GK & Current Affairs Quiz: November 12-13, 2018

Notes:
World champion Kento Momota from Japan has won the 23rd edition of Fuzhou China Open Badminton tournament 2018 on November 11. He defeated the 4th seed Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan 21-13, 11-21, 21-16 in 66 minutes. Momota is known for his explosive movements on court and his unpredictable style of play.

Notes:
Star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has recently touched a new high in his career by achieving the World number one rank in the 65kg category. He was placed atop the ranking table with 96 points in the United World Wrestling (UWW) list. The UWW is the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling. Its duties include overseeing wrestling at the Olympics. Bajrang has won five medals this season, including Common Wealth Games and the Asian Games gold and a silver at the World Championship in Budapest. Bajrang was also the only Indian grappler to be given a seeding at the Budapest World Championship.

Notes:
The new artillery guns and equipment, including K9 Vajra, M777 howitzers, have recently inducted into the Indian Army at the Deolali artillery centre in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Beside this, the third gun system inducted is the ‘Composite Gun Towing Vehicle’ for towing some of the existing guns in service with the country. The K9 VAJRA-T 155mm/ 52 is a tracked self-propelled artillery gun, which has its roots in the K9 Thunder, the mainstay of the South Korean Army. The Vajra offers a high rate of fire at a long range and is compatible with Indian and standard NATO ammunition. The M777 is the 155mm/ 39 Calibre Ultra Light Howitzer (ULH) that have been procured from USA under Government to Government Foreign Military Sales and will be assembled in India by BAE Systems in partnership with Mahindra Defence. The M777s can be easily transported to high altitude areas such as borders with China and Pakistan by helicopters.

Notes:
Ananth Kumar (59), the senior BJP leader , has recently passed away in Bengaluru on November 12th, 2018. He was in charge of two key ministries – serving as Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers since May 2014 and as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs since July 2016 in the Narendra Modi government until his death. He represented the Bengaluru South parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha six times since 1996. Kumar joined the BJP in 1987 and never looked back, as he held posts of state secretary, state president of the Yuva Morcha, general secretary and national secretary.

Notes:
Arunima Sinha, the Indian mountaineer who became the world’s first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest in 2013, has been recently awarded an honorary doctorate by a prestigious UK university ‘ University of Strathclyde’ at a graduation ceremony in Glasgow for her inspirational achievements in mountaineering. The award also recognises Ms Sinha’s charitable work through the Arunima Foundation, which seeks to empower women, disabled people and generally improve the health and social and economic situation for poorer communities.

Notes:
The World Science Day for Peace and Development is observed every year on 10th of November to highlight the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives. The theme for 2018 is “Science, a Human Right”, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 27), and of the Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers. The purpose of the day is to strengthen public awareness on the role of science for peaceful and sustainable societies.

Notes:
On November 12, the International Conference on Yoga for Public Health has inaugurated at Kala Academy, Panjim. The two-day conference is being organised by the Ministry of Ayush with theme ‘Yoga for Public Health’. The 1000 representatives from around 50 countries are participating in the conference.

Notes:
The Delhi government is celebrating the “Jashn-e-Virasat-e-Urdu”, a festival to promote & preserve the Urdu culture and its heritage, at Central Park, Connaught Place. The aim of the 6-day festival is to keep the language alive and ensure its growth through larger participation. The festival will witness a diverse range of artistes and artforms practising Urdu including traditional forms like Chaar Bait – a rare traditional style of singing in Urdu, Dastangoi and Kissagoi. Delhi’s culturally-rich heritage from the walled city will also be showcased at the festival with various arts and crafts including composite calligraphy styles. The Urdu festival will come to a close on November 15.

Notes:
In New Delhi, the 2nd edition of INSPIRE 2018 (International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency) has been inagurated by R K Singh, the Union Power Minister. During INSPIRE 2018, EESL and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed pact for a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of $13 million to establish an Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF) to support investments in new, innovative and scalable business models in India. The aim of EERF is to expand and sustain investments in the energy efficiency market in India, build market diversification, and scale up existing technologies. INSPIRE 2018 is being organised by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and World Bank. The 3-day symposium will focus on enhancing grid management, e-Mobility, financial instruments and technologies for energy efficiency in India. The Power Minister also gave away awards to four pathbreaking innovations in clean energy and energy efficiency as part of #InnovateToINSPIRE, a first-of-its-kind energy innovation challenge.

Notes:
The 33rd edition of ASEAN summit 2018 has started in the city-state of Singapore on November 11 with theme ‘Resilient and innovative Asean’. The main event is being held at Suntec Singapore Convention Centre, wherein the ten ASEAN members will be discussing key issues on economic, security and cultural cooperation. The summit is being chaired by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Besides the main event, several related meetings like Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), East Asia Summit (EAS) and Fintech Festival are also taking place during the 5-day event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the East Asia Summit and Associated meetings of ASEAN on 14th and 15th November in Singapore. In the biggest of its kind event more than 400 companies from over 100 countries are taking part as exhibitors.