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

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched a host of new Smart City projects in Delhi. The event took place at the Charkha Park in Connaught Place. Besides launching the two projects to provide high speed connectivity in the city, the Union Home Minister also launched other projects under the Centre's Smart City initiative. These projects include-- a solar tree, an ideation centre, smart poles, Amdedkar Vatika, two hi-tech nurseries, 50 LED interactive screens, four mechanical road sweepers, two litter picking machines and 10 auto tippers.

The Rajasthan government has decided to observe September as the "month of nutrition" to create awareness among people living in the state. From September, the students of Class 1 to 8 of government schools will be given milk daily instead of thrice a week for which additional funds of Rs 203 crore will be allocated. Besides, students in the age group of 3-6 years, adolescent girls and pregnant women registered with Anganwadi centres will also be provided milk thrice a week and the government will allocate Rs 100 crore for this. In the month of nutrition, the awareness in rural as well as urban areas will be created for nutrition.

The governor of Manipur Dr. Najma A. Heptulla, inaugurated project "Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom" implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism in Imphal, Manipur. It is the first project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme being inaugurated in the country. The project under inauguration was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in September 2015 for Rs.72.30 Crores. Under this project Ministry has carried out developmental works at a cost of Rs. 63.90 Crore. The project covers two sites i.e. Kangla Fort and Khongjom.

In the wake of Prime Minister's vision for creating digital museums at stations using QR code, Ministry of Railway has made "digital screens" operational at 22 stations on this Independence Day as an innovative low-cost solution to spread awareness among public about the opulent heritage of Indian Railways. The project aims at showcasing the legacy of Indian Railways through one to two-minute-long movie clips on digital LED screens at the entrance gate of railway stations and also at different comfort areas. In addition, QR code based posters on Railway Heritage are also being displayed at these stations. A passenger can scan the QR code on their mobile to view a streaming video on their mobile on various facades of Railway heritage.

Sunishka Kartik from Bengaluru won the Community Award in the 2018 Junior NBA World Basketball Championship, which concluded at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, USA, on August 12. She had top-scored with 17 points in the team's impressive win over South America Combined in a pool game. The award recognizes players who are committed to give back to those in need. The tournament featured the best 13 and 14-year-old boys and girls from around the world in 32 teams.

The multi-purpose Barak 8 missile defence system, jointly developed by India and Israel, will be procured by the Israeli Navy to protect its economic zones and strategic facilities from diversified threats and the sales for it have exceeded USD 5 billion. Barak-8 is an operational air and missile defense system used by the Israeli Navy as well as by the Indian Navy and air forces. Barak 8 has been jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), India's DRDO, Israel's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Elta Systems, Rafael and some other Indian defence companies.

The 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) was held in Beijing, China. It was organized by the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, and Peking University. Its theme was "Learning To Be Human". This was the first time that the quinquennial (once in five year) event was held in China.

The E-committee of the Supreme Court headed by Justice M B Lokur, launched 3 mobile applications for the benefit of litigants and lawyers. The apps were inaugurated by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. These software have been developed on "open source technology" and thus has saved Rs 1,670 crore. The litigants and the lawyers would be able to file petitions in almost 17,000 district and 'taluka' courts in the country. e-pay would enable the litigants to pay court fees, costs imposed by courts, maintenance in matrimonial cases through digital.

The Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), claiming to be India's first privately-funded High Performance Training Institute, was inaugurated in the presence of Olympic gold medallists Balbir Singh Sr. and Abhinav Bindra. The Institute aims to provide a world class training centre which can provide Indian athletes access to the most advanced infrastructure, coaching and sports science within the country. It is an initiative led by the JSW Group.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (93), the veteran leader, prolific writer and former Prime Minister of India, has passed away in New Delhi on 16th August 2018. Born on 25th December 1924 in Gwalior, he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957 and had a long parliamentary experience spanning over four decades. He was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times and two times for the Rajya Sabha. Vajpayee was the Minister of External Affairs (MEA) in the cabinet of Prime Minister Morarji Desai. He served as the PM of India between 1996 and 2004 in three non-consecutive terms viz. May 1996 (for 13 days), 1998-1999 (for 11 months) and 1999-2004. He was awarded the India's highest civilian honour 'Bharat Ratna' in 2015. His birthday is celebrated as the Good Governance Day (GGD) by the Central Government since 2014 to foster awareness among the people of accountability in government.

Telangana launches two major schemes on Independence Day. 'Rythu Bima', aimed at providing life insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to every farmer. 'Kanti Velugu', the entire population of 3.7 crore will be provided free eye care.

US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo announced the formation of the Iran Action Group (IAG) to coordinate and run the country's policy towards Iran. The development follows President Donald Trump's announcement of the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the multinational Iran nuclear deal. The aim behind the formation of IAG is to change the Iranian regime's behaviour. Pompeo has named Brian Hook, the State Department's director of policy planning, as the group's head.

Rifleman Aurangzeb has been honoured posthumously. He was abducted and killed by terrorists in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018. Also, Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh has been conferred with Kirti Chakra posthumously. Also, Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) has been conferred on Group Captain Abhishek Sharma, Squadron Leader Vernon Desmond Keane and Sergeant Shashidhar P Prasad. The President has approved 131 Gallantry Awards to Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces. This consists of: 1 Kirti Chakra, 20 Shaurya Chakras, three Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 93 Sena Medals (Gallantry), 11 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) and three Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry).

Qatar King Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has pledged to make direct investment in Turkey and announced a 15-billion US dollar investment into the country's financial markets and banks. The announcement came after holding talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. Turkey is currently grappling with a currency crisis and heightened tensions with the United States, its NATO ally. Sheikh Tamim is the first foreign head of state to visit Ankara since the stand-off with Washington.

Colorado Party's Mario Abdo Benitez was sworn in as the new President of Paraguay for a five-year term. Benitez clinched the top spot after defeating his closest rival, Efrain Alegre from the liberal opposition alliance, by four percentage points in the nation's elections, which were held in April 2018.

India's fastest growing payments platform, PhonePe entering into a partnership with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to facilitate convenient, fast and secure payments through PhonePe on the IRCTC Rail connect Android app. The partnership will enable PhonePe's 100 million plus users to now pay directly from their bank accounts using UPI, credit and debit cards and also the PhonePe wallet for their travel bookings.