Current Affairs Quiz - 2nd August, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

Prabhat Koli (19) from Maharashtra, who crossed the English Channel when he was 16, has become the first Asian to swim the choppy water from Jersey (an Island in the UK) to France in cold weather. The long-distance sea swimmer covered 25km in 6 hours and 54 minutes. He started off from La Coupe Point of Jersey, behind St Catherine's backwater and touched the shore of St Germain Plage on the Normandy coast of France. As part of his seven seas challenge, Prabhat is now training to cross the North Channel in Ireland in first week of August.

The Centre drew a five-year plan and allocated Rs. 8000 crore to explore the ocean and its resources. It would focus on deep sea mining, under water robotics, underwater vehicles and ocean climate change. The goals would be achieved by : establishing offshore desalination plant for tidal energy, developing a submersible vehicle that can travel to atleast 6,000 metres with three people on board. 10 percent of the recovery from these reserves have been presumed to meet the energy requirement of India for the next 100 years with the presence of 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin.

The Gaofen-11 satellite was launched on a Long March 4B rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province, China. It was the 282nd flight mission on a Long March carrier rocket. This satellite will be useful in land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief. It will also provide data for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China introduced the Gaofen project in 2010.

India and USA Military Cooperation Meeting begins in New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Lt Gen Satish Dua, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) and Lt Gen Bryan Fenton, Deputy Commander, Indo-Pacific Command. External Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would meet their US counterparts in 2 plus 2 meeting in September in New Delhi. The main aim of the meeting is on strengthening defense and strategic ties.

Rajasthan has become the first State in the country to implement the national policy on biofuels unveiled by the Centre this year. The desert State will lay emphasis on increasing production of oilseeds and establish a Centre for Excellence in Udaipur to promote research in the fields of alternative fuels and energy resources. The policy on biofuels seeks to help farmers dispose of their surplus stock in an economic manner and reduce the country's oil import dependence.

BEML, HEC sign pact for making mining equipment. The MoU will result into additional Rs 150-200 crore revenue for both PSUs. It will delivery time, reduce working capital and create capability for high capacity equipment. The mining products could be co-branded and will come under 'Make in India' initiative. Coal India is a major client for these mining equipment.

The Andhra Pradesh government will set up 'iHub' (the intelligent hub), a first-of-its kind global research centre for scientific learning with an initial investment of Rs 245 crore spread over five years. For this purpose, the state government has already collaborated with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP). Some of the social and economic objectives of iHub will be to create 50,000 future-ready skilled manpower, reduced school dropouts and capture the EdTech market. The initial staff will be about 40 International researchers in disciplines such as neuro-science, education, psychology, digital instructional design, educational technology, Artificial Intelligence, data sciences, and gamingamong others. The centre will also issue "Global Certification" for digital educational content.

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), the marketers of the popular Amul brand of milk and dairy products, was awarded the 'Marketer of the Year' award by the International Advertising Association of India (IAAI). The award was received by RS Sodhi, the Managing Director (MD) of GCMMF, on behalf of the 36 lakh milk famers and producers of Gujarat. Amul is the brand worth Rs 41,000 crore and is the biggest cooperative owned by 36 lakh farmers of Gujarat. Amul is not only known for its cooperative structure and farmer's faith, but is also known for its marketing and advertizing strategies.

World Ranger Day was celebrated all over the world on July 31st. The World Ranger Day was initiated by International Ranger Federation (IRF). It is jointly promoted by The Thin Green Foundation, the charity arm of IRF. Ranger Day was first celebrated in 2007 on the anniversary of IRF's foundation day. . This day is celebrated to honour Rangers killed or injured during duty. It also honours the work of Rangers in safeguarding earth's natural treasures and cultural heritage.

Elgi Equipments Limited, an Indian manufacturer of air compressors and automotive equipment, has acquired Pulford Air and Gas, an Australian company, at a total cost of Australian $11.04 million. Sydney based Pulford is one of the largest distributors of industrial air compressors in Australia. Elgi has now acquired F.R. Pulford & Son Pty Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary Advanced Air compressors Pty Ltd. Jairam Varadaraj, MD, Elgi Equipments, said Elgi expects Rs. 60 crore revenue in Australia this financial year because of the acquisition.

The US has elevated India's status in the export control regime and designated it as a Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) country. This will allow India to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from America. India is the only South Asian country to be on the list. Currently there are 36 countries on STA-1 list. Other Asian countries designated as STA-1 are Japan and South Korea.

Filmmaker and former director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), John Sankaramangalam, died due to age related ailments in Thiruvalla, Kerala. John Sankaramangalam was 84 years old. He hailed from Pathanamthitta in Kerala. He had received two National and four Kerala State Film Awards. He had directed several experimental movies and documentaries. He had secured a diploma in direction and screenplay writing from FTII. Later, he became the director of FTII.

India and Germany have signed an agreement on financial and technical cooperation focusing on sustainable urban development and renewable energy. The government-to-government Umbrella Agreement on Financial Cooperation and Technical Co-operation 2017 is worth about 5,000 thousand crore rupees. The agreement under the Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation was signed between Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Sameer Kumar Khare, and German Ambassador to India, Martin Ney, in New Delhi.

Facebook (and Instagram) has announced that it is to introduce a time management tool which will be like a daily reminder. This tool will help people to manage their time by restricting them in spending time on the platforms. Using this tool the users can set a time limit to be spent on the app. They will be alerted when they reach the time limit. It is also introducing an option to deactivate notifications on smartphones.

Dustin Johnson won the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville in Canada. Dustin Johnson shot a 6-under par 66 and won his first RBC Canadian Open at 23-under par. He is currently in world number one position. Now he has become the first player after Tiger Woods (2005-09) with at least three wins in three consecutive seasons. Dustin Johnson was awarded $1,116,000 for the win. Byeong Hun An and Whee Kim secured second place.