GK & Current Affairs Quiz: December 21, 2017

Notes:
India’s Raghu Prasad and Javed Shaikh have recently named in the panel of umpires for the 2018 Hockey World Cup to be held in Bhubaneswar. On December 21, 2017, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that 25 officials representing 19 countries from all five continents will officiate at this prestigious event taking place at the Kalinga Stadium from November 28 to December 16, 2018. As was the case with the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018 appointments, both men and women will undertake officiating roles at this event, further enhancing FIH’s drive to enhance gender parity across all areas of the sport.

Notes:
The 17th Indian Science Communication Congress (ISCC-2017) has started at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi on December 21. It is organized by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Indian Science Writers’ Association (ISWA), Society for Information Science (SIS), Vigyan Bharati (VIBHA) and Indian Science Communication Society (ISCOS). The purpose of the 2-day ISCC-2017 to engage in narratives around India’s scientific wisdom, assess the current status of communicating India’s scientific wisdom and deliberate the ways and means of communicating India’s scientific wisdom to the global audience. The Focal Theme of the ISCC-2017 is “Communicating India’s Scientific Wisdom: Changing Paradigms”.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently approved the Ministry of Railways’ trans-formative initiative to set up India’s first-ever National Rail and Transport University (NRTU) in Vadodara to skill its human resources and build capability. This innovative idea, inspired by the Prime Minister, will be a catalyst for transformation of rail and transport sector towards New India. The University will be set up as a Deemed to Be University under de novo category as per the UGC [Institutions Deemed to be Universities] Regulations, 2016. Government is working towards completing all approvals by April 2018 and to launch the first academic program in July 2018. A not-for-profit Company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 will be created by the Ministry of Railways which shall be the Managing Company of the proposed university.

Notes:
Delhi has been ranked 7th in most expensive office locations list in the world, according to latest JLL India Report 2017. According to a study by JLL, Delhi’s rents are more expensive than San Francisco, Dubai and Washington DC whereas Mumbai at 16th position scores higher than Los Angeles, Singapore and Paris. The findings reveal that the most expensive premium office rent in the world is in Hong Kong, followed by London, New York, Beijing and Tokyo.

Notes:
Priyanka Chopra has won the Global icon award at the Zee Cine Awards 2018 on December 19 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The excerpts of the awards are as follows: Sridevi and Varun Dhawan won the trophies of Best Actor (Female) for Mom and Best Actor (Male) for Badrinath Ki Dulhania , respectively. The Best Film award was conferred to Rohit Shetty directorial comedy ‘Golmaal Again’ and Extraordinary Legend Award was goes to Amitabh Bachchan.

Notes:
The parliament of France has recently approved a law banning all exploration and production of oil and natural gas by 2040 within the country and its overseas territories. Under that law, existing drilling permits will not be renewed and no new exploration licenses will be granted. The French government claims the ban is a world first. However, it is largely symbolic since oil and gas produced in France accounts for just 1% of domestic consumption. The rest is imported. The ban is part of a larger plan to wean the French economy from fossil fuels and to fulfill France’s commitments under the Paris climate agreement to curb global warming.

Notes:
The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently accorded environmental clearance for the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) in Telangana. Excerpts of KLIS project are as follows: The project envisages construction of a barrage across River Godavari near Madigadda village in Karimnagar district of Telangana. Apart from Medigadda barrage, two more barrages between Medigadda and Sripada Yellampally are proposed to be constructed. However, the Centre has put some conditions before granting the clearance. The conditions are: As the submergence area is very large (about 13,706 hectares), micro-climatic change conditions in the project area during construction/post-construction period to be reported at regular intervals. Preference shall also be given to plant local indigenous species. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 80,499.7 crore and proposed to be completed in 3 years.

Notes:
India and Myanmar has signed a MoU on restoration of normalcy and development of the Rakhine State, from where thousands of Rohingya Muslims recently fled to Bangladesh following incidents of violence against the community. The MoU is intended to help the Government of Myanmar to achieve its objective of restoration of normalcy in Rakhine State and enable the return of displaced Muslim Rohingyas. Under this MoU, the Government of India (GoI) proposes to take up a project to build prefabricated housing in Rakhine State so as to meet the immediate needs of returning people. This is the first Government to Government (G to G) pact inked by Myanmar with a cooperation partner focused on socio-economic development and livelihood initiatives in the Rakhine State. In addition to the Rakhine State project proposals, a number of ongoing friendship projects were reviewed. Issues regarding the operation and maintenance of Sittwe port and the road from Paletwa- Zorinpui were reviewed. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is on an official visit to Myanmar.

Notes:
The National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) is located near Bidyadharpur village on the Cuttack-Paradip Road, Odisha. It is one of the premier national research institutes under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The purpose of the NRRI is to improve the income and quality of life of rice farmers in India. The scientists at NRRI have many research results to their credit in various disciplines of rice research, including: Biochemistry, Blue green algae, Entomology, Food technology, Plant breeding and genetics, Physiology, etc.

Notes:
Shree Saini, who is a student at the University of Washington, has been crowned Miss India USA 2017 at the Royal Alberts Palace in Edison, New Jersey. While Prachi Singh from Connecticut was declared the first runner-up & North Carolina’s Fareena became the second runner-up at the pageant. Shree Saini is an anti-bullying activist. At the beauty pageant, cancer surgeon Kavita Malhotra Pattani from Florida was declared Mrs India USA 2017. Swapna Mannam (17) from New Jersey was crowned with Miss Teen India USA 2017.