GK & Current Affairs Quiz: November 30, 2018

Notes:
The Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) has launched a unique initiative called Bhasha Sangam to introduce school students to all 22 Indian languages of Schedule VIII of the Constitution. The initiative, under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, was launched on 22nd of November and will continue till the 21st of December. The aim of the programme is to enhance linguistic tolerance and respect, and promote national integration. During the Bhasha Sangam programme, the school authorities have to introduce students to five sentences of the language fixed for that particular day/date by reading out the sentences in the morning assembly and asking the students to repeat them. Hnce, Bhasha Sangam is a programme for schools and educational institutions to provide multilingual exposure to students in Indian languages.

Notes:
The Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) is observed every year on 27th of November to motivate normal human beings to pledge to donate organs after death, and to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation. Organ Donation is donating a donor’s organs like heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas, after the donor dies, for the purpose of transplanting them into another person who is in need of an organ. In 2018, the 9th IODD was organised by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) in Delhi.

Notes:
On 27th of November, Tamil Nadu has been adjudged the Best State in Organ Donation at the 9th Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD-2018) in New Delhi by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. It’s fourth time in a row, the state has received the best-performing state award for organ donation. Tamil Nadu is also the first State in India to have initiated mandatory certification of brain stem death, streamlining organ distribution and setting up green corridors. Apart from this, the State of Maharashtra received an award for being the best State for promoting awareness on organ donations. Dr Subramania Iyer K, AIMS, Kochi was felicitated for conducting first hand transplant in the country and Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, Pune, received the award for conducting 1st Uterine Transplant in India.

Notes:
As per Article 316 of the Constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Arvind Saxena as new Chairman of Union Public Service Commission, UPSC. The term of his appointment will be till 7th of August, 2020 when he attains 65 years. In 2015, he joined UPSC as a member. Prior to joining UPSC as Member, Saxena was working as Director of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). He was also awarded meritorious services (2005) and distinguished services (2012), conferred by the Prime Minister of India.

Notes:
Ukrainian film ‘Donbass’, directed by Sergei Loznitsa, has won the coveted Golden Peacock Award at the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2018) in Goa on November 28. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 40 lakhs, a trophy and a citation. Donbass tells the story of a hybrid war taking place in a region of Eastern Ukraine, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies perpetrated on a mass scale by separatist gangs. In Donbass, war is called peace and propaganda is uttered as truth. A journey through Donbass unfolds as a series of curious adventures. This is not just a tale of one region or a political system; it is about a world lost in post-truth and fake identities. Donbass is the official submission of Ukraine for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category at the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.