GK & Current Affairs Quiz: July 10, 2017

Notes:
The day-long National Conference of Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories organised by NITI Aayog has started in New Delhi on July 10, 2017 to further the spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism. The focus of the conference is on best practices in social and economic sectors across states. Various developmental indicators developed by NITI Aayog, in areas like health, education, water management and digital transformation are being discussed. The idea is to measure performance and progress of states and rank them appropriately to instill healthy competition among them. In addition several interactive sessions on issues including agriculture and health are also on the agenda.

Notes:
Lt Col Srinivas Gokulnath has the first Indian to complete the 4,900 kilometre Race Across America (RAAM) in solo category, which is the toughest cycle race in the world. He completed the race in eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes, which begin from California. Lt Gokulnath stated that his postings at Siachen Base Camp and at 15,000 feet on the Uri mountains helped him achieve the feat of finishing the race. A solo rider has 12 days to finish the race and has to ride over 400 kilometres a day to finish it in given time. Sleep is for under 3-hours a day.

Notes:
Sandeep Chakravorty, the 1976-batch IFS officer, has been appointed as the head of the Indian consulate in New York. He will succeed Riva Ganguly Das as Consul General in one of the busiest Indian diplomatic missions overseas. Currently, he is Ambassador to Peru and Bolivia.

Notes:
Khaltmaagiin Battulga, the leader of Democratic Party (DP), has won the 2017 Mongolian presidential election by 50.6% votes & has taken office on July 10, 2017. Mongolia is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, where the President is directly elected. The government is run by a prime minister, but the president has powers to veto legislation and make judicial appointments. The President of Mongolia is elected using the two-round system. Here, the Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Notes:
Sumita Sanyal (71), the veteran Bengali actress, has passed away at her residence in Kolkata, West Bengal. She has worked in around 50 Bengali films and was also part of Hindi films like Guddi, Mili, Aashirwad and Mere Apne. Apart from her brilliant contribution to Bengali cinema, she is best known for co-starring with with Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna in 1970 movie Anand. She also worked with Dilip Kumar in Sagina Mahato (Bengali film) and with Biswajit and Sandhya Roy in Kuheli (Bengali film).

Notes:
Tata Steel Ltd. (TISCO) has won the Prime Minister’s trophy for ‘Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant’ in India during 2014-2015 and 2015- 16. This makes it the third consecutive-year for the firm to be honoured with this coveted award. Tata Steel has been recognised as the best integrated steel plant for 12 times and has won the PM’s Trophy 10 times. The Tata Steel Group is among the top 10 global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2017. It is the world’s second-most geographically diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries.

Notes:
Debi Prasad Dash, a 1985-batch Indian Revenue Service (customs) officer, has taken over as director-general of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the premier agency that tackles smuggling and black money. Dash was the acting DRI chief for the past 5-months. Earlier, he has worked in the UN Security Council, Commonwealth Secretariat and the CBI. The DRI is the major intelligence agency that works to secure India’s national and economic security by preventing the outright smuggling of contraband such as firearms, gold, narcotics, Fake Indian Currency notes, antiques, wildlife and environmental products. Furthermore, it also works to prevent the proliferation of black money, commercial frauds and trade based money laundering. The headquarters of DRI is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
The 2017 International Conference on Financial Markets and Corporate Finance was held at Vinod Gupta School of Management in IIT Kharagpur on July 7, 2017. The 2-day was Conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman. The purpose of the annual conference is to provide a forum to showcase cutting edge research in the areas of financial markets and corporate finance. This conference saw submission of some 75 research papers and brought together researchers from academia, industry and regulatory organizations to deliberate on theoretical work, empirical findings and policy implications related to financial market microstructure and challenges in corporate finance.

Notes:
Sudha Singh has won gold in the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes and 59.47 seconds at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Apart from her, Purnima Hembram from Odisha won gold in the women’s Heptathlon shot put, while world junior record holder javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra clinched the gold with a final throw of 85.23 metres. On the final day of competitions, India clinched five gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. With that, India ended the championships on top with a haul of 29 medals which included 12 gold, 5 silver and 12 bronze. Therefore, India topped medal tally for first time in Asian Athletics Championships history. Earlier, India’s best came way back in the 1985 Jakarta edition where they had won 22 medals which included 10 gold, 5 silver, seven bronze.

Notes:
Raninder Singh, an active trap shooter, has been re-elected as president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for a four-year term in Mohali. He is the son of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The NRAI is associated with International Shooting Sports Federation, Asian Shooting Confederation, Commonwealth Shooting Federation, South Asian Shooting Confederation and Indian Olympic Association.