Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
The International Day of Older Persons is observed every year on October 1, 2017 to raise awareness about issues affecting the elderly, such as senescence and elder abuse. The 2017 theme “Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society” will explore effective means of promoting and strengthening the participation of older persons in various aspects of social, cultural, economic and civic and political life.

Notes:
H. M. Marathe (77), the renowned writer and journalist, has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on October 1, 2017. He was well-known journalist and worked with various regional periodicals like Lokprabha, Marmik, and Pudhari.

Notes:
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 has awarded jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries on how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earth’s revolutions. For many years, we have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal clock that helps them adapt to the rotation of earth. But how does this clock actually work? It is explained through 2017 Nobel laureates discoveries. Using fruit flies as a model organism, they isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. The trio will share the prize sum of nine million Swedish kronor (about 1.1 million US Dollars) by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Notes:
The Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is located in Kalahandi district of Odisha and covers an area of 75 square kilometres. This sanctuary is home to many wildlife species like tiger, leopard, sambar, nilgai, barking deer, mouse deer, a wide variety of birds like green munia, Great Eared-nightjar and various reptiles.

Notes:
Rajnish Kumar, the Managing Director of SBI, has been appointed as the new chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of three years. He will succeed Arundhati Bhattacharya, whose tern is going to end on October 6, 2017.

Notes:
The Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary is located in Ballari district in Karnataka and covers an area of 82.72 square kilometers. The sanctuary’s flagship species is the Indian sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). Some species of mammals recorded in this sanctuary are leopards, monitor lizards, mongoose, pangolins, star tortoises, etc.

Notes:
The 3-day international exhibition – ‘World Dental Show 2017’ has opened in Mumbai, Maharashtra  on October 6, 2017 to showcase the evolving global technologies and techniques in dentistry. The show will facilitate the exhibitors from across the globe to meet the ‘who is who’ in the Indian dental arena and provide them to use this platform to build networks of influence, launch new products and create awareness about new clinical claims. The exhibition, hosted by the Indian Dental Association (IDA), has witnessed participation from the international exhibitors from China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Russian Federation, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and US.

Notes:
The Union Government has set up a study group to examine the problems being faced by the people living near the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) due to ever-present threat of cross-border firing from Pakistan. The group will meet people living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, security forces deployed there, district administration officials and local public representatives and submit its report within two months. Special secretary in the home ministry Rina Mitra will head the team. The study group will look into broadly three issues – demand for land for relocation in case of shelling, construction of more bunkers and compensation issues related to shelling. The panel will prepare a detailed report on the issues being faced by the people living near the IB and the LoC and submit recommendations. India shares a 3,323-km long border with Pakistan of which 221 km IB and 740 km LoC fall in J&K.

Notes:
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has appointed senior advocate and former additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan as amicus curiae on a petition seeking reprobe into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The matter is posted for further hearing on October 30, 2017. The petition filed by Mumbai-based Dr. Pankaj Phadnis , a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history. According to petition, there is possibility of involvement of more people in the murder. Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.

Notes:
IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy on the institute’s campus. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the institute will host the Samsung Innovation Lab and train students on the Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances. The academy was a part of Samsung’s corporate social initiative that aims at bridging the digital divide in the country by imparting skills to students on cutting-edge technology, Through this partnership with IIT-KGP, the academy planned to train over 100 students in the next three years. The course would be taught over 14 weeks through classroom lectures, assignments, lab room sessions, self-study and mini projects.