December 14, 2017 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

Madhya Pradesh State Government has approved Rs 7546-crore project for linking Narmada River with Parvati River. This project aims to create irrigation facilities on two lakh hectares of agriculture land in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.Approval in this regard was given by Narmada Control Board (NCB), at a meeting chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.The project is to be implemented in four phases, wherein each phase will create irrigation facilities on at least 50000 hectares of agricultural land. Farmers of 369 villages of Sehore and Shajapur districts of Madhya Pradesh will get direct benefits from this project.

14th Inclusive Finance India Summit began in New Delhi on December 11, 2017. This summit is being held with an objective to deliberate upon strategies for achieving universal financial inclusion in India.The two-day 14th Inclusive Finance India Summit is divided into 17 sessions. 90 leaders from across the world will be attending this event. It will offer a platform to leaders and industry experts to debate and discuss the challenges and issues faced in furthering financial inclusion in India. The summit witnessed the release and presentation of the Inclusive Finance India Report. This report provides an analysis of financial inclusion progress attained during the course of the year. A book titled ‘Talking financial inclusion in liberalized India: Conversations with Governors of the RBI’, edited by Prof. MS Sriram was released on the first day of the summit.

India and Morocco signed several agreements for cooperation in areas of Water Resources, Road, Marine and Health Sectors. These agreements were signed during the course of the visit of Moroccan Government’s delegation led by Mr. Abdelkader Amara (Morocco’s Minister for Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water). Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of Water Resources. Agreement to establish cooperation between Higher Institute of Maritime Studies (ISEM) of Morocco and Indian Maritime University (IMU). Framework Agreement for Cooperation in Training between National Ports Agency (NPA) of Morocco and the Indian Maritime University (IMU). Cooperation Framework Agreement between Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and Institute of Training in Engines and Road Maintenance of Morocco (IFEER)

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik unveiled a new multi-coloured logo for the KumbhMela that is scheduled to be held in Allahabad in January 2019. The logo comprises temples, seers, a kalash (pitcher) and a ‘Swastika’. It was launched by Ram Naik at a function in the Raj Bhawan, New Delhi. Ram Naik also launched the Kumbh’s tagline “ChaloKumbhChalo-Chalo, KumbhChalo”, Uttar Pradesh Tourism’s slogan “UP NahinDekha to India NahinDekha” and a one-stop travel solution portal. The KumbhMela is believed to be the largest religious gathering on earth and is held every 12 years on the banks of the ‘Sangam’ in Allahabad.

Delhi Government set-up a nine-member expert panel to look into the functioning of private hospitals and nursing homes.The panel has been asked to recommend norms to be followed by the clinics, including determining the ceiling of profit margin on medicines and consumables. Besides, it will also look into complaints of overcharging by private hospitals. The panel will be headed by Delhi government’s Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Kirti Bhushan and will comprise government healthcare officials as well as representatives of doctors’ bodies. President of the Delhi Medical Council, Dr.Arun Gupta and President of the Indian Medical Association, Dr. K.K. Aggarwal are also a part of this panel.The panel will submit its report by December 31, 2017.

Japan has decided to offer a grant worth 8.4 million Yen for the construction of a vocational training centre for poor women and youth in Rajasthan’s Baran district. The signing ceremony for the project to be executed under Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP), will be held on December 19,2017 at the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi. It will be signed between Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu and the representative of the Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society.The Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) for development projects are designed to meet the diverse basic human needs of the people in developing countries.

The 4th India-Australia-Japan Trilateral Dialogue hosted by Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar begun in New Delhi.Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia Ms. Frances Adamson and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Mr. Shinsuke J. Sugiyama participated in the Trilateral Dialogue.The three sides highlighted the growing convergence of their countries’ interests in the Indo-Pacific region and underscored their shared commitment to peace, democracy, economic growth etc.The Japanese Vice Minister Mr. Shinsuke J. Sugiyama proposed to host the next round in Tokyo.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) 90th Annual General Meeting at the Vigyan Bhavanin New Delhi. Rashesh Shah, the Chairman & CEO of Edelweiss Group took charge as FICCI President. The theme for this year’s AGM is ‘Indian Business in a New India’. Highlights of PM Modi’s address: Over 5 crore toilets were built in the last three years. There have been 3 crore new entrepreneurs in the last three years.Today more than 30 crore people have bank accounts. Under Mundra scheme, over Rs. 4 lakh crore in loans have been given without guarantees to about 9.75 lakh youth for business.

World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 11th – 14th December 2017.WTO Ministerial Conference is a gathering of Trade Ministers from 164 WTO member countries. The conference is held every two years.
• This conference is held to take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.
• A multi-ministry Indian delegation to this conference was led by Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Suresh Prabhu.
India insists on permanent solution to food security issue.At the 11th Ministerial Conference of WTO, India insisted that WTO should arrive at a permanent solution on issue of public stockholding for food security.

‘Feminism’ has been named word of the year 2017 by the American dictionary Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster said that it had seen a 70% increase in online searches for the word ‘feminism’ in 2017, compared to 2016. The largest spike in searches came in the last weeks of January 2017, following the Women’s March in Washington DC and around the world.

Sri Lanka became the 163rd nation to accede to the anti-personnel mine ban convention. Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN Rohan Perera deposited the Instrument of Accession to the Convention of the Prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly referred to as theMine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Treaty, was adopted on September 18, 1997. It prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines. Sri Lanka, in March 2016, had pledged that it will be acceding to the convention to become the 163rd state of the Convention.

India signed Financing Agreement for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan of USD 250 million for the Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Project. IBRD is a member institution of the World Bank Group.Objective of SANKALP project is to strengthen institutional mechanisms for skill development as well as to increase access to quality and market-relevant training for the work force.Institutional Strengthening at the National as well as State Levels for Planning, Delivering, and Monitoring High-Quality Market-Relevant Training, Improved access to and completion of skills training for female trainees and other disadvantaged groups, Improved Quality and Market Relevance of Skills Development Programs and Expanding skills training through private-public partnerships (PPPs) are the key result areas of SANKALP Project.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed Rs 3 crore penalty on IndusInd Bank for violation of income classification norms.Through an inspection, RBI had observed that IndusInd Bank breached Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms. Besides, it was observed that IndusInd Bank did not adhere to regulatory restrictions pertaining to non-fund based (NFB) facilities. However, RBI categorically mentioned that this penalty was solely for non-compliance with regulatory norms and does not invalidate any transaction or agreement entered into by IndusInd bank with its customers

Online investment platform, FundsIndia.com, has partnered with private sector lender, YES BANK to launch Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its Android app for mutual fund payments.On account of this tie-up, FundsIndia has become the first online mutual fund distributor to support UPI for client payments. UPI facilitates instant processing of payments and is currently the fastest way to complete mutual fund transactions as compared to National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Net Banking and other payment methods.To use this feature, a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) is required. FundsIndia users can create their own VPA on the FundsIndia Android app (backed by Yes Bank’s engine). Thereafter the user has to link the VPA with his/her bank account.FundsIndia’s UPI integration supports payments from 58 banks

In the latest list of Highest-Paid Athlete of All Time, released by Forbes, retired Basketball Legend Michael Jordan has been named as the highest-paid athlete of all time. Michael Jordan who is 54 years old has $1.7 billion in the bank. Former world number one golfer Tiger Woods has secured the second spot, with $1.7 billionpretax. Late America golfer Arnold Palmer is at number 3 with $1.4 billion to his name. He is followed by retired golfer Jack Nicklaus with $1.2 billion.

Former Director-General of Police of Punjab and Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro will be honoured with ‘Police Jeevan Gaurav Award’ by the Arvind Inamdar Foundation on December 29, 2017.The ceremony will be held in the auditorium of Swatantryveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, Dadar in Central Mumbai. Awards will be presented by noted scientist Raghunath Mashelkar.This year, apart from Julio Ribeiro, the foundation will honour retired Deputy Superintendent of Police of Nagpur Ramesh Mehta and retired assistant sub-inspector of Beed Pandurang Misal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned INS Kalvari submarine into the Indian Navy. The commissioning ceremony was held in Mumbai. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba was also present at the commissioning ceremony.INS Kalvari is the first of the six Scorpene-class submarines being built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL).Kalvari (in Malayalam), is tiger shark, a deadly predator found in tropical and temperate waters.The Scorpenes are diesel-electric attack submarines, being built by Mazagaon Dock Ltd under Project 75 with transfer of technology from a French naval defence and energy company.Weighing 1565-tonne, INS Kalvari has an overall length of 67.5 metre and a height of about 12.3 metres.INS Kalvari has state-of-the-art stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques and low radiated noise levels. Its design has been hydro-dynamically optimised to produce minimum underwater resistance. In terms of strike capability, it can be loaded with precision-guided weapons to launch a crippling attack on enemy targets.

‘Google AI China Center’ was launched by Fei-Fei Li, Google Cloud’s Chief Scientist, at the Google Developer Days event in Shanghai, China. This is google’s first lab in Asia. Fei-Fei Li along with Google Cloud research head Dr. Jia Li will be leading and coordinating research.The centre will be focused on basic AI research. It will consist of a team of AI researchers in Beijing, supported by Google China’s strong engineering teams.Besides publishing its own work, the Google AI China Center will also support the AI research community by funding and sponsoring AI conferences and workshops, and working closely with Chinese AI research community.

The Telangana government has developed a mobile application named ‘Urban Genie’ that will help citizens in urban areas across the state find trained and certified technicians and workers, who will provide household services.The Android-based Urban Genie will be available in 73 municipal towns and cities, barring Hyderabad. Users can avail the services of electricians, plumbers, fitters, carpenters, painters, interior decorators, cleaners, drivers, cooks and even domestic helps through the app.The technicians and other workers can register their names and numbers on the app and the government will conduct a background check before giving them training and the certification once they are trained.The mission has set up a City Livelihood Centre (CLC) in every municipality which will monitor this app.

After Hyderabad, ACT Fibernet has now launched the 1Gbps wired broadband internet service in Bengaluru.The plan costs Rs 5,999 for 1 month, Rs 35,994 for 6 months and Rs 71,988 for 12 months subscription. ACT Fibernet is introducing curated broadband plans for retail and Small Medium Enterpris(SME)) customers under this service. Under retail, ACT GIGA plan will offer 1 Gbps broadband speed with 1250 GB FUP upload and 1250 GB FUP download at Rs 5999.Under the SME (Small Medium Enterprise), ACT Fibernet has introduced a new plan ACT SME GIGA Plus at INR 15,000.

World youth champion Sachin Siwach was named the Asian Boxing Confederation’s best youth boxer of the year 2017. Sachin Siwachm claimed the Asian youth championships silver this year besides a gold at the Youth Commonwealth Games. He polled 36.2 % votes in his category in the online poll and clinched the first position. India also fetched the Best Asian International Technical Official (ITO) award with Lenny D’Gama winning the online poll. Lenny D’Gama officiated at the ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Puerto Princesaand also in the Asian Women’s Boxing Championships in Ho Chi Minh City. He polled 45.5 % of the total votes to claim the award.

Actor-Director Neeraj Vora, who was suffering from an illness for a long time now passed away in Mumbai. Neeraj Vora who was an actor-director was in coma from past 13 months after suffering from a massive heart-attack and brain stroke. He breathed his last at Criti Care hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. He has acted in films like ‘Mann’, ‘Holi’, ‘Virasat’, ‘Rangeela’ etc. He has directed films such as ‘Phir Hera Pheri’ and ‘Khiladi 420’.

Renowned journalist and Bengali author Rabisankar Bal died at a hospital following a brief illness, in Kolkata. Rabisankar Bal was ailing for some time and was admitted to the railway run B.R. Singh Hospital on 11th December 2017. Rabisankar Bal, a novelist and short story writer was born in 1962. He has written over 15 novels, five short story collections, one volume each of poetry and literary essays over a period of 30 years. He had received West Bengal government’s SutapaRoychowdhury Memorial Prize. He had also edited a Bengali translation of Saadat Hasan Manto’s writings.

On 14th December 2017, National Energy Conservation Day was celebrated all over India.President Ram Nath Kovind presided as the Chief Guest over the National Energy Conservation Day celebrations in New Delhi.Ram Nath Kovind gave away National Energy Conservation Awards to industries that have demonstrated measurable reductions in their energy use as part of the National Energy Conservation Awards Programme. During the event, a short film on the Energy Efficiency achievements in the Industry Sector was shown. The Energy Conservation Day is organized on 14th December each year by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) with an aim to demonstrate India’s achievements in energy efficiency and conservation.