GK & Current Affairs Quiz: October 30, 2017

Notes:
Pakistan will host the 2018 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Nations Cup in April 2018. The decision to have the Emerging Cup in Pakistan was taken during the meeting of the ACC held in Lahore on October 30, 2017. In it, six ACC teams including five full members will play in the tournament.

Notes:
N.J.Gangte (IFS:1994) has been appointed as the new High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Zambia. He is presently the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Notes:
The world’s first hybrid electric tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells has started running in China to give big boost to green energy in public transport. The tram was put into commercial operation for the first time in Tangshan, north China’s Hebei Province. With water being its only emission, the tram emits no pollutants. No nitrogen oxides will be produced as the temperature of the reaction inside hydrogen fuel cells is controlled under 100 degrees Celsius. The tram, having three carriages with 66 seats, can run for 40 kilometers at a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour after being refilled with 12 kilograms of hydrogen.

Notes:
Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore has been honoured with the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in New Delhi for her contribution in the field of cinema. Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari presented the award to Tagore. The celebrated actor debuted in movies with legendary director Satyajit Ray’s Bengali film Apur Sansar in 1959. Apart from her, Filmmaker-poet Muzaffar Ali was conferred with a Special Award for his outstanding contribution to promote and arts, fine arts and literature. Music legend Usha Mangeshkar and singers Prem Bhatia, Kavita Seth, Ankit Tiwari, Rahul Vaidya, Akriti Kakar, Manmeet of Meet Brothers and actor Sukhmani Lamba were also felicitated at the event.

Notes:
The Karnataka government will sign MoU with Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited with an intention to empower smallholder farmers with technology-oriented solutions that will help them increase income. The solutions would use cloud based technologies, machine learning and advanced analytics. The MoU will experiment with Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission (KAPC) and Department of Agriculture to help improve price forecasting practices to benefit farmers.

Notes:
The Union government has constituted a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee merger proposals of state-owned banks. The other members of the panel include Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This alternative mechanism has been set up by the government to fast-track consolidation among public sector banks to create strong lenders. The move to create large banks aims at meeting the credit needs of the growing Indian economy and building capacity in the PSB space to raise resources without dependence on the state exchequer. The mechanism will oversee the proposals coming from boards of PSBs for consolidation.

Notes:
The Akan Mashu National Park (AMNP) is located on the island of Hokkaidō, Japan and covers an area of 90,481 hectares. The park is famous for its crystal clear lakes, its hot springs and its large marimo. It is the only place where marimo of appreciable size form naturally in Japan.

Notes:
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has won the men’s singles title of the French Open Superseries badminton tournament 2017 by defeating Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the final by 21-14, 21-13 in Paris, France on October 29. This is his fourth title in the fifth superseries final. Beside this, Greysia POLL and Apriyani Rahayu won the Women’s doubles title, defeating Lee Sottee and SHIN Seung Chen 21-17, 21-15. The Mixed Doubles title went to Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana NATSIR who beat Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 22-20, 21-15.

Notes:
The parliamentary standing committee on defence has been constituted to examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets. The committee, headed by BJP MP B C Khanduri, will also assess the procurement policy relating to defence equipment. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the issue of preparedness of the armed forces is likely to be discussed in the next meeting of the panel, which is scheduled from November 2017. The committee has also decided to “critically review” the accidents involving strategic defence assets and look into the quality of ration given to the forces especially in border areas.

Notes:
Vikram Singh, the 1997 batch officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), has been appointed Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind for a period of two years. Apart from him, IAS officer P C Meena was appointed Private Secretary to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary.