Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2018

Notes:
Dr Susane Giti has been appointed the first-ever female major general in the 47 years history of Bangladesh. She was presented with the rank badge of Major General by Bangladesh Army chief General Aziz Ahmed and Quarter Master General Lt General Md Shamsul Haque on September 30. Currently, she is the HOD of pathology department of Armed Forces Medical College. According to the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Giti joined the medical wing of the Bangladesh armed forces in 1986 as a captain. She was also the first woman to pass FCPS degree in Hematology in 1996.

Notes:
The nationwide Action Research Project of Gram Panchayat development scheme has been inaugurated by the Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar at a function organized at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on October 1. The project is designed for the sustainable and holistic development of rural areas of the country. According to official information, the Project is currently being implemented in 467 Gram Panchayats covered in 98 clusters of 19 States of the country. Through this project, special efforts will be made to raise the standard of living of the poorest people of the society and to enhance human development. The main purpose of this project is to ensure the overall development by capacity building, administrative reform and public participation.

Notes:
Teenage shooting star Manu Bhaker has been named as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Youth Olympic Games to be held at Buenos Aires in Argentina from October 6-18. Goa Olympic Association Secretary Gurudutta D Bhakta will be the Chef-de-Mission of the contingent. It is India’s largest ever contingent at the Youth Olympics. Hockey 5s has most number of Indian participants with 18 (nine each in men’s and women’s team) while track and field has seven athletes. Other Indian participants are: shooting (4), recurve archery (2), badminton (2), swimming (2), table tennis (2), weightlifting (2), wrestling (2), rowing (2), boxing (1), judo (1), sport climbing (1).

Notes:
India has been ranked 5th, jointly with Hong Kong and Thailand, in terms of the largest pictorial warning on cigarette packs with 85% of both sides of the packets covered, according to latest Canadian Cancer Society report. As per 2018 report, Out of 206 nations, Timor Leste has the largest warning on cigarette packages in the world with 92.5% on front and back, followed by Nepal and Vanuatu with 90% and New Zealand at fourth with 87.5%.The Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report 2018 highlighted that 118 countries worldwide have made pictorial warnings mandatory, representing a global public health achievement, and 58% of the world’s population is covered by this regulation. The current report is the 6th Canadian Cancer Society international report on cigarette package health warnings. The report released in Geneva at the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) revealed that there was tremendous international momentum for plain packaging of tobacco.

Notes:
On the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal hoisted India’s tallest National Flag from the average city elevation at the Gandhi Mandap in Guwahati. The 9,600 sq ft flag stands on a 319.5 ft flag pole at Gandhi Mandap, a memorial for Mahatma Gandhi atop the Sarania Hill in the heart of Assam’s principal city. The tip of the flag pole from the base of the hill is about 300 metres that makes it the tallest from the mean sea level. It carries a flag of 120×80 feet dimension. Though, considering only the height of the flag pole, the National Flag at Gandhi Mandap is the third tallest in the country after Punjab’s Attari border (360 ft) and Pimpri Chinchwad Bhakti Shakti Chowk, Pune (351 ft). The total cost of the National Flag installation project is Rs 2.92 crore, which includes operations and maintenance for a period of one year.

Notes:
Rio Paralympic gold medallist Thangvellu Mariyappan has been named as flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Paralympic Asian games to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from October 6-13. India will field its biggest ever contingent of 302 members including athletes, coaches, support staff, escorts and officials. The Indian contingent were initially denied entry on Oct 1 when they arrived at the Games Village as the Sports Ministry had not till then cleared funds to the tune of $2.5 lakh. However, the issue was later resolved.

Notes:
The World Habitat Day (WHD) is observed every year on first Monday in October across the world to raise awareness about need for affordable housing for all in urban areas, cities and towns. The purpose of day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. The day is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. On 1st October 2018, the day is celebrated with ‘Municipal Solid Waste Management’ & slogan ‘Waste-wise cities’ to highlight the issue of municipal solid waste management challenge as global issue that affects everyone.

Notes:
The 31st All India Railways Chess tournament 2018 has started at Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu on October 3. The 4-day tournament has formally inaugurated by General Manager of Southern Railway, SM Kulshreshta. The event is being conducted in Swiss League Format at both team and individual levels. Around 87 players including five grandmasters and 18 international masters from 14 Zonal Railways and seven Production Units from across Indian Railways are participating in the event. The successful players from this tournament will represent Indian Railways in the National Chess Championship to be held in November 2018.

Notes:
On October 5, the 4th edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF – 2018) has started at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The mega science expo will be formally inauguratedby the President Shri Ram NathKovind. It is being organized by Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati. The theme of this edition of Science Festival is “Science for Transformation”. IISF-2018 is expected to be represented by approximately 10000 delegates including 5000 students, 550 teachers, 200 students from North-East Region, 20 international delegates and approximately 200 startups.

Notes:
India has signed $150 million loan pact with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to establish its first-ever Global Skills Park (GSP) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The aim of the GSP is to enhance the quality of Technical and Vocational Education And Training (TVET) System in the State and create a more skilled workforce. The new GSP campus will consist of core Advanced Training Institutes including the Center for Occupational Skills Acquisition and the Center for Advanced Agricultural Training as well as other support services focusing on entrepreneurship, training of trainers, and skill-related research. The campus will have training facilities focusing on skills for manufacturing, service, and advanced agricultural jobs, benefitting about 20,000 trainees and trainers. The Project will also help in modernizing 10 industrial training institutes across the state by renovating training infrastructure and upgrading skills courses to align with industry and market needs.