GK & Current Affairs Quiz: December 01, 2017

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 15th edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) in New Delhi on November 30, 2017. The 2-day summit is based on the theme ‘The Irreversible Rise of India’ to bring up ‘revolutionary ideas’ to accelerate India’s growth and rise on the international stage. The list of dignitaries attended the summit includes Former US President Barack Obama, Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Chattishgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh and many others.

Notes:
The French film on AIDS “120 Beats Per Minute”, directed by Robin Campillo, has won the prestigious Golden Peacock award for best film at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2017), while the film’s actor Nahuel Perez Biscayart won the Silver Peacock in the best actor male category in Panaji, Goa. Apart from this, Amitabh Bachchan was felicitated with the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award 2017 and the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan.

Notes:
The 7th edition of ‘Kathakar – International Storytellers Festival’ has inaugurated by Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in New Delhi on December 1, 2017. Kathakar is the only oral storytelling festival in India and is a part of Ghummakkad Narain- the Travelling Literature Festival which was started under the aegis of UNESCO in 2010. The Festival is an attempt not only to preserve the art form but also create new audiences for the same. This year festival will be hosted in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Mumbai.

Notes:
The 14-day long Combined Military exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior- 2017’ between India and the United Kingdom (UK) has started in the Mahajan Field Firing Range near Bikaner of Rajasthan on December 1, 2017. The purpose of this exercise is to increase mutual cooperation and coordination between the two countries. Both armies will learn and share from each other’s experiences. The 20 Rajputana Rifles unit of the Indian Army and the first battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment of the UK Army are participating in the exercise, which is third joint military exercise between the two countries. The first exercise of this series was held in Belgium in 2013 and the second maneuvers were held in the UK in 2015.

Notes:
Saraswati Tripathy (89), the prominent Gandhian and freedom fighter, has passed away in Jajapur district of Odisha on November 30, 2017. She was the wife of late freedom fighter Brundaban Tripathy. She had met Mahatma Gandhi at Beraboi Ashram in Puri district and joined the freedom struggle. She was supervising the activities at Thakar Bapa Ashram at Balipadia village in Jajapur district till her last breath.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 18th Hornbill festival 2017 and the 54th Statehood Day celebrations of Nagaland at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama on December 1, 2017. The 10-day Hornbill fest is the perfect showcase of rich Naga culture and traditions, preserved over the years in the form of music, dance and food. It is also called the ‘Festival of Festivals’. The festival is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state’s tribes. The highlights of festival includes the traditional Naga Morungs exhibition and the sale of arts and crafts, food stalls, herbal medicine stalls, flower shows and sales, cultural medley – songs and dances, fashion shows, the Miss Nagaland beauty contest, traditional archery, Naga wrestling, indigenous games, and musical concert.

Notes:
Snehlata Shrivastava, a 1982 batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as new Secretary-General of Lok Sabha. She succeeded Anoop Mishra on December 1 and her tenure will end on November 30, 2018. With this, she has become the first woman Secretary-General of Lok Sabha. Snehlata’s appointment was approved by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Prior to this post, she was working as Secretary Law in Central government. Ms Shrivastava has 35 years of rich and varied administrative experience.

Notes:
The World AIDS Day (WAD) is observed every year all over the world on December 1 to raise the public awareness about Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It is a pandemic disease caused due to the infection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Under the 2017 theme “Right to health”, the World Health Organization (WHO) will highlight the need for the 36.7 million people living with HIV and those who are vulnerable and affected by the epidemic, to reach the goal of universal health coverage.

Notes:
The Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary (AWS) is situated at Kamrup district in Guwahati, Assam and is spread over an area of 78.64 square kilometers. It consists of Amchang Reserve Forest, South Amchang Reserve Forest and Khanapara Reserve Forest. The sanctuary represents one of the rich and ecologically diverse habitat for the wide variety of animals and plant species. Hollockgibbon, Chinese pangolin, Flying squirrel, Assamese Macaque, Capped languor, Slow loris, Leopard, Elephant, Sambar, Barking Deer, Gaur etc., are the principal animals found in the wildlife sanctuary.

Notes:
Indian actor Parvathy Thiruvoth Kottuvatta has won the Best Actor Female Award at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2017) for her role in Malayalam film “Take Off”. The movie, directed by Mahesh Narayan, is based on the ordeal of Indian nurses in the city of Tikrit, Iraq, in 2014. It also won the Special Jury Award which included a Silver Peacock, a certificate and cash prize of Rs 15 lakh. Beside this, Marathi film “Kshitiz A Horizon” (directed by Manouj Kadaamh) won the ICFT Unesco Gandhi Medal 2017. The Prestigious Silver Peacock Award for the Best Debut Film of a Director goes to Director Kiro Russo for the film “Dark Skull”. The theme of IFFI 2017 was “Celebrating the Future of Cinema” and Canada was the focus country.