Current Affairs Quiz -13th September, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

The 4th edition of World Summit on Accreditation pertaining to educational institutes took place in New Delhi. The Summit is a biennial event organized by the National Board of Accreditation which provides a platform to its stakeholders to share their knowledge and information on accreditation. The theme for 2018 is 'Challenges and Opportunities in Outcome-Based Accreditation'.

The Union Cabinet approved new Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, PM-AASHA. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018 the announcement was made by the Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in New Delhi. The Cabinet has decided to give additional government guarantee of Rs.16,550 crore making it Rs. 45,550 crore in total. This schem includes 1. Price Support Scheme (PSS), 2. Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), and 3. Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPPS).

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has recently re-commissioned an upgraded version of nuclear research reactor 'Apsara-U' with a higher capacity, which was shut down permanently in 2009 for revamp. The indigenously made reactor 'Apsara-U' uses plate type dispersion fuel elements made of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). By virtue of higher neutron flux, this reactor will increase indigenous production or radio-isotopes for medical application by about 50% and would also be extensively used for research in nuclear physics, material science and radiation shielding. This development has re-emphasized the capability of Indian scientists and Engineers to build, complex facilities for health care, science education and research. Apsara was the Asia's first research reactor that was made operational in Trombay campus of BARC on 4th August 1956.

Renowned agricultural economist and former PM's Economic Advisory Committee member Professor Vijay Shankar Vyas died after a brief illness. He was 87. He was the director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Jaipur. Vyas was a senior adviser in the World Bank's agriculture and rural development department. He was also a member of the PM's Economic Adviser Committee during the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh governments. He was also associated with the formation of NABARD.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a MoU between India and Brunei Darussalam on Cooperation in the operation of Telemetry Tracking and Telecommand station for satellite and launch vehicles, and for cooperation in the field of Space Research, Science and Applications.

The Government of India (GoI) has set up a group of secretaries to look into the issues raised on some proposals of the draft e-commerce policy. The group will be chaired by Ramesh Abhishek, the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The development comes at a time when the DIPP has effectively ruled out FDI in inventory based ecommerce models. As per draft e-commerce policy, any group company of an online retailer or marketplace may not be allowed to directly or indirectly influence the price or sale of products and services on its platform, a move that could completely restrict e-tailers from giving deep discounts. The draft has also suggested introduction of a pre-set timeframe for offering differential pricing or deep discounts by e-commerce players to customers.

India, Iran and Afghanistan held their first tripartite meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan during which implementation of the Chabahar port project and a host of other issues including ways to deepen counter-terror cooperation were discussed. The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale while the Iranian team was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Afghan deputy foreign minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai chaired the meeting.

The Ministry of External Affairs signed an agreement with the Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) for the implementation of e-Network Project between India and Africa. The two projects namely e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) will work in the field of tele-education and tele-medicine. The projects will be completely funded by the Government of India.

According to a new index by Nomura, seven countries are at risk of exchange rate crises as investors re-assess their risks. The name of the new index is 'Damocles', that assessed the risk of exchange rate crises for 30 emerging market economies. The seven countries that are at risk of exchange rate crises are Sri Lanka, South Africa, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine.

Boxer Amit Panghal, Asian Games 2018 gold medallist, was nominated for this year's Arjuna award by the Boxing Federation of India. He joined Sonia Lather and Gaurav Bidhuri in the list of boxing nominees. Despite his one year ban due to the positive dope test back in 2012, the BFI decided to send his name to the Ministry. Boxer Sub. Laishram Debendro Singh was awarded the Arjuna award 2017.

After launching the world's largest mobile phone-manufacturing factory in Noida in July 2018, Samsung has now opened its biggest experience centre in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Opera House, the 33,000 sq ft iconic building in the city's central business district, has been given a facelift to showcase Samsung's mobile devices and other consumer electronic products. It has a service centre for phones and is equipped with high-speed public Wi-Fi. A customer will be able to enjoy VR experiences such as the 4D sway chair or the Whiplash Pulsar 4D chair that makes 360 degrees three-dimensional movements.

India and Afghanistan agreed to enhance cooperation under the 'New Development Partnership'. India had announced taking up 116 "high impact community developmental projects" in Afghanistan. The decision was taken at the 3rd meeting of the 'Joint Working Group on Political and Security Cooperation' between India and Afghanistan in Kabul.

The Indian junior men's skeet team won the silver medal at the ISSF World Championships. Indian junior men's skeet team consisted Gurnihal Singh Garcha, Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Ayush Rudraraju. The gold medal was won by the Czech Republic, while the bronze medal was won by Italy at the premier International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) event.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has rolled out its ambitious project to deliver public services at the doorstep of residents. It's first of kind service in the country for doorstep delivery of essential government services. From driving licences to marriage certificates, Delhiites can now apply for 40 government documents to be delivered at their homes for a fee of Rs. 50 per service. The applicant would have to call 1076 and fix an appointment with a mobile sahayak, who will go to their home and help with filling forms, payment of fees and collection of documents. The mobile sahayak would then submit the documents at the government office concerned, which would post the certificate or licence once issued. VFS Global, one of the biggest visa and passport service providers in the world, has been given the contract to run the project for three years. The number of services to be home-delivered would be increased to 100 within 3 months.

Unlimit, end-to-end IoT service provider in India announced its partnership with State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to offer comprehensive Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services to the enterprise customers across India. The partnership between Unlimit and BSNL will leverage seamless wireless network footprint pan India to provide its solutions and services across industries. The partnership between Unlimit and BSNL will leverage seamless wireless network footprint pan India to provide its solutions and services across industries.