Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2017

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 18th Hornbill festival 2017 and the 54th Statehood Day celebrations of Nagaland at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama on December 1, 2017. The 10-day Hornbill fest is the perfect showcase of rich Naga culture and traditions, preserved over the years in the form of music, dance and food. It is also called the ‘Festival of Festivals’. The festival is named after the Indian hornbill, the large and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore of most of the state’s tribes. The highlights of festival includes the traditional Naga Morungs exhibition and the sale of arts and crafts, food stalls, herbal medicine stalls, flower shows and sales, cultural medley – songs and dances, fashion shows, the Miss Nagaland beauty contest, traditional archery, Naga wrestling, indigenous games, and musical concert.

Notes:
Indian actor Parvathy Thiruvoth Kottuvatta has won the Best Actor Female Award at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2017) for her role in Malayalam film “Take Off”. The movie, directed by Mahesh Narayan, is based on the ordeal of Indian nurses in the city of Tikrit, Iraq, in 2014. It also won the Special Jury Award which included a Silver Peacock, a certificate and cash prize of Rs 15 lakh. Beside this, Marathi film “Kshitiz A Horizon” (directed by Manouj Kadaamh) won the ICFT Unesco Gandhi Medal 2017. The Prestigious Silver Peacock Award for the Best Debut Film of a Director goes to Director Kiro Russo for the film “Dark Skull”. The theme of IFFI 2017 was “Celebrating the Future of Cinema” and Canada was the focus country.

Notes:
The first International exhibition and Conference on AYUSH and Wellness sector- AROGYA 2017 has started in New Delhi on December 4, 2017. The 4-day event inaugurated by Ayush Minister Shripad Yesso Naik with theme “Enhancing the global potential of Ayush”. The purpose of the event is to showcase the strength and scientific validation of Indian System of Medicine in the global context. It will also facilitate International promotion, development and recognition of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy. The fair will give a boost to AYUSH Products in International Market. Over 200 Ayush and wellness delegates from over 50 countries are attending the conference. AYUSH is the acronym of the medical systems that are being practiced in India such as Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.

Notes:
The World Telugu Conference (WTC) will be held at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana from December 15 with focus on how the Telugu language is preserved, protected, enriched in the Telangana region. The conference will provide the data related to Telugu Conferences (Telugu Maha Sabhalu) and eminent Telugu Personalities across the Globe. President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest of the 5-day event and the Telangana Sahitya Akademi will be the nodal agency for the conference.

Notes:
Michael I (96), the former King of Romania, has passed away in Aubonne, Switzerland on December 5, 2017. He ruled Romania twice – first in the 1920s, when he was just five years old and then again from 1940 to 1947. He was one of the last people alive to have served as a head of state during World War Two. King Michael was known for ousting fascist ruler Antonescu and ending his country’s alliance with the Nazis in 1944, switching sides to the Allies. However, in 1947 he was forced to abdicate by the country’s communists, who ruled until the revolution of 1989. He went into exile until the 1990s when he returned to Romania after the fall of the country’s communist leader, Nicolae Ceaucescu. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2016, he retired from public life.

Notes:
India and Italy has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in Agriculture and Phytosanitary issues on December 6, 2017 that will replace the one signed in 2008. Notably, the MoU was signed between Indian Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Italian Minister for Agriculture H.E Maurizio Martina that will provide a good framework for cooperation in this field.

Notes:
Kanchanmala Pande from Nagpur, the visually impaired swimmer, has scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win gold at the World Para Swimming Championship in Mexico on December 7, 2017. Pande, who works with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), stood first in the in 200 meters medley event in S-11 category. In the World Championships that started on 2nd December 2017, Pande was the lone female swimmer from India to have qualified for the event. She was qualified for this championship after she brought home silver at the IDM Berlin Para Swimming Championship in July 2017. With this, she was selected to represent India in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 200m individual medley categories. Unfortunately, she missed a podium finish in the 100 metres freestyle and came 5th in the breaststroke and backstroke category.

Notes:
The Darrah National Park, which is now Mukundara Hills National Park, is located in within the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests’ ecoregion of Rajasthan and covers an area of 250 square kilometres. It is home to a number of species including the wild boar, deer, nilgai, cheetah and wolves. The park consists of three wildlife sanctuaries: Darrah Wildlife Sanctuary, Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary and Jawahar Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. The River Chandrabhaga flows very close to the national park and there are a number of ancient temples, dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries that are situated along the banks of the river.

Notes:
The 7th International Ground Water Conference (IGWC-2017) will be hosted by India in New Delhi with a theme of “Ground water Vision 2030- Water Security, Challenges and Climate Change Adaptation” from December 11 to 13, 2017. The conference has been organized by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the aegis of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The delegates from 15 countries are expected to participate in the conference and 250 research papers will be presented, including 32 Keynote papers. The Conference is expected to take stock of present status and challenges of Groundwater management in the country under the changing water use and climatic scenarios.

Notes:
Italian coach Raffaele Bergamasco has been appointed Performance Director for senior women’s boxing. He is behind India’s best ever medal haul at the recently-concluded AIBA Women’s Youth Boxing Championship 2017. India enjoyed a gold rush at the World Women’s Youth Boxing Championships 2017 in Guwahati with the country’s pugilists grabbing five top positions to finish overall champions for the first time.