November 28, 2017 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

A tripartite MoU was signed between National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSC) with Airbnb. The MoU will provide hospitality skills training to hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in India. The signing of this MoU is in line with the Government’s endeavor to promote entreprenuership under the Government’s Skill India Programme. This MoU aims to empower more citizens, including those in rural and underserved areas to join the ‘alternate accommodation’ sector and pursue new livelihood opportunities by sharing their homes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 30 km-long, first phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail between Miyapur and Nagole, at Miyapur station. Post inauguration, PM Modi took a ride along with Telangana chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in its maiden run. Minimum fare for a ride in Hyderabad Metro Rail is Rs 10 for two km and maximum fare is Rs 60 for the entire stretch. Initially, metro rail will be operational from 6 am to 10 pm for three months. Depending on the surge in traffic, timings will later be revised to 5.30 am to 11 pm.

Manipur Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh inaugurated a two-day India-Myanmar media interaction programme in Imphal. Eleven journalists from Myanmar are taking part in this interaction programme. From the Indian media side, Prakash Dubey of the Editors’ Guild of India and K. Nayar of the Press Council of India were present at this programme.This event was sponsored by the Manipur tourism department in collaboration with Information and Public Relations department and the state level committee of the Act East Policy.

First edition of the International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE 2017) begun in Jaipur, Rajasthan on November 27, 2017. Five-day symposium, INSPIRE 2017 is being organized by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in partnership with The World Bank, and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE). INSPIRE 2017 brings together various stakeholders such as innovators, policy makers, financiers and experts to showcase best practices in the sector.

India and Greece signed an air services agreement in New Delhi. The agreement was signed between Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias. Mr. Nikos Kotzias was on a three day visit to India from 25th – 27th November, 2017. Currently, there is no direct air connectivity between India and Greece. This air services agreement will allow Indian airlines to operate to Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion and accordingly Greek airlines will be able to start services to major Indian cities.

India and Russia have entered into an agreement under which, EMERCOM of Russia would cooperate with India in the establishment of the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in India to handle disaster and other emergency situations. This cooperation was agreed during a meeting between Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Minister for Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov in Moscow, Russia on November 28, 2017. Mr. Singh is on a three-day visit to Russia for strengthening bilateral cooperation in security sector.

India will provide USD 2.87 million to Afghanistan for refurbishment (renovation) of 350 buses that will help in strengthening the public transport system of Kabul. The Indian Embassy in Kabul said that, an MoU in this regard was signed by Manpreet Vohra, Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, and Afghan Transport Minister Hameed Tahmasi. The Ministry of External Affairs said on twitter that, the 350 buses are expected to be operational by end of 2018.

ICICI Prudential Life has become first private Life Insurer in India to implement Electronic – National Automated Clearing House (e-NACH) service of the National Payment Corporation of India. e-NACH mandate service is a digital registration process through which a customer issues a mandate to the bank to debit his/her account at pre-determined frequencies. Customer can register for this mandate at the time of purchasing a life insurance policy, by sharing bank details and Aadhaar number.

India First Life Insurance has launched India’s first-ever micro-insurance plan ‘insurance khata’ for those in the informal sector and agricultural labourers with seasonal incomes. ’Insurance Khata’ provides individuals with the flexibility to pay premium in parts depending on periodicity of his/her income. Entry level minimum premium for ‘Insurance Khata’ is Rs. 500/-. Taking into account the profile of target customers, entire premium paid will be returned back at the end of the term. This will not only provide monetary relief to the policy holder but will also ensure insurance coverage for the entire term.

Amazon India collaborated with hardware accelerator “HAX” and crowd-funding community “Kickstarter” to announce “Startup C-Cube” – a multi-level challenge for the startups that will commence in Bengaluru on December 5, 2017. This move is expected to bring companies together to work towards building the product startup ecosystem. The announcement was made at the first anniversary of Amazon’s flagship programme “Launchpad”.

Air India Express (AIE), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, has secured the Category III-B certification from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). By gaining this certification, Air India Express flights can now land and takeoff in low visibility conditions even up to an RVR (runway visual range) as low as up to 50 meters. Air India Express has got CAT III B certification as all its pilots have completed the low visibility training, required for carrying out operations in foggy conditions.

India was the biggest market for Ukrainian agriculture products in the first 10 month of 2017, importing 11.3 % of exports in cash terms. Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry said, Ukrainian agriculture exports were worth $14.7 billion in the 10 months to October 2017, about 23 % more than in the same period last year. Ukraine is among the world’s biggest exporters of sunflower oil, maize and wheat. Egypt was the second-largest importer, with a 7.5 %share, and the Netherlands was the third, with 6.9 %.

President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the 3rd ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Distinguished Indologist Award on Professor Hiroshi Marui of Japan at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated Professor Marui and thanked him for his exemplary contribution to Indology. He said Professor Marui had spent over 40 years working on Indian philosophy and Buddhist studies. He said that Professor Marui’s many acclaimed publications and research papers are considered a final authority on several subjects world-wide.

The pavilion of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation bagged gold medal in the Ministries/ Departments category for excellence in display in the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2017, in New Delhi. Akhil Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation received the Gold Medal award from Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry CR Chaudhary. The pavilion of National Mission for Clean Ganga received appreciation certificate in the PSUs/ EPCs/ commodity boards, banks and other government departments/organisations category for excellence in display.

Inaugural edition of Indian Sports Honours 2017 was held in Mumbai on November 27, 2017. Indian Sports Honours is a joint initiative by Indian Men’s Cricket Team’s Captain Virat Kohli Foundation RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group to honour Indian sports stars and support the development of Indian sports. Indian Badminton players, Srikanth Kidambi and PV Sindhu were honoured with sportsman and woman of the year respectively for individual sports.

Senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India. Pradeep Singh Kharola, a Karnataka cadre IAS officer, would replace Rajiv Bansal, who has been serving as the interim CMD for a little over three months. The appointment has come a few days after Rajiv Bansal was given an extension for three months. Currently, Pradeep Singh Kharola is the Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was elected as a foreign academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) along with 17 other foreigners. Bill Gates has been elected as a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2017. Apart from Bill Gates, 66 other prominent Chinese and foreign scientists have been elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2017. In September 2017, TerraPower, a Bill Gates-led company, established a joint venture with China National Nuclear Corporation, with the aim of building and operating small, medium, and large travelling-wave nuclear power plants in the next 20 years.

Union Ministry of Finance has issued a notification stating that Shaktikanta Das, former secretary of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has been appointed as India’s G20 (Group of Twenty) Sherpa till December 31, 2018 for the Development Track. There are two tracks in G 20 – Finance Track and Development Track. India is represented in Finance Track by the incumbent Secretary (Economic Affairs) whereas the Development Track is coordinated by the Sherpa. Role of a Sherpa is to coordinate on the agenda for the upcoming G20 summit.

Central government appointed former Planning Commission Member, NK Singh as chairman of 15th Finance Commission. Former Economic Affairs Secretary, Shaktikanta Das, Niti Aayog Member, Ramesh Chand, Former Chief Economic Advisor, Ashok Lahiri, and Georgetown University Professor Anoop Singh are the other members of 15th Finance Commission. As per Article 280 of Indian Constitution, Finance Commission is required to make recommendations on the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Centre and the states.

Magazine publisher and broadcast company Meredith Corp. is acquiring Time Inc. in a deal valued at $2.8 billion. Meredith Corp. acquires Time Inc. in an aim to adapt from print to the digital age. The company would pay $18.50 a share for Time Inc. Time Inc. is a publishing company that owns the magazines Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. Meredith’s best-known brands include Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens.

Tata Power Solar Systems has commissioned India’s first rooftop solar carport at 70000 sq. mtr in Unity One Mall, in Rohini, Delhi. Solar carports are overhead canopies (mounted with solar panel) built to cover parking areas. Electricity generated through this solar carport is estimated to set off 438 tons of carbon emission annually. This solar carport will make the mall self sufficient in terms of energy requirement. Besides, mall will also earn on the unused and excess solar electricity produced, by sending it to the local power grid.

Indian paddler G Sathiyan defeated Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura 4-2 to clinch the men’s singles gold medal at the 2017 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open in Almeria, Spain. G Sathiyan beat Kazuhiro Yoshimura 11-7, 3-11, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7 in the men singles final and won the gold medal. This was Sathiyan’s second major title after the singles gold he had won two years ago in the ITTF World Tour Belgium Open.

Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest bowler to gain 300 Test wicket, in the second match against Sri Lanka at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium, in Nagpur. Ashwin scored four wickets on the fourth day of the match. Ashwin’s efforts helped India win the match by a massive margin of an innings and 239 runs. With the help of his four wickets, Ashwin entered the ‘club 300’ in the longest format of the game and he also became the fastest (54 Test) to reach there.

Popular Malayalam stage, movie and television actor Thodupuzha Vasanthi passed away at a private hospital in Thodupuzha, Kerala. Vasanthi was 65 years old. She was battling cancer for some time now. She was a diabetic also, her right leg was amputated a year ago. She was a vibrant actor, most of her onscreen characters were bold and candid. Her film career began in 1975. She had acted in over 450 films.