural Diwali “Power of One” award at New York, for their contribution to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world. The awards were presented on 11th December 2017 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the US Postal Service’s issuing of a forever Diwali stamp last year. The awardees are Matthew Rycroft, Nawaf Salam, Indian head of the UN Women Lakshmi Puri, Maged Abdelaziz, Ion Botnaru and Yuriy Sergeyev. The event was co-organised by the Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India. The event was co-sponsored by nearly two dozen countries including the US, Britain, France, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Spain, Kuwait and Algeria.

Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura has been elected as the new secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC). Dhammapiya was elected as Secretary General at the second general assembly of the IBC held in New Delhi. The IBC is a global Buddhist forum for preservation and development of heritage sites of Buddhism in India and other parts of the world. More than 150 international participants, including around 80 from India, met for the election of the new general secretary and members of the governing councils of the organisation. A governing board was also elected with representatives from Mongolia, Australia, Mexico, Bhutan, Uganda and other countries.

Nakul Chopra, President of AAAI and Senior Advisor, Publicis Communications, has been elected as the next Chairman of BARC India. Nakul Chopra succeeds Viacom18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, who completed his one-year tenure as Chairman. Nakul Chopra will be the third Chairman of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. He had joined the BARC India Board in September 2016. Since then he has been an integral part of the various decisions taken by the board.

Apple has confirmed that it is acquiring popular music recognition app Shazam beating Snapchat and Spotify. Apple has signed a deal with Shazam for a sum of nearly $400 million. The Shazam app was built by Shazam Entertainment Ltd, a British app development company. Shazam is used by hundreds of millions of people each month to instantly identify music that’s playing and see what others are discovering.

Sivan, Director of ISRO’s rocket development node, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre said, preliminary work to design and develop a small launch vehicle began about three months ago. The small launch vehicle’s design will enable a handful of engineers to assemble it within a week. And the launcher should be able to put satellites of up to 500-600 kg in orbits close to the Earth. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre has designed the vehicle using the rocket technology that is awaiting ISRO’s approval. The development cost would be kept low at a few crore as the new launcher’s requirement of advanced electronics is considerably lower. It could also tremendously cut the launch fee that customers would have to pay.

China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) launched Algeria’s first telecommunications satellite, Alcomsat-1, aboard a Long March 3B rocket. The 5,225-kilogram satellite carries a 33-transponder payload comprised of 19 in Ku-band, 12 in Ka-band and two in L-band. CGWIC built the satellite and provided the launch vehicle. The Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) will operate Alcomsat-1, which has a design life of 15 years. Chinese satellite operator China Satcom assisted with the Alcomsat-1 program, including frequency coordination, defining the system and gauging user needs. Alcomsat-1 will support television broadcasting and broadband communications for remote education, e-government, and other services.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced to host Afghanistan for their first-ever Test match. The historic match will be held in the upcoming home season (2018-19). The dates of the historic Test will be announced later. In 2015, the BCCI and Afghanistan Cricket Board signed an MOU with Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority to use Sports Complex as the home ground for Afghanistan Cricket Team.

Shubhankar Sharma of India won the Joburg Open golf tournament to qualify for 2018 edition of the British Open. Shubhankar Sharma closed with a 69 at the Randpark Golf Club to claim his first European Tour victory in the Joburg Open golf tournament. On the final day he birdied his first full hole, the 9th, and then steered a steady course through the back nine, parring every hole on the run for home to secure athree-shot win over Erik van Rooyen. Shaun Norris of South Africa closed with a 65 to finish in a tie for third with Finland’s Tapio Pulkannen. England’s Marcus Armitage finished alone in fifth place.

Mehuli Ghosh and Tushar Mane became the first Indian shooters to secure the women’s and men’s quota places for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Mehuli Ghosh and Tushar Mane secured the women’s and men’s quota places for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) by winning medals at the 10th Asian Championship 10M Rifle/Pistol at Wako City, Japan. Mehuli Ghosh won gold to bag one out of three quota places available in women’s 10m Air Rifle Youth. Tushar Mane won a bronze medal to secure one out of four quota places available in the men’s 10m Air Rifle Youth.

On December 12, 2017, on the occasion of ‘Universal Health Coverage Day’, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda launched following initiatives to advance the agenda of Universal Health Coverage in India.This initiative has been launched to improve the quality of care that is being provided to the pregnant mother in the Labour Room and Maternity Operation Theatres. Under this initiative, quality certification of labour rooms will be conducted and those facilities achieving the specified targets will be appropriately incentivised. It will be implemented in Government Medical Colleges (MCs), District Hospitals (DHs), high delivery load Sub- District Hospitals (SDHs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs). Laqshya will eventually help in preventing the undesirable adverse outcomes during childbirth such as maternal and new-born mortality, morbidity and stillbirths.

On 12th December 2017, International Day of Neutrality was celebrated all over the world. The idea of dedicating a day to neutrality was coined by Turkmenistan. On 2 February 2017, the UN General Assembly declared 12 December as the International Day of Neutrality.The UN General Assembly called for marking the day by holding events aimed at enhancing public awareness of the value of neutrality in international relations.