GK & Current Affairs Quiz: October 22-23, 2018

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) will host the 4th Edition Of Global Partners’ Forum in New Delhi on December 12-13, 2018. This unique forum aims to unite PMNCH’s 1,000+ partners around common strategies so that every woman, child and adolescent – no matter where they live – can survive, thrive and transform our world. The forum will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and PMNCH (The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health). A big focus of the forum will be to share stories of how countries are successfully collaborating across sectors and stakeholders to fast-track improvements in health and well-being of women, children and adolescents.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a panel to examine the feasibility of payment of general and health insurance claims in instalments. It will be headed by Suresh Mathur, ED (Health) in IRDAI. The panel will look into the need for allowing settlement of personal accident and benefit-based health insurance claims in instalments by general and health insurance companies.

Notes:
On 21st October 1943, the Azad Hind Government was formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who was the leader of Azad Hind Government and also the Head of State of this Provisional Indian Government-in-exile. It was a part of the freedom movement, originating in 1940s outside India with a purpose of allying with Axis powers to free India from British rule. Pertinently, the role of Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army (INA) had been crucial in bequeathing a much needed impetus to India’s struggle for Independence.It is in news recently because the Government of India (GoI) has recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Government on 21st October, 2018 by hoisting the National flag at the Red Fort, Delhi.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated a 3-day ‘Vishwa Shanti Ahimsa Sammelan (VSAS-2018)’ at Mangi Tungi in Nashik district of Maharashtra on October 22. The VSAS, which is also known as World peace and ahimsa conference, has been organised by Bhagwan Rishabhdev Murti Nirmaan Samiti. The President will also give away the first international ‘Bhagwan Rishabhdev Award’ to Teerthanker Mahaveer University based in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs. 11 lakh, a memento and a citation, will be given to the chancellor of the university, Suresh Jain. President Kovind will also release a book, titled ‘Sarvoccha Digambar Jain Pratima’, on the occasion. Thousands of people from different parts of the country are expected to take part in the conference.

Notes:
US-based Dalit writer Sujatha Gidla has won the prestigious 2018 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for her book “Ants Among Elephant: An Untouchable Family And The Making Of Modern India”. It is an account of growing up in an ‘untouchable’ family in modern India. The winner receives a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a trophy. The prize is funded by the Shakti Bhatt Foundation & was set up in 2008 in memory of young writer Shakti.

Notes:
The 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2018) has started in Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat on October 22. The 3-day event is organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and hosted by the Department of Atomic Energy and Gandhinagar-based Institute of Plasma Research. The purpose of the Conference to serve as a platform for sharing the results of research and development efforts in both national and international fusion experiments that have been shaped by these new priorities, and to thereby help in pinpointing worldwide advances in fusion theory, experiments, technology, engineering, safety and socio-economics. Experts from across the world will discuss the new challenges being faced by the fusion community in the light of a number of next-step fusion devices being implemented currently.

Notes:
The parliamentary standing committee on labour, which is headed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, will examine the functioning of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears. It will review the implementation of labour laws, social security and welfare scheme for workers. The committee has selected a wide range of subjects related to labourers, including the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions binding on India and the measures taken by the government to implement them. It will also look into the working conditions and welfare of mine workers, and review the working of Directorate General of Mines Safety.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI) has become the India’s first PSU bank to introduce comprehensive wealth business services for its clients. The wealth hub was inaugurated by SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar at the Lalbagh branch in Mangalore. The bank has re-branded its wealth business as “SBI Wealth” offering best-in-class personalised banking and investment services to its elite High Net worth Individual (HNI) clients through a dedicated team of relationship managers. HNI clients would be offered best products across categories from leading fund houses. They will also have the flexibility to invest, transact and view their portfolio,through digital channels like internet banking, mobile and remote relationship model.

Notes:
Indian researchers have developed a new skin gel “poly-Oxime” that inhibits the absorption of the most commonly used pesticides such as Organophosphorous compounds, that can cause serious ill effects on health and, in worst cases, result in the death of pesticide handlers such as farmers. The ‘poly-Oxime’ does not act like a physical barrier but like a catalyst to deactivate organophosphate. The gel has been prepared by researchers at Bangalore-based Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) from a nucleophilic polymer. The 13-member team led by Dr. Praveen Kumar Vemula have formulated and patented the poly-Oxime gel made of chemically modified chitosan — found in the shells of crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs and shrimps. The gel deactivates these chemicals, preventing them from going deep into the skin and organs like the brain and the lungs. It has been found to be effective in tests done in rats and researchers hope to soon test it in humans.

Notes:
The book “Nehru and Bose: Parallel Lives” has been authored by Rudrangshu Mukherjee. It brings to light the riveting story of two contrasting personalities – Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru – who would go on to define modern India. It tracks the growth of these two towering figures against the backdrop of the independence movement, delicately tracing the contours of a friendship that did not quite blossom as political ideologies diverged and delineates the shadow that fell between them for, Gandhi saw Nehru as his chosen heir and Bose as a prodigal son.