GK & Current Affairs Quiz: September 03, 2018

Notes:
Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee (18) became the first female athlete to be named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at Asian Games after she scooped an unprecedented six gold medals in the Jakarta pool. She also won two silvers. With this, Ikee also became the first female athlete in any sport to win six gold medals at a single Asian Games. Only North Korean shooter So Gin-man, who won 7 golds and a silver at 1982 New Delhi Games, has won more titles at one Asian Games. Beside this, Ikee also became the 4th Japanese athlete to win the MVP award since its inception at the 1998 Bangkok Games.

Notes:
The Rajasthan government has decided to organise special employment camps in all district headquarters of the state to give government jobs to at least one person from the family of those who were martyred after 1947 but none of their kin was given a job. As per officials, there are more than 1,100 such martyrs in the state whose kin had not been given government jobs. Through the special camps, one dependent of those martyrs will now get a job, which will be organised from 15th September 2018. The first camp will be held in Jhunjhunu. It was recently announced by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje at a public meeting in Barmer district, during her pre-poll tour ‘Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra’.

Notes:
In Men’s hockey, Indian men’s national field hockey team defeated arch rival Pakistan 2-1 to clinch a Bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Akashdeep hit the first goal and 2nd was scored by Harmanpreet. Pakistan’s lone goal came from a counter-attack scored by Muhammad Atiq. With this, India ranked at 8th position with 69 medals – 15 gold, 24 Silver and 30 Bronze – at the 18th Asian Games. China leads the medals tally followed by Japan.

Notes:
Singapore is currently holding the Chair of ASEAN. There, the 6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) was held in September 1, 2018. It was attended by Economic Ministers from 10 ASEAN countries and their 8 dialogue partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States. The meeting recognized the importance of ongoing work to maximize the opportunities of, and address the challenges presented by, the digital economy and the rise of regional and global value chains, as part of their efforts to promote economic growth and integration in the region. It was announced in the Singapore meeting that the next ASEAN-India Business Summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2018, which will be followed by the 4th India-ASEAN Dialogue Partner Expo and Summit scheduled for 21-23 February 2019, in New Delhi.

Notes:
Rani Rampal, the Indian women hockey captain, was India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony of the 18th Asian Games 2018. India ended their Asian Games 2018 campaign with the highest medal tally at the tournament ever, with a total of 69 medals which includes 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze medals. In addition to local artists and a Chinese segment, the South Korean boybands Super Junior and iKon, and Indian singer Sidharth Slathia performed in the closing ceremony. More than 10,000 athletes gave their best at the Asian Games 2018, winning medals for their respective countries. 465 gold medals were won by the athletes of 28 countries. 37 out of 45 participating nations were able to win medals at the Asian Games 2018. China finished on top of the medal tally with 132 gold medals. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was India’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony. In it, the Games flag for the 2022 Asian Games received by Mayor of Hangzhou Xu Liyi.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently released the draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies with an aim to regulate online sale of medicines across the country. It aims at providing patients accessibility to genuine drugs from authentic online portals. The draft rules on “sale of drugs by e-pharmacy” stated that no person will distribute or sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale of drugs through e-pharmacy portal unless registered. The new draft rules require e-pharmacies to be registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and obtain a trade licence — applicable across India — from any state government. The drugs sold online would need prescription and the pharmacy will have to maintain a detailed record. However, there should be strict confidentiality and no patient information should be leaked domestically or internationally. There should also be facility for customer support and grievance redressal. Though, sale of tranquillisers, psychotropic drugs, narcotics and habit forming drugs have been prohibited through these portals.

Notes:
The book “Moving On, Moving Forward: A year in Office” has been authored by Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, which was recently released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The book is based on Naidu’s tenure as Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He talks about his vision in the chapter ‘Retired from politics but not from public life’. As Chairman, he also records his disappointment over the first two sessions of the House he presided over. The 245-page book with 7 chapters deals with Naidu’s focussed engagement on four key issues — unrealised demographic dividend, need for an effective ecosystem for farmers to thrive, scientific advancements to better the life of people and public awareness about rich Indian heritage.

Notes:
The World Coconut Day (WCD) is observed every year on September 2 to enhance coconut farming with focus on productivity and product diversification. The day is also celebrated to commemorate the formation day of Asian Pacific Coconut Community (APCC). In India, the day is celebrated every year under the aegis of Coconut Development Board (CDB) in various coconut growing states across the country. The 2018 theme is “Coconut for Good Health, Wealth & Wellnessis”. APCC is an inter-governmental organisation of 18 member countries mandated to promote, coordinate and harmonize coconut developmental activities of the Asian Pacific region to achieve maximum economic development. India is one of the founder members of APCC. India is one of the founder members of APCC and stands first in global coconut production and productivity. The annual coconut production of India is 2437.80 crore and the productivity is 11616 coconuts per hectare.

Notes:
Arthur Pereira (70), the former Maharashtra football player, has passed away on September 3, 2018. He toured Russia as a striker with the Indian team in 1971. He also represented Maharashtra in the national championships for the Santosh Trophy from 1971 to 1976. Pereira played for several clubs in the city, including the well-known Orkay Mills. After his playing career, Pereira became a Physical Education teacher at St Joseph’s School in suburban Malad.

Notes:
According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s annual data, Mauritius accounted for the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India in the financial year FY18 followed by Singapore. The data shows that the total India’s FDI stood at $37.36 billion in the FY18, which is a marginal rise over the $36.31 billion recorded in the previous fiscal FY17. The provisional data for the financial year ended March revealed that FDI into the manufacturing sector witnessed a substantial decline to $7.06 billion, as against $11.97 billion in the year-ago period. However, FDI into communication services rose to $8.8 billion in 2017-18 as compared to $5.8 billion. The inflows into retail and wholesale trade also shot up to $4.47 billion as against $2.77 billion, while financial services sector too witnessed a rise in inflows to $4.07 billion from $3.73 billion in the previous year.