Current Affairs Quiz - 17th July, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

8th India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting Begins in Muscat: The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu co-chaired 8th session of India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) along with Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy of Oman, Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy. Suresh Prabhu invited Omani companies to build on their success in India and make investments to benefit from 'Make in India' and 'Invest India' programmes which are aimed to encourage manufacturing. Areas of discussion in the JCM include cooperation in space, renewable energy, start-up, SMEs, food security, including durable foods and packaging, services sector, tourism sector, exchange of ideas and visit of young entrepreneurs.

The 2018 Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit is to commence from August 30, 2018 in Nepal. This is the fourth summit of BIMSTEC since its formation in 1997. Nepal is hosting it for the first time. It will see the heads of states from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand along with Nepal.

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat won gold at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, conceding just one point in five bouts en route to the title victory in the women's 50kg freestyle category. The 23-year-old outclassed Canada's Natasha Fox 10-0 in the final. Vinesh began her campaign by beating Mariana Diaz on technical superiority and then thumped Erin Golston 12-1 and Valeria Chepsarakova 5-0.

The RBI has been praised by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), for its effective communications strategy. The RBI has been applauded by the BIS, which calls itself 'a bank for central banks', for effectively using a targeted communication strategy for reaching out to the right audience in "short and simplified" language. In its latest annual economic report, Basel-based BIS, which is owned by 60 central banks from across the world including the Reserve Bank of India, has said that effective communication is critical for success, as in many other policymaking areas.

The board of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has approved the proposal for the insurer to hold a 51% stake in IDBI Bank. The announcement was made by Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. The life insurer has around 7.5% stake in LIC at present and will acquire the remaining stake from the government. Using this route rather than LIC directly buying the government's stake in IDBI Bank will ensure that the bank receives the capital.

A team comprising experts from the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur and the University of Oxford has been selected for an award for exceptional research-led innovation to mitigate arsenic poisoning in the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta in the north and northeast India. The innovation awards instituted by the university's vice-chancellor include one for prominent Oxford-based linguist Aditi Lahiri, who was selected for the "inspiring leadership" award for developing a flexible approach to speech recognition.

The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras launched a Rs 40 crore remotely operable miscroscope, claimed to be the world's first of its kind, that would enable precise view of atoms of a material. It had been developed in a collaborative exercise involving eight top research institutions in the country, spearheaded by IIT-M.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed former India off-spinner Ramesh Powar to look after the Indian women's cricket team till replacement for coach Tushar Arothe will be found. The Indian womens Cricket team is scheduled to have a series in Sri Lanka in August.

India has been elected new President of Asian Tug of War Federation. India's Gautam Kaul won the prestigious post in the Federations' Executive Committee elections held in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is the first time when India has been elected to lead the organisation. The post of Secretary-General has also gone to India, while Nepal has got Treasurer's post. Pakistan and Cambodia have won posts of Vice Presidents.

American Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather has been named the world's highest paid celebrity by Forbes with earnings of $285 million in the last 12 months. Actor George Clooney take the No. 2 spot with the highest annual pay of his career. Reality star Kylie Jenner, 20, came in third on the annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Lionel Messi (ranked 8th with $111 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo (ranked 10th with $108 million) were the only other athletes in the top 10.

China plans to launch 300 low-orbit satellites to provide worldwide communication services, with the first in the series to be launched later this year. The first in the 300-satellite array - known as the Hongyan constellation - is set to be launched by the end of this year. China is already developing BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) to rival America's Global Positioning System.

UK has topped an annual global ranking of nations' soft power. The 2018 'Soft Power 30' index is published by UK-based strategic communications consultancy firm Portland and the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy. This index has listed 30 countries in which France gets second place, Germany third and United States fourth. India does not feature in this list.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk inaugurated the Pakistan-China Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) project that would serve as the first land-based communication link between the two countries, and as a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The project includes an 820 km-long underground OFC from Rawalpindi to Khunjerab and a 172-km aerial OFC link from Karimabad to Khunjerab.

A booklet containing 1,000 sentences/phrases (200 sentences per grade for all the five grades) has been prepared at the primary level of schooling. One JBT (junior basic teacher) and one BRP (Block Resource Person) per block has been trained. Students learn one sentence every day (minimum 20 per month for 10 months) in each class. Six language labs have been established in selected model Sanskriti schools in the state to improve listening and speaking skills.

The Indian team bagged nine medals including four silver and five bronze in the 7th World Junior Wushu championships held in Brasilia, Brazil. In the Sanshou discipline, Babulu (42 kg, subjunior), Saleem (56 kg, subjunior), Savita (48 kg, junior) and Rohit (80kg, junior) won the silver medal, while Himanshu (56 kg, junior), Shruti (60kg, junior), Janhvi (52 kg, junior) claimed bronze medals. In the Taolu discipline, Karanjit Taijiquan and Karanjit Taijijian won two bronze medals.

One of the country's first Defence incubators will come up in Hyderabad, which is India's missile development centre and fast emerging the hub for aerospace industries. The incubator will be housed at T-Hub. The Telangana State government proposes to accommodate the Defence incubator in the upcoming Phase-2 of the T-Hub.

Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam has been selected for this year's 'Sangita Kalanidhi' award of the Music Academy. Veteran Mridangam artiste 'Thanjavur' R Ramadas was selected for the 'Sangita Kala Acharya' award. The 'Sangita Kalanidhi' and other music awards would be presented at the 'Sadas' of the music festival on January 1, 2019.