Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2018

Notes:
Binoy Kumar, the 1983 batch IAS officer of the Telengana cadre, has assumed charged as the new Secretary of the Ministry of Steel on September 1, 2018. He had been posted as Officer on Special Duty in the Steel Ministry since May 21, 2018. He succeeded Aruna Sharma, who recently superannuated. Prior to this, Binoy Kumar held the post of Special Secretary, Logistics, in the Department of Commerce, where he continued to hold additional charge till 31st July 2018. He also held the post of Director General (Supplies & Disposals), where he developed the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) as a one-stop online public procurement platform, in line with the digital initiatives of the Government of India (GoI).

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:
On September 3, India and Cyprus signed two agreements on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia. Both the countries also agreed for the revision in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) made in 2016 to further enhance investment partnership to grow by strengthening the institutional framework to facilitate investment cross flows. Beside this, Cyprus also reaffirmed its support to India for its membership of the Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG) and UN Security Council (UNSC). Mr. Kovind is in Cyprus on the first leg of his three-nation visit to Europe to continue India’s high-level engagements with European countries.

Notes:
The joint military exercise “Rapid Trident 2018″ has started in the western Ukrainian village of Starychi, which will continue from September 2 to 15. It was launched by Ukraine with the United States and a string of other NATO countries as tensions with Russia remain high over the Kremlin-backed insurgency in the country’s east. The aim of the exercise is to practice countering armed aggression in conditions of the hybrid war. The exercise is composed of a multinational, brigade-level, computer-assisted command post exercise i.e. integrated with a battalion-level field training exercise, and a platoon-level situational training exercise. The Rapid Trident 2018 started a week before Russia holds its biggest military exercise ” Vostok-2018″ since the Cold War, in the east of the country and with the participation of China and Mongolia. Approx 2,200 soldiers from 14 nations are participating in the exercise.

Notes:
The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) has approved a proposal by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to increase the wages of artisans by over 36%, from Rs 5.50 per hank previously to Rs 7.50 per hank. The proposal for an increase in wages to khadi spinners along with payment of government subsidy — Modified Market Development Assistance (MMDA) — has been approved with effect from August 15, 2018. Under the MMDA programme, 30% of the prime cost is paid to the khadi institutions as production subsidy. Of this 30%, 40% goes to artisans as wage incentives and the remaining 60% goes to the khadi institutions. The wage incentives are paid by KVIC directly to the accounts of the artisans through direct benefit transfer. As a result, if an artisan makes 20 hanks in a day — he will get Rs 150 per day as wage at the rate of Rs 7.50 per hank, plus incentives including MMDA, which would be approximately 35% on Rs 150, that is Rs 52.

Notes:
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the son of former Assam chief minister Keshab Chandra Gogoi, will become the 46th Chief Justice of India (CJI), after the current CJI Dipak Misra retires on October 2. He will have tenure of 13 months – till November 17, 2019. As per convention, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court has to be appointed as the next CJI. Therefore, once the recommendation by CJI Misra is approved, Justice Gogoi will become the first CJI from North-Eastern states. His appointment is crucial as it comes at a time when Assam is preparing to release a final National Register of Citizens (NRC), possibly by the end of the year 2018. Justice Gogoi was one of the four senior-most judges of the court who had called an unprecedented press conference this January, when they had publicly raised concerns about the administration of the court and the formation of benches for the allocation of important cases. He is also one of 11 judges in the Supreme Court who have disclosed their assets.

Notes:
In the first round of the ‘two-plus-two dialogue’ in New Delhi, India and the United States signed military communications pact “COMCASA” , which will give India access to advanced new defence systems like armed drones and will enable the Indian armed forces to exploit existing US-origin platforms much more efficiently. COMCASA is an India-specific version of the Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). It comes into force immediately & is valid for a period 10 years. The term “COMCASA” stands for Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) and is one of the four foundational agreements that the U.S. signs with allies and close partners to facilitate interoperability between militaries and sale of high end technology. COMCASA allows India to procure transfer specialised equipment for encrypted communications for US origin military platforms like the C-17, C-130 and P-8Is.

Notes:
Olympic bronze medalist Mary Kom has been appointed the new Brand Ambassador of state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for two years. The two-year contract will see boxer Mary Kom endorse as well as engage in various promotional events organized by BSNL for its different telecom services. Beside this, BSNL has also signed pact with Indian Army to provide various telecom services like PRIs, basic telephone, and leased circuits, among others on a pan India basis for a period of 3 years. Besides these services, BSNL will also provide broadband and mobile services under another existing agreement with the Indian Army.

Notes:
India Blue has won the 57th edition of Duleep Trophy 2018 by defeating India Red in the final by an innings and 187 runs to win. Spinners Deepak Jagbir Hooda and Saurabh Kumar shared 5 wickets each in just 10.5 overs on the 4th day to bundle out India Red for 172 in the second innings. India Blue scored 541 in the first innings while India Red scored 182 in the first innings and 172 in the second innings. Himachal Pradesh batsman Nikhil Gangta was named man of the match for his superb knock of 136. The Duleep Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India. It was named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar, who played for England.

Notes:
Indian sprinter Hima Das has been officially named as the Sports Ambassador of Assam for her recent achievements in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and IAAF World U-20 Championship 2018 at a function held at Srimanta Sankardev International Auditorium, Guwahati. Beside this, Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal handed over a cheque worth Rs 1.6 crore to Hima and also offered her a job in the senior category of Sports and Youth Welfare Department. He also announced to develop 500 village stadiums in the state. In recently concluded Asian Games, she set a national record by clocking 51.00 to qualify for the 400m final and bettered it with 50.79 to clinch silver. She went on to win silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bagged gold in the women’s 4x400m relay. Apart from this, she has already scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman athlete to clinch a gold in a track event at the IAAF World U-20 Athletics Championships 2018 in Finland.