December 17, 2017 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

The seven-day International Herbal Fair started in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the International herbal fair at the Lal Parade Ground. Delegations from Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and other countries are taking part in the fair. 300 stalls of rare herbs collected from various districts of Madhya Pradesh is put up in the fair. Cultural programme is held every evening during the fair. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will conclude the programme.

Global Partnership Summit (GPS) 2017 was held in New Delhi from 11th to 14th December 2017. The Summit was organised by India Center Foundation (ICF). ICF is a not for profit and non-governmental organisation working to bring about socio-economic development in India. The Global Partnership Summit (GPS) has evolved from the India Japan Global Partnership (IJGP) initiative. GPS serves as a platform for global partners to share knowledge, expertise and experience for creating a development model which focuses on empowerment and sustainability. Discussions at GPS 2017 focused on several areas including clean energy, infrastructure and logistics, healthcare, energy, tourism, agro economy, art and culture, banking and finance, information communication technology and education and skill development. Around 3000 delegates and over 200 speakers including top business leaders, think tanks, policy makers, social change catalysts, youth leaders and academicians attended this summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Central Government’s decision to invest Rs 90000 crore for building a network of highways and roads in the North Eastern region of India. This amount of Rs. 90000 crore for improving roads and highways in Northeast will be spent in the next two to three years. Out of this committed amount, Rs 60000 crore would be spent under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme while Rs 30,000 crore will be spent under Central Government’s Bharatmala project. It is to be noted that this amount of Rs. 90000 crore is above Rs 32,000 crore that has already been sanctioned for building 3800 kms of national highways. PM Modi also announced that Central Government is committed to bring all capitals of North Eastern States on the rail map.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced a sports tie-up between Lakshmi Bai University of Physical Education and a Japanese university. This tie-up was announced by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the commemorative ceremony of the Japan-India sports exchange programme. During the ceremony a judo demonstration was showcased by Japanese Olympic medallists Masashi Nishiyama and Misato Nakamuro.

Uttar Pradesh State Government will soon set up a research institute for the study of the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in Mathura. Setting up of Gita Research Institute has been proposed by Uttar Pradesh’s Minister for Religious Works and Culture, Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary. Annoucement in this regard was made by Mr. Chaudhary at 144th anniversary celebration of the Government Museum, Mathura. Mr. Chaudhary has mentioned that this institute is being set up for research on Gayan (singing), Nratya (dance) and Vadan (the art of music) of the Krishna age.

Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet approved a scheme to provide a pension of Rs 1500 to transgenders in the state. Transgenders above 18 years of age, residing in Andhra Pradesh can avail pension under this scheme. Currently, there are 26000 eligible transgenders in Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh state government has decided to provide ration cards, plots and scholarships, as well as to impart skill development training for financial stability transgenders in the state. Among other Indian states, Kerala and Odisha have already introduced pension scheme for transgenders.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has formed a 30-member central advisory panel, which will advise government on implementation of the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) and will play an important role in protecting the interest of consumers. Five top secretaries from states including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha and Chairpersons of regulatory authorities from five other states have been included in the panel. It will advise central government to boost growth and facilitate development of the real estate sector in India. Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) which has come into force from May 1, 2017, covers all the residential and commercial projects in India.

As per a report by United Nations, nearly 15.6 million people from India live overseas, thus making Indian Diaspora, the largest in the world. In 2015, total number of international migrants was estimated at 243 million. With 15.6 million, Indians constituted 6% of this global figure. According to the ‘World Migration Report(2018)’, released by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), growth in number of international migrants as compared to world population has been static. In, 2010, international migrants constituted 3.2% of world population, while in 2015 it stands at 3.3%. US is the most favourite destination for international migrants. US is home to 46.6 million international migrants.

Iran opened its first museum dedicated to Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, a solo female artist who has garnered widespread international attention during decades of exile. ‘Monir Museum’, which opened in Tehran, displays 51 works, including her signature mirror mosaics, reverse glass paintings inspired by geometric patterns and abstract monotypes. This museum is being managed by Tehran University. Many of Monir’s works were confiscated and destroyed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Monir has spent most of her career in the US. She permanently returned to Iran in 2004.

World Health Organization (WHO) declared Gabon as a “polio-free country”. Declaration was based on the facts that no new cases of polio have been reported from Gabon in recent times. Polio is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. It mainly affects young children and results into permanent paralysis. There is no cure for polio. It can only be prevented through immunisation. In 1988, polio was endemic in 125 countries and nearly 350000 cases were recorded worldwide. Since then, polio cases have reduced by 99 percent. Currently polio is endemic, only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Switzerland unveiled world’s steepest funicular railway link to the alpine resort of Stoos. Funicular is a type of cable railway (a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails) on an inclined pane of cliff. The latest funicular unveiled in Switzerland rises 743 metres along gradients as steep as 110% and has a track length of 1720 metres. This funicular railway has been built at a cost of Rs 333.21 crore. It has four cabins. Each cabin can carry 34 people at a time

Samsung India has partnered with UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development) to launch 360-degree video and Virtual Reality (VR) content of Sun Temple in Konark and Taj Mahal. Sun Temple in Konark, Odisha and Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh are Indian heritage sites inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. First 360-degree video and VR content on the Sun Temple was unveiled on December 16, 2017 at the Transforming Education Conference for Humanity (TECH) 2017 in Visakhapatnam. TECH 2017 was organized by UNESCO MGIEP. The video was unveiled at a specially set up Samsung Smart Class at TECH 2017 venue. This partnership is aimed to provide experiential educational content to urban as well as rural students across India.

Ola entered into an agreement with Bajaj Allianz to offer a comprehensive insurance programme for its driver partners. This programme has been named ‘Chalo Befikar’. Under this programme, Ola’s driver partners can avail an insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh. This programme also offers other benefits viz. daily business loss compensation due to hospitalisation, taking care of outstanding car loans and children’s education. Ola currently has 9 lakh driver partners on its platform. In September 2017, Uber, which is Ola’s rival had rolled out a similar insurance programme for its 4.5 lakh driver partners in India. Uber has partnered with ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis was appointed Czech prime minister. Andrej Babis’s ANO party won 29.6 percent of the vote, nearly three times the support won by second-placed center-right Civic Democrats in October 2017 election. In a ceremony on 13th December 2017, President Milos Zeman appointed Andrej Babis as Czech prime minister. Andrej Babis set up ANO party in 2011 as a protest movement when mainstream parties were involved in corruption scandals.

Ravindra Jaiswal was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Sudan. Ravindra Jaiswal is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of 1999 batch. Presently he is Deputy Chief of Mission, Berne. He has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Sudan. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Ms. Smita Nagaraj took the oath of office and secrecy as Member, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Smita Nagaraj is an Officer of the 1984 Batch of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of Tamil Nadu Cadre. She served as Executive Director of the Central Social Welfare Board, Director in the Department of Personnel & Training and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. Prior to her joining the Commission, she was working as Director General (Acquisition) in the Ministry of Defence.

Pradeep Kumar Gupta was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Mali. Pradeep Kumar Gupta is presently Counsellor, High Commission of India, Accra. He has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Mali. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Direct-to-home (DTH) operator Dish TV India Ltd (owned by Zee Group) announced that the company has received the final approval from Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry for completing its merger with Videocon d2h, the DTH arm of Videocon Industries Ltd. The new merged entity will be called Dish TV Videocon Limited. It will serve the combined subscriber base of 29 million users. In terms of earnings, Dish TV Videocon Limited will be the largest listed media company in India. According to a report released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), DishTV had the largest DTH market share (24%) as on June 2017. DTH is followed by Tata Sky (23% market share) and Videocon d2h having 21% market share.

US-based National High Magnetic Field Laboratory has successfully tested the world’s strongest superconducting magnet ‘32 T’, producing 32 teslas (a unit of magnetic field strength), 33% stronger than the previous record. This superconducting magnet ‘32 T’ is made of a combination of conventional low-temperature and novel high-temperature superconductors. The 32 T will allow physicists studying materials to explore how electrons interact with each other and their atomic environment. It features a very stable, homogenous field suitable for sensitive experiments. It combines strength and stability.

Indian Junior Girls have claimed four gold, three silver and a bronze medal at the Valeria Demyanova Memorial International Boxing Tournament in Ukraine. Arundhati Choudhury won a gold medal in the 60 kg category winning against Uljanay from Kazakhstan. Raj Sahiba defaeted Ukraine’s Petrenko Julia and wongold medal in the 70 kg category. Mitika Sanjay won gold medal in the 66 kg weight category as she defeated Irina Notatina of Ukraine. In the 80 kg weight category Komal won gold medal. Jhalak Tomar (54 kg) and Sanjeeta (48 kg) won silver medals. Lipakshi won silver medal in the 80 plus category. Mounika Baggu won a bronze medal in the 63 kg category.

India won 10 gold and 10 silver medals on the first day of the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in South Africa’s Johannesburg.

Spain’s Georgina Garcia-Perez won the singles title in the NECC-ITF women’s tennis championship in Pune. Georgina Garcia-Perez won a straight set battle against Katy Dunne and won singles title in the NECC-ITF women’s tennis championship. This is her first title in Asia. Georgina Garcia-Perez is ranked 238 on WTA Tour. Georgina has become the first Spaniard to win the ITF title in Pune.

Real Madrid won the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017. Real Madrid won the final against Gremio and claimed the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017. Real Madrid has become the first side in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup to retain the trophy. Real Madrid has now won five trophies in 2017 – the Champions League, La Liga, Uefa Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and now the Club World Cup.