GK & Current Affairs Quiz: December 20, 2017

Notes:
The Assam government has become the 6th state in the country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Isha Foundation to conserve and rejuvenate the rivers of Assam. Isha Foundation is a non-profit making and spiritual organisation—the Isha foundation. Its founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s nationwide ‘Rally for Rivers’ campaign is an initiative for revitalizing India’s rivers.

Notes:
India has recently signed a financing agreement of $125 million with the World Bank (WB) in New Delhi for the Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement Operation (STRIVE) Project. The purpose of the project is to improve access to quality and market-driven vocational training provided in it is and apprenticeships. The result areas for the project include Improved Performance of Industrial Training Institutes; Increased Capacities of State Governments to Support Industrial Training Institutes and Apprenticeship Training; Improved Teaching and Learning; and Improved and Broadened Apprenticeship Training. The closing date for the project is 30th November, 2022.

Notes:
The Joda East Iron Mine (JEIM) of Tata Steel has been honored with the prestigious Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award for the year 2017 for driving innovation in mines. The award was given at Institute of Directors India’s 2nd Global Convention held at Singapore. The award provides not only worldwide recognition and prestige, but a competitive advantage in driving business. The JEIM is one of the fully mechanised captive iron mines of Tata Steel. It is rated five star category mines by the Government for doing sustainable mining. Some of the innovations implemented in JEIM include digitisation in excavation of iron ore, use of iron waste for sustainable mining.

Notes:
Recently, Indian junior boxers had clinched total 11 Medals (six gold, four silver and a bronze medal) at the fifth International Sven Lange Memorial Tournament, to finish as overall champions in the German city of Schwerin. Bhavesh Kattamani (52kg) picked up the best boxer trophy along with his gold medal. In the three-day tournament, the other gold-medallists for India were Vijeydeep (63kg), Akshay (60kg), Ish Pannu (70kg), Lakshay Chahar (80kg) and Vinit (75kg). The performance of these boxers also earned them the ‘Best Team’ of the tournament award.

Notes:
India’s top-ranked junior shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap from Bhilai won U-17 and U-19 singles titles at Badminton junior Nationals in Guwahati, Assam on December 18, 2017. In Under-17 category, shei defeated Malvika Bansod in the final. In Under 19 category final, Kashyap beaten Vaidehi Choudhari by 22-20, 21-11.

Notes:
Project ‘Mausam’ is the initiative of Ministry of Culture to be implemented by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the nodal agency with research support of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and National Museum as associate bodies. This project aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’ – collating archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean. The main purpose of the project is to inscribe places and sites identified under Project Mausam as trans-national nomination for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Till date, 39 countries have been identified under Project Mausam viz. Bahrain, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen, UAE, Thailand, South Africa, etc.

Notes:
The Adichunchanagiri Wildlife Sanctuary (AWS) is located in Mandya district of Karnataka and covers an area of over 0.88 square kilometres. This was created mainly for the conservation of peacocks. It also houses nearly 250 species of birds

Notes:
The Southern Command of Indian Army are conducting a major army exercise ‘Hamesha Vijayee-2017’ in the deserts of Rajasthan from December 16 to 22, 2017 to evaluate the capability of the armed forces to strike deep into enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle. The exercise being conducted in battle like conditions, aims at fine tuning surveillance and destruction mechanisms to support precision strikes and manoeuvres by network enabled forces. The Southern Command undertakes such exercises at regular intervals to ensure a high degree of battle readiness as well as validation of operational plans using modern weapons and equipment.

Notes:
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) ) has signed an agreement with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on December 20, 2017 to execute the Swami Samarth Nagar-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Metro VI corridor. As per the agreement, DMRC will invite bids and assign contracts for execution of civil work and for procurement of systems and services required for the project. The entire 14.5-kilometer long Metro-6 corridor, costing about 5,490-crore rupees will have 13 stations. The project will provide rail based access to areas such as Lokhandwala, SEEPZ and IIT – Bombay. This Metro corridor is expected to carry 6.5 lakh commuters daily in 2021.

Notes:
Justice Umesh Dattatraya Salvi has been appointed acting chairperson of National Green Tribunal (NGT) following the superannuation of Justice Swatanter Kumar. He will hold the post till a new Chairperson is appointed or till his superannuation, whichever is earlier. During Justice Kumar tenure as NGT chief, he passed several landmark orders and judgements. These include the ban on 10- year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles, the slew of directions for rejuvenation of the Ganga and Yamuna, the demolition of illegal hotels in Himachal Pradesh and the ban on plastic items in Delhi, Haridwar and Punjab. His recent order capping the number of pilgrims at Vaishno Devi to 50,000 per day and his direction to maintain silence at Amarnath invited ire from various quarters.