Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - November, 2017

Notes:
Recently, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has released a global investigation ‘The Paradise Papers’ that reveals the offshore interests and activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies, including information about at least 31,000 persons or parties. India ranked 19th out of the 180 countries represented in the data in terms of the number of names. The vast of financial data could expose the secret wealth of hundreds of rich Indians, including politicians, corporate heavyweights and entertainment leaders, who are suspected to have used offshore tax havens to dodge taxes. In all, there are 714 Indians in the tally in biggest offshore data leak for alleged tax evasion. The headquarters of the ICIJ is located at Washington DC, United States.

Notes:
The Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) is located in South Tripura District of Tripura and covers an area of about 163.08 square kilometres. It has a number of perennial water rivulets, water bodies and grass land. In this sanctuary, there are patches of virgin forests which are rich in rare vegetation. Indian Gaur (Bison) is an attraction of this sanctuary. Apart from it, there are varieties of Birds, Deers, Hollock Gibbon, Golden Langur, Capped Langur, Pheasant and many other animals and reptiles.

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The 19th edition of Organic World Congress (OWC- 2017) will be held at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida from Nov 9-11. The International Federation of Organic Farming Movements (IFOAM) and OAFI are organizing the event where 55 seeds group from 15 Indian states will showcase 4,000 varieties of seeds. It will see the participation of 1,400 representatives from 110 countries, and 2000 delegates from India. The Organic World Congress (OWC) is organized once every three years in a different country and this time it is being organised in India. The last edition of the OWC took place in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014.

Notes:
Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company has won the ” 2017 General Insurance Company of the Year” award at the 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards. The Health Insurance Company is a joint venture between Apollo Hospitals Group and the Munich Re Group The award recognises Apollo Munich’s contribution in demonstrating market leadership during the qualifying period via innovation in products, services, practices, responsiveness to end-users and intermediaries, initiatives in boosting the image of insurance in society, narrowing the protection gap, and showcasing exceptional business growth through professionalism and sound management.

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The Mathikettan Shola National Park (MSNS) is located in Poopara village of Udumbanchola taluk in Idukki district of Kerala and covers an area of 12.82 square kilometres. It is notified as a national park to protect the wildlife and rich biodiversity of the area. It is home to beautiful and rare animals like panthers, wild elephants, spotted deer, Nilgiri tahrs and giant grizzled squirrels, etc. Among reptiles, species like rat snakes, crocodiles, vipers, cobras, turtles, lizards and pythons inhabit the park.

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Dr. Renu Swarup, Senior Adviser for Department of Biotechnology (DBT), has been awarded with National Entrepreneurship Award, 2017 under Mentor (Government) category in the Recognition Track at the National Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony, 2017 in New Delhi. Dr. Swarup also holds position of Managing Director, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Company.

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The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India. Its headquarters is located in New Delhi. Recently, it is in news because Consumer Affairs Ministry led-Price Stabilization Fund Management Committee (PSFMC) has decided to import onions through government agency to augment the availability of onions in market and moderate prices in New Delhi. In it, Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash Srivastava stated that NAFED will procure 10 thousand tonnes and the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) two thousand tonne of onions from producing areas and supply it to consuming areas to enhance its availability.

Notes:
The IDFC Bank has entered into a strategic alliance with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik. The customers of MobiKwik can generate a 16-digit Visa virtual card through the app and use it for e-commerce and online transactions. In it, one need not be a customer of IDFC Bank to use the co-branded pre-paid card. This pre-paid card will now allow MobiKwik users to shop from Amazon or Flipkart where currently MobiKwik wallet use is not allowed. This Visa pre-paid card is replica of the wallet and can be used anywhere.

Notes:
The Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park (MHVNP) is located at Vanasthalipuram in Hyderabad, Telangana and covers an area of 3,758 acres. The park was named after Tirthankar Mahavir Swami, a Jain saint, in commemoration of his 2500th nirvana anniversary in the year 1975. It is home to blackbucks (the state animal of Andhra Pradesh), porcupines, water monitors, short-toed eagles, Indian pond herons, egrets, kingfishers, cormorants and several other bird species.

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The 4th India-Canada Annual Ministerial Dialogue has started in New Delhi on November 13, 2017. The Indian delegation is led by the Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and the Canadian International Trade Minister, François-Philippe Champagne is leading the Canadian delegation. As per official release, India and Canada will focus on some of the key commercial drivers to enhance the India-Canada partnership in the current round of the Ministerial Dialogue. The efforts would be made to work towards the expeditious conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement for a progressive, balanced, and mutually beneficial agreement covering both goods and services. The trade ministers of both countries are likely to discuss issues to explore ways of expediting the early conclusion of the CEPA and the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.