GK & Current Affairs Quiz: December 2-3, 2017

Notes:
Jenny Kim, a South Korean beauty pageant titleholder, has been crowned Miss Supranational 2017 in Krynica-Zdroj, Poland on December 1, 2017. She was crowned by the very beautiful Miss Supranational 2016 “Srinidhi Ramesh Shetty” of India. Altogether 65 contestants from across the globe participated at the prestigious pageant with Jenny Kim emerging victorious.

Notes:
Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Industry and Commerce, was the chief guest for the Shared Value Summit 2017 in New Delhi on December 1. The summit was organised by Shared Value Initiative India, Institute for Competitiveness (India), and SoulAce & India Council on Competitiveness in association with BusinessLine. The theme of the summit was “Equity and Empowerment”. The purpose of the summit is to encourage businesses to adopt the practice of shared value by imbibing the spirit of inclusivity in their business models. The summit aims to provide a platform to identify and address the barriers that exist to equality and empowerment in the Indian society.

Notes:
Uhuru Kenyatta has been sworn-in for a second and final five-year term for the post of President of Republic of Kenya, a month after winning a bitterly disputed election rerun marked by delays and boycott. Several heads of states and tens of thousands of his supporters attended the inauguration at a stadium in the capital, Nairobi, on 28th November 2017. Kenyatta won 98% of the votes cast in October’s poll, which was boycotted by the main opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who alleged the poll wouldn’t be free and fair.

Notes:
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed every year on December 3 to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The annual observance of the day was proclaimed in 1992 by a United Nations General Assembly resolution. The 2017 theme is “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all”.

Notes:
Japan will host a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on December 15, which will be focused on finding peaceful ways to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests and de-nuclearise the Korean peninsula. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to brief the council. This year’s meeting has the backing of nine members – the United States, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Senegal, Sweden, Ukraine and Uruguay.

Notes:
The Telangana State Government will set up the world’s first IT Campus for differently-abled persons. On the occasion of the World Disability Day (WDD), the state Government has signed an agreement with Vindhya E-Infomedia Private Limited to set up the Information and Technology (IT) campus to focus on creating employment opportunities for persons with disabilities on December 3, 2017. The proposed campus will be set up in an area of 10 acres near the IT park developed by the state Government near the Hyderabad international airport. The campus will have all the amenities like Training, Residential facility and Delivery centers that will cater to various clients both domestic and International. The campus is expected to create two thousand jobs in next 5 years by providing apt training.

Notes:
Salil S Parekh has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Infosys, with effective from January 2, 2018. Parekh joins Infosys from Capgemini, where he was a member of the Group Executive Board. He has Master of Engineering degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.

Notes:
Wrestler Sushil Kumar and Boxer M C Mary C. Kom have submitted their resignation as National Sports Observers. As both the top athletes are still active in their respective fields, wrestling(Men) and Boxing (Women). This decision came after Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore made it clear that active sportspersons will not be considered for the position. Both are among 12 national observers appointed in March 2017. The list also includes Olympic-gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar and former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Akhil Kumar, among others.  The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has recently accepted their resignations as National Sports observers.

Notes:
The 2017 Konark dance festival has started on December 1, 2017 in backdrop of the Sun temple in Konark, Odisha. It is one of the biggest dance festivals held in India. The 5-day dance festival opened near the world famous Sun Temple of Konark with Odissi recital by the dancers of Nupur Dance Academy of Bhubaneswar under the tutelage of Niranjan Rout and group. To attract more foreign tourists to the festival, Odisha Tourism included performances of two foreign dance groups from Malaysia, who will perform classical Indian dance during the festival. Coinciding with the dance festival, International Sand Art Festival has started at Chandrabhaga beach in Konark. Eight international sand sculptors and 62 national artists were being exhibited their works in the festival.

Notes:
India was re-elected to the Council of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) under Category B at an assembly of the organisation at its headquarters in London on December 1, 2017. Indian High Commissioner to the UK, YK Sinha represented India at the assembly where India secured the second-highest 144 number of votes from member-countries, just after Germany’s 146. India has been one of the earliest members of the IMO, having ratified its convention and joined it as a member-state in the year 1959. India has been elected to the Council of the IMO ever since it started functioning, except for a two-year hiatus during 1983-1984. The IMO Council plays a crucial role in deciding various important matters within the mandate of the IMO, in relation to the global shipping industry and its work strategy and budget.