Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - December, 2017

Notes:
India and Cuba has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhanced cooperation in the health sector on December 6, 2017. The purpose of this MoU is to establish comprehensive inter-ministerial and inter-institutional cooperation between the two countries in the field of health by pooling technical, scientific, and financial and human resources with the ultimate goal of upgrading the quality and reach of human, material and infrastructural resources involved in health care, medical education & training, and research in both countries.

Notes:
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid and Portugal superstar, has won the 2017 Ballon d’Or award for the year’s best player in Paris, France. It is his record-equalling 5th Ballon d’Or award with his great Barcelona rival Lionel Messi. Ronaldo, who also won the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award in October 2017, added the 2017 Ballon d’Or to his previous wins in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016.

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.

Notes:
The two-day Aadivasi Mahotsav has started in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on December 10, 2017 to display the rich and diverse tribal traditions of the central state. It was inaugurated by Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh. Tribal culture, literature and food festivals, tribal Olympiad and hackathon will be held during the event. The festival has been organised in the memory of 1857 revolutionary from the region, Shaheed Veernarayan Singh on his martyrdom day.

Notes:
Giriraj Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MSME, has launched a Public Procurement Portal ‘MSME Sambandh’ in New Delhi on December 8, 2017. The purpose of the portal is to monitor the implementation of the Public Procurement from MSEs by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). The procurement policy mandates the Central government departments/CPSEs to procure an overall 20% of their total annual purchases from MSEs.

Notes:
India has been declared free from infective trachoma, a contagious bacterial infection of the eye common among children. It causes inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids. Recently, the Union Health Minister J P Nadda released the National Trachoma Survey Report (2014-17) in New Delhi. The survey results indicate that active Trachoma is no longer a public health problem in the country. Trachoma is common in children till nine years of age. It is caused by the bacterial agent chlamydia trachomatis and usually spread due to flies, poor hygiene, crowded places, lack of water, and environmental factors such as humidity.

Notes:
The Union Government has sanctioned Rs. 75 crore for setting up a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plant in Meghalaya. Meghalaya is the only state in the region which has no bottling plant. The new bottling plant will be constructed at an existing site located in Shillong. A memorandum of understanding was inked between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the state government in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma in Shillong on December 09, 2017.

Notes:
Indian national hockey team has reclaimed the bronze medal at the Hockey World League (HWL-2017) tournament by defeating Germany in the final by 2-1 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha on December 11, 2017. Indian players took the lead in 21st minute through SV Sunil. Germany equalized through its reserve custodian Mark Appel in the 36th minute. A penalty corner conversion by Harmanpreet Singh in the 54th minute sealed the win and the third place for the Indians. India had also won the bronze in the last edition of the tournament in Raipur in 2015.

Notes:
Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker booked their men’s and women’s quota places for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) by winning a gold and a silver each at the 10th Asian Championship 10M Rifle/Pistol at Wako City, Japan on December 11, 2017. Chaudhary won both the individual as well as the Team gold in the men’s 10m Air Pistol Youth event, while Bhaker clinched a silver in the women’s 10m Air Pistol Youth. Earlier, Mehuli Ghosh and Tushar Mane became the first Indian shooters to secure the women’s and men’s quota places for the 2018 YOG by winning a gold and bronze each in the tournament. In all, India added four medals to their kitty on the final day of the competition to finish with a total haul of 21 medals over four days, including six gold, eight silver and seven bronze, besides four Youth Olympic Games (YOG) quotas.