Current Affairs Quiz -8th October, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), India's and Asia's first such centre would be soon opened on the banks of river Ganga river in the Patna University premises, Bihar. It has been set up to safeguard the endangered Gangetic river dolphin. They are killed in huge numbers for their flesh, fat and oil.

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in collaboration with Haryana government, launched its Centre of Excellence for Internet of Things (CoE - IoT) at Gurugram, Haryana. The centre was inaugurated by Haryana commerce and industries minister Vipul Goyal. It is a part of a nationwide collaborative initiative involving the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and state governments. It will offer advanced infrastructure facilities to start-ups and encourage co-creation with support from industry experts through NASSCOM programmes.

Vineet Nayyar has been appointed as the Vice-chairman and Managing Director (MD) of the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS). Nand Kishore was appointed as the chairman of the audit committee and GC Chaturvedi as the chairperson of the Remuneration Committee. The appointments were made by the new board of IL&FS that was formed on 1st October 2018, following allegations on the IL&FS group regarding defaults in loan payment and corporate governance issues. The control of IL&FS was given to the six-member board headed by Uday Kotak as non-executive chairman of IL&FS.

Iran's Parliament approved a Bill to counter terrorist financing. It was strongly opposed by conservatives but seen as vital to salvaging the nuclear deal with European and Asian partners. The objective of the Bill is to bring Iran's laws in line with international standards and allow it to join the UN Terrorism Financing Convention. The Bill, that was put forward by Iran's government, is a bid to meet demands by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF urged Iran to tighten its laws against money laundering and terror financing. The issue has become particularly pressing since the United States walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran earlier this year and began reimposing sanctions.

Richie Benaud will be posthumously honoured as 'Legend' by Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Benaud, a former Australia captain who became one of the most loved voices of cricket after his playing days. He will be the 40th Legend of Australian Sport and the third cricketer to be bestowed the prestigious annual honour. It will be made official at the 34th Sport Australia Hall of Fame induction and awards gala dinner in Melbourne on 11 October.

Maharashtra launches website and app Maha madat to analyze drought situation. The main aim of the Website app to help in the accurate analysis of the drought-like situation in villages of the state. The website has been created by the Relief and Rehabilitation Ministry with the help of the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC). The Region is declared as Drought based on the two criteria laid down by the Centre in 2016. Drought can be declared if a region does not receive rain for a span of 21 days.

Eminent Gandhian Natwar Thakkar passed away on 7th October 2018 due to his ill health. His efforts to spread Gandhian philosophy and peace had earned him the title 'Nagaland's Gandhi'. He was the founder of Nagaland Gandhi Ashram. He was honoured with the Padma Shri award. Mr.Thakkar had been chosen as a member of a committee constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the year-long celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary across the country. He went Nagaland from Maharashtra in 1955 when the movement for secession from India under the legendary Naga leader A.Z. Angami was gaining momentum. His Gandhian mission was viewed as a front for espionage by New Delhi and he was often told, at gunpoint, to leave the Naga domain.

Rajasthan government launched a scheme aimed to provide free electricity to farmers of the state having electric connections in general category for specific limit. According to the scheme, more than 12 lakh farmers of the state will receive free electricity up to Rs 10,000 for a year on their agricultural electricity connection. sAs per the scheme, upon successful payment of the bill by farmers, a Direct Benefit transfer (DBT) with maximum of Rs. 833 per month would be deposited to the accounts of the farmers. It will be effective from November 2018. Power distribution companies in Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur have been given the orders for the same by the Energy Department.

Indian Post released a Rs. 5 stamp to honour NGO Narayan Seva Sansthan. The logo features the Udaipur based NGO and its polio hospital. The Objective of the launch was to honour and showcase the organisation's work for differently-abled and underprivileged individuals, physically, socially and economically. A new post office will be opened at the Badi campus of the NGO to be managed by the head post master of nearby Thoor Village.

Keerthana Pandian won the World Under-16 Snooker Championships to seal her first international title. She defeated Albina Leschuk 3-1.

The 4th edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF - 2018) has started at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The mega science expo will be formally inauguratedby the President Shri Ram NathKovind. It is being organized by Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati. The theme of this edition of Science Festival is "Science for Transformation". IISF-2018 is expected to be represented by approximately 10000 delegates including 5000 students, 550 teachers, 200 students from North-East Region, 20 international delegates and approximately 200 startups.

India's Strategic Forces Command successfully test-fired Prithvi-II missile from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha. Prithvi-II is a surface-to-surface indigenously developed nuclear capable missile. It has a strike range of 350 km. It is 9 metres tall and single-stage liquid-fuelled. It is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kg of warheads. It is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target. The launch activities were performed by specially-formed Strategic Forces Command of the Army. It was monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

India celebrates its 86th Air Force Day on 8th October 2018. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is to hold a grand parade-cum-investiture ceremony at the Air Force Station at Hindon in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated the valiant air warriors of IAF on its 86th anniversary. IAF is the fourth largest air force in the world, after the United States, Russia and China. IAF has around 1,500 aircraft in its fleet that operates out of 60 air bases. It has more than 600 combat aircraft and over 500 transport carriers and choppers. The Indian Air Force has five commands across India: the Western Air Command, with its headquarters in New Delhi, the Southwestern Air Command at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, the Eastern Air Command at Shillong in Meghalaya, the Central Air Command at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, and the Southern Air Command at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

Madan Bhimarao Lokur took charge as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA). Madan Bhimarao Lokur was appointed to the post by President Ram Nath Kovind. He replaces Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Madan Bhimarao Lokur is a senior judge of the Supreme Court. He is 64 years old. He was the Additional Solicitor General of India from July 1998 to February 1999. He became an Additional Judge of Delhi High Court in February 1999. He was also Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court. He became a Judge of the Supreme Court in 2012.

Lewis Hamilton wins Japanese grand prix, leads Formula One title race by 67 points over Sebastian Vettel. Finland's Valtteri Bottas secured the Mercedes one-two with second place while Verstappen finished third despite collecting a five-second penalty. Australia's Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth.

India beat Sri Lanka by 144 runs to clinch the Under-19 Asia Cup 2018 title in Dhaka. India outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments by first scoring an imposing 304 for six after skipper Prabh Simran Singh won the toss and elected to bat. The island nation was never in the chase as they were all out for 160 in 38.4 overs losing wickets at regular intervals with left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi's registering brilliant figures of 6 for 38 in 10 overs.

Bharti Airtel acquired artificial intelligence (AI) service provider AuthMe ID Services. Bharti Airtel has not revealed the size of the deal. As part of the acquihire deal, the core team of AuthMe will join Airtel and will be part of Airtel X Labs in Bengaluru. Airtel has also acquired the intellectual property rights for two flagship solutions developed by AuthMe named "Callup AI" and "Fintech Optical Character Recognition". Airtel X Labs were developed by Airtel to encourage innovation in AI, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved to the Second Protocol amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore. The CECA was signed on 24th August 2018. It will enhance bilateral trade and will deepen the Economic Cooperation between India and Singapore.