GK & Current Affairs Quiz: November 08-10, 2018

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has recently given nod for a separate High Court for Andhra Pradesh and it will start functioning from 1st January 2019. It will be the 25th high court in the country and will initially function from a temporary structure till the permanent building comes up in the ambitious Justice City complex in the State’s capital Amaravati. Since the bifurcation of the State on June 2, 2014, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have had a common high court situated at Hyderabad. The existing court will from next year be known as the Telangana High Court.

Notes:
Gafur Rakhimov, an Uzbek businessman and sports administrator, has been elected as the new President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), which is an amateur boxing’s global governing body. AIBA is a sport organization that sanctions amateur (Olympic-style) boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. Its headquarters is located at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Notes:
In Bhubaneswar, the Odisha government has recently rolled out the technology-driven and citizen-friendly ‘Mo bus’ service featuring free wi-fi, CCTV surveillance, public information display system and on board announcements in the city. The service was launched as a part of state government-owned Capital Region Urban Transport’s (CRUT) ‘City Bus Modernisation’ programme.It will also provide the Mo Bus mobile app through which passengers can book their tickets and get to know the locations of the vehicle to minimise their waiting time at the Bus Queue Shelters (BQS). The BQS will have advanced features like digital screens to display the bus route numbers and their arrival times for the waiting passengers. The bus service has been launched for the residents of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri.

Notes:
The Central and Andhra Pradesh governments and the World Bank have signed the loan agreement for a $172.20 million project to enhance agricultural productivity, profitability, and climate resilience of poor and marginalised farmers in Andhra Pradesh. The projects seeks to ensure that farming continues to remain a financially viable activity. The Andhra Pradesh Integrated Irrigation and Agriculture Transformation Project (APIIATP) will be implemented in rural areas largely dependent upon rain-fed agriculture. It will strengthen the resilience of poor and marginalised farmers against adverse climate events by improving access to irrigation, drought seed varieties and post-harvest technology that are aimed at improving soil health, water-use efficiency and crop productivity. The project will benefit over 200,000 families of poor and marginalised farmers, agro-entrepreneurs, women and other vulnerable groups. The $172.20 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 6-year grace period, and a maturity of 24 years.

Notes:
India has been elected as a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council for another four-year term from 2019 to 2022. The elections to the Council were held during the ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 at Dubai. India secured 165 votes and ranked third among the 13 countries elected to the council from the Asia-Australasia region, and 8th among the 48 countries elected to the council globally. The ITU has 193 member states who elect representatives to the Council. India has been a regular member of the ITU Council since 1952, and has played an important role in harmonising the contributions of member states from the region, always respecting the principles of equality and consensus-building.

Notes:
On November 5, the United States imposed the toughest ever sanctions on Iran aimed at altering the Iranian regime’s “behaviour”. The sanctions cover Iran’s banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports. However, 8 countries – India, China, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey — were temporarily allowed to continue buying Iranian oil as they showed “significant reduction” in oil purchase from the Persian Gulf country. The United States has exempted India from imposition of certain sanctions for the development of the strategically-located Chabahar Port in Iran, along with the construction of the railway line connecting it with Afghanistan. The decision by the Trump administration is being seen as a recognition by Washington of India’s major role in the development of the port on the Gulf of Oman, which is of immense strategic importance for the reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan. The Chabahar Port is considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries besides ramping up trade among the three countries after Pakistan denied transit access to India.

Notes:
The tenure of the Lok Sabha Secretary General, Snehlata Shrivastava, has been extended by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for one year. Snehlata, who is 1982-batch retired IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was appointed last year in rank and status of a Cabinet Secretary. She was scheduled to retire on the 30th of this month. Her extension will be effective from the 1st of December 2018 to the 30th of November 2019. She is the first woman Secretary General of the Lok Sabha.

Notes:
In the 8th Asian Shotgun Championship 2018 in Kuwait, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa has won the men’s skeet gold with a perfect score of 60 — a World record — in the final on November 7. With this, he became the first Indian skeet shooter to win a continental or world level event. Angad shot a perfect 60 out of 60 in the final round to claim top spot ahead of China’s Di Jin who shot 58. UAE’s Saeed Al Maktoum won bronze with a score of 46. In the concurrently held 11th Asian Air Gun championship, Indian team of Elavenil Valarivan and Hriday Hazarika won the mixed air rifle gold with a world junior record of 502.1. The other Indian team of Mehuli Ghosh and Arjun Babuta bagged the bronze.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved Amendment to the Central Universities Act – 2009 for setting up of a Central Tribal University in Andhra Pradesh. A fund of Rs 420 crore has been granted as the first phase expenditure towards the establishment of the University. The ‘Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh’ will be set up in Relli village of Vizianagaram district as provided under the 13th schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Notes:
Lalan Sarang (79), the noted Marathi actor and theatre personality, has passed away recently in Pune, Maharashtra on November 9, 2018. Born on 26th December 1938 in Mumbai, Sarang is known for her roles in path-breaking plays, including “Sakharam Binder”, “Gidhade”, “Rathchakra” and “Kamla”. She received several accolades for these roles. While playing key roles in films such as “Samna”, “Ha Khel Sawalyancha” and “Mahek”, she also worked in several Hindi serials. Recipient of ‘Grahini Sachiv Award’ of Ga Di Ma Pratishthan, Sarang also penned a few books- “Natakanmagil Natya”, “Mi ani Majhya Bhumika” and “Bahardar Kisse”.