Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2018

Notes:
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched National Challenge for Youths ‘Ideate for India – creative solutions using technology’ at New Delhi on December 6. The aim of this National Challenge is to give school students across the country a platform and opportunity to become solution creators for the problems they see around them and their communities. It is open to students of classes 6 – 12 all across the country – all 29 States and 7 Union Territories and aims to reach out to at least 1 million youth over the next 3 months. “Ideate for India” will help inculcate innovation skills in youth and equip all students to utilise technology for the betterment of their communities and the society at large. Simultaneously, this will prepare them to contribute towards the realization of Digital India goals. The challenge has been designed and launched by the National e-governance Division in collaboration with Intel India, with support from the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) of Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD).

Notes:
According to the study by the Global Carbon Project, India is the fourth highest emitter of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the world, accounting for 7% of global emissions in 2017. India’s emissions look set to continue their strong growth by an average of 6.3% in 2018, with growth across all fuels — coal (7.1%), oil (2.9%) and gas (6%). The world’s top 10 Co2 emitters were China, the US, the EU, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The study said that while China and India still rely heavily on coal, the US and the EU are slowly decarbonising. It further said that India can continue to deploy solar farms, leveraging its leadership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to displace coal and clean up its smog-choked cities. The study was recently released on the occasion of the 2018 UN Climate Summit (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. It warned that global emissions of Co2 from fossil fuels and industry are projected to rise for the second consecutive year in 2018 by more than two percent to a new record mainly due to sustained growth in oil and gas use.

Notes:
The World Soil Day (WSD) is observed every year on December 5 to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources. The 2018 theme is ‘Be the Solution to Soil Pollution’. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Soil holds 3 times as much carbon as the atmosphere and can help meet the challenges of a changing climate. It further stated that 815 million people are food insecure and 2 billion people are nutritionally insecure, but it can be mitigated through soil. 95% of food comes from soil and 33% of the global soils are already degraded. In wake of this cause, the Government of India (GoI) has launched nationwide Soil Health Card Scheme (SHCS) to take care of Soil Health for the first time in a uniform manner to evaluate the soil fertility across the country. Soil health card provides information to the farmers on fertility status of their soil and enables them to apply soil health card based recommended dosages of fertilizers including micro-nutrients, bio-fertilizers, manures as well as soil ameliorants. It is helpful in checking the declining fertility of agriculture land and improve the fertility of soils to increase productivity besides enhancing farmers income.

Notes:
Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been appointed the new Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) for a period of three years. The post of CEA had been lying vacant since Arvind Subramanaian left the finance ministry after a four-year stint. Dr Krishnamurthy is currently working as an Associate Professor and the executive director at the Indian School of Business (IBS), Hyderabad. The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service (IES) & is under the direct charge of the Minister of Finance.

Notes:
On December 8, the Japanese government enacted a new law to bring more blue-collar foreign workers into the country, in a controversial move to address chronic labour shortages. Under the new law, Japan plans to bring in 345,000 foreign workers in construction, food services, nursing and other sectors for 5 years. The law will take effect in April 2019 and create two new visa categories. The first status allows foreign nationals with skills in sectors facing severe shortages to obtain five-year visas, which will not allow them to bring their families. The second status allows foreign workers in those fields who hold stronger qualifications and pass a more difficult Japanese language test will be able to obtain a visa that can be extended indefinitely, eventually leading to residency, and will be able to bring over family.

Notes:
The International Volunteer Day (IVD) is observed every year by The United Nations (UN) on December 5 to recognise the volunteers worldwide and their efforts in making peace and sustainable development a reality. It offers an opportunity for volunteer-involving organizations and individual volunteers to promote volunteerism, encourage governments to support volunteer efforts and recognize volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local, national and international levels. The 2018 theme “Volunteers build Resilient Communities” focuses on how volunteers can build resilient communities. The IVD 2018 celebrates volunteer efforts that strengthen local ownership and the resilience of the community in the face of natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

Notes:
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the nodal Ministry of the Government of India (GoI), has been conferred the Skoch Award for National Significance at an event held recently in New Delhi. The award was received by Secretary of MNRE, Anand Kumar. The award has been conferred on the Ministry considering its purpose and critical role played in installing about 73 GW renewable energy capacity in the country. With 21% of total installed capacity, within the year renewable energy grossed a magic figure of providing one billion units of electricity in the country. Today, India ranked 4th in the world in wind energy capacity and 5th in solar & total renewable energy capacity installed in the world. India has played a critical role in setting up of international solar alliance. Further, India moved a resolution during the first meeting for making it a global initiative.

Notes:
The Submarine Day is celebrated every year by the Indian Navy on December 8 to commemorate the induction of the first submarine, the erstwhile INS Kalvari, into the Indian Navy on this day in 1967. The Foxtrot class submarine was decommissioned on the 31st May, 1996, after 29 years of service.

Notes:
On December 7, China has launched its first-ever space mission ‘Chang’e-4’ to land a robotic craft on the far side of the Moon. It was launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the southwestern Xichang launch centre, which will explore the Von Karman crater. The mission, which consists of a stationary lander and a rover, will perform a variety of science work and plant a flag for humanity in a region that remains largely unexplored to date. No lander or rover has ever touched the surface there, hence positioning China as the first nation to explore the terrain. The mission will pave the way for the country to deliver samples of Moon rock and soil to Earth. The moon’s far side is also known as the dark side because it faces away from Earth and remains comparatively unknown. If successful, the mission would propel the Chinese space program to a leading position in one of the most important areas of lunar exploration. The name “Chang’e” comes from the Chinese goddess of the moon, and the “4” indicates that this is the 4th robotic mission in China’s decade-long lunar exploration program.

Notes:
On December 7, the 2nd edition of Military Literature Festival (MLF) 2018 was held in Chandigarh with an aim to offer an opportunity for the younger generation to get acquainted with India’s glorious military heritage. It also brought a host of cultural activities, food cuisines and competitions to the public. Besides, marshal dances, weapons display, medallion gallery, artists’ corner, cultural activities and exhibitions, food and cuisine, book fair, children’s Saragarhi Samvadh are amongst other activities to reverberate the minds of participants and visitors with tales of India’s soldiers during the three-day event. The fest was also dedicated to the valour of over 74,000 Indians who had laid down their lives in World War I. This year also marks the centenary of the Great War of 1914-1918. The fest was a joint initiative of military historian and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore.