Current Affairs Quiz -25th September, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

Indian actress Jaya Prada appointed goodwill ambassador for Nepal tourism. Her appointment is for a term of 4 years. She is also a former Member of Parliament. Her appointment would strengthen the cultural ties between India and Nepal and help promote Nepal's tourism in India.

Luka Modric broke a decade of award dominance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after being crowned world footballer of the year by FIFA. Modric beat out Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and Ronaldo. Modric was voted FIFA's best player in the 2017-18 season after winning the Champions League for a fourth time in five seasons with Real Madrid and leading Croatia to its first World Cup final where it lost to France. Messi and Ronaldo were the only winners of world soccer's main individual award from FIFA in various guises since 2008, both winning five titles each.

US scientists from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Ohio, for the first time have used stem cells to grow human oesophagus - known as the food pipe - in the laboratory. They have used pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in the process. The bio-engineered tissues grew to a length of about 300-800 micrometres in about two months. It can be used to study birth defects like esophageal atresia, the organoids can be used to study diseases like eosinophilic esophagitis and Barrett's metaplasia.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority raised the minimum insurance cover for owner-driver to Rs. 15 lakh for a premium of Rs. 750 per annum, a move to provide some succour to road accident victims. Currently, the capital sum insured (CSI) under this section for motorized two-wheelers and private cars/commercial vehicles is Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 2 lakh, respectively

India has introduced a quit-line number, 1800-11-2356, on tobacco products. The Union Health Ministry has already been creating awareness among people by making mandate display of pictorial health warning on both sides of packets containing cigarettes, bidis, and chewing tobacco. The quit-line number is to be printed on all tobacco products that will be manufactured after September 1, 2018. India is the first country among the SAARC countries to have introduced such a helpline. India is the fourth country in Asia after Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to have this government helpline for those looking at quitting tobacco.

France Football magazine announced that, a women's Ballon d'Or will be awarded for the first time in 2018. Ballon d'Or is awarded annually for men since 1956. This is the first time it has been introduced for women. The awards will be presented on 8 December 2018 in Paris, France.

Nepal is set to become the first country in the world to double its tiger population as part of the World Wildlife Foundation's (WWF) 'Tx2' programme which aims to double the number of tigers all over the world. The government of Nepal announced on September 23, 2018, on the occasion of National Conservation Day, that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the nation, nearly double the number (235) from around 121 in 2009. The earlier tiger survey in 2013 had estimated the tiger population in the nation to be around 198.

Facebook India appoints former Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan as MD & Vice-president. The post was lying vacant since the exit of Umang Bedi in October last year. Ajit Mohan will join Facebook early next year and will be first Facebook India leader reporting to Menlo Park and not Asia Pacific. Prior to Hotstar, Mohan also served as executive VP and Senior Vice President, Corporate, at Star TV Network.

Women Foreign ministers from almost 20 countries have gathered in Montreal, Canada and discussed topics including security and gender-based violence. The meeting was co-chaired by Canada's top diplomat, Chrystia Freeland, and the foreign affairs representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the Maldive's presidential election on 24th September 2018. He defeated Maldives President Abdulla Yameen. Mr Solih entered the Parliament for the first time after defeating a ruling party candidate in 1994. He has been representing 'Lhaviyani Atoll' in the Maldivian Parliament.

The first General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) will be inaugurated on October 2, 2018 in Delhi. The Ministerial level Assembly will be held in Greater Noida the following day. The ISA is a major initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in contributing to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through the rapid and massive deployment of solar energy. It is India's first international and inter-governmental organisation of 121 Countries and has headquarters in India with United Nations as Strategic Partner. It aims to create a collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies to enhance energy security and sustainable development.

The Mysuru city police are to launch Mysuraksha app soon. The aim is to ensure the safety and security of passengers who use auto and cab. While downloading the app on their smartphones, the passengers can scan the Quick Response (QR) code printed on autos and cabs that will have the details of the vehicle and the driver. If the passengers encounter any trouble with the auto or cab drivers, they should just press the SOS button in the app. It will transmit the details of the cab/auto to the police control room. The location of the passenger will be traced through Global Positioning System (GPS) and the nearest police patrol vehicle will be alerted and rushed to the rescue of the passenger. The police plans make sure and provide help in time to people and protect them from harassment, intimidation and assault of passengers, through an app and make their journey safe and smooth.

Tata Steel has decided to acquire Usha Martin company, one-million-tonne steel business, for Rs.4,700 crore. This acquisition would lift the company's volume of long products by 24% and expand its product mix. Usha Martin's alloy long steel products cater to higher value-added automotive and engineering segments. The existing capacity of Tata Steel is 29.5 million tonnes. Usha Martin assets are located in Jamshedpur, near Tata Steel's unit. Hence, the acquisition will have operational and logistics synergies. The HSBC Securities expects that the acquisition is marginally positive as it will increase Tata Steel's long product capacity to 4 million tonnes per annum. This acquisition has put Tata Steel as the preferred stock in the market.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, co-founders of the photo-sharing app Instagram, have resigned and plan to leave the company. They founded the app in 2010 and sold it for a billion dollars to Facebook in 2012, when the photo-sharing site was used by around 30 million people.

Actor Irrfan Khan starrer 'Doob', titled 'No Bed Of Roses' in English, has been chosen as Bangladesh's official entry for the Oscars 2019. The India-Bangladesh co-production, written and directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, 'Doob' will contest in the Best Foreign Language category at the 91st Academy (Oscar) Awards. The 91st Academy Awards will be held on February 24, 2019.

Mahendra Singh become the second most capped player for India in international cricket as he played his 505th match for India in the Super Four of Asia Cup 2018 against Pakistan on September 23. Before Dhoni, Rahul Dravid was the second most capped player for India with 504 caps in international cricket. Sachin Tendulkar is the top most capped player for India with a record 664 matches for India.

India and Nepal have agreed to explore the possibility of using high resolution satellite images in boundary survey work during a meeting of the Nepal-India boundary working group (BWG). The BWG is a joint body constituted by Nepal and India in 2014 to carry out works in the fields of construction, restoration and repair of boundary pillars, including clearance of no-man's land.