Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, has launch the nationwide Free Eye Check-up Campaign and distribution of spectacles for truck drivers, cleaners and helpers on October 2, 2017 at Panjari Toll Plaza, Nagpur Bypass in Maharashtra. The objective of this initiative is to ensure clearer vision and safe travel for truck drivers who are the most frequent users of national highways. The campaign will continue for five days. The cleaners can also avail of this facility by producing a valid driving license. Fifty free eye check-up camps will be set up on identified national highways on either side and will be manned by eye specialists and support staff volunteers. Any other defect like cataract will be identified and medicines will be prescribed. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), governments, social enterprises and private businesses are being roped in for facilitating the provision of these facilities.

Notes:
The Bihar government has launched a state-wide campaign against child marriage and dowry on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. In it, people pledged not to get married a girl below 18 years or a boy below 21 or participate in a child marriage or a wedding with dowry. They also took a pledge to stop such marriage if they come across any as a part of their social responsibility and make their state free of these two social evils. In case of any information on child marriage or dowry they can contact the district magistrates, SP, local elected representatives, block development officer or the police station or call on the toll free number 181. Bihar accounted for 15% of the total dowry deaths as per 2015- 16 national crime record bureau data. 25% girl children were getting married below 18 years age in the state.

Notes:
The Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference has started in New Delhi on October 2, 2017. India is hosting the programme jointly with World Bank (WB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to address illegal wildlife trade across 19 Asian and African countries. In it, Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan unveiled the 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for 2017-2031 to spell out the future road map for wildlife conservation. The 4-day conference will act as a platform for knowledge exchange and coordination on the action taken on the ground to combat illegal poaching of wildlife and improve governance on wildlife conservation. It will provide an opportunity for India to showcase its conservation efforts through joint forest management, vana sanrakshan samitis, eco-development committees in and around protected areas.

Notes:
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been jointly awarded to three US scientists – Rainer Weiss, Kip S. Thorne and Barry C. Barish – for the detection of gravitational waves. The ripples were predicted by Albert Einstein and are a fundamental consequence of his General Theory of Relativity. The winners are members of the Ligo-Virgo observatories, which were responsible for the breakthrough. The winners join a prestigious list of 204 other Physics laureates recognised since 1901. The trio will share the prize sum of nine million kronor prize. Prof Weiss gets half of the prize money, while Barish and Thorne will share the other half. Gravitational waves describe the stretching and squeezing of space-time that occurs when massive objects accelerate.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Golden Jubilee Year Celebrations of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) in New Delhi on October 4, 2017. The event assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of the government action of de-registering over 2.1 lakh dormant, shell companies and disqualifying over one lakh directors as part of a clean up of the corporate system and tackling the menace of shell companies. Originally, the ICSI was set up as not-for-profit organisation on 4th October 1968. In 1980, the institute was converted into a statutory professional body under an Act of Parliament, ‘The Company Secretaries Act 1980’. The headquarters of ICSI is located in New Delhi. 

Notes:
The 8th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians has started in Colombo, Sri Lanka from October 4, 2017, which is inaugurated by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. In the 3-day conference, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is leading the Indian delegation. She delivered the lead speech on the topic Association of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, a platform for the Parliamentarians of South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. She is accompanied by a delegation of MPs and senior officials of Lok Sabha.

Notes:
The Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) is located under Dhubriand Kokrajhar districts of Assam and covers an area of 45.568 square kilometers. It is famous for the golden langur and is the second protected habitat for golden langur in India. Some species of mammals recorded in this sanctuary are short nosed fruit bat, Indian false vampire, Indian pipistrelle, rhesus macaque, Chinese pangolin, Asiatic jackal, etc.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tourism has started a festival of Tourism ‘Paryatan Parv’ from Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi from October 5, 2017 & will continue across the country till 25th of this month. The event is being organized by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other Central Ministries, State Governments and Stakeholders. The objective is to draw focus on the benefits of tourism, to showcase the cultural diversity of the country and reinforce the principle of Tourism for All. It will have three main components, Dekho Apna Desh, Tourism for All and Tourism & Governance. The components aims to encourage Indians to visit their own country, tourism events at sites across all states and interactive Sessions and workshops with stakeholders on varied themes.

Notes:
Bangladesh has signed $4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its infrastructure and social sector development on October 4, 2017. The new Indian line of credit will be used to fund 17 major projects in Bangladesh, which include electricity, railroads, roads, shipping and ports. As with previous LoC agreements, Bangladesh will pay an interest rate of 1 % a year. It will have 20 years to pay back the loans, with a grace period of five years. Under the agreement, Bangladesh would have to purchase 65 to 75% of the services, goods or works from the Indian market with the money to be provided under the third LoC following the precedence of the previous two nearly identical agreements. Bangladesh has two other LoCs open with India: the first one was signed in 2010, and the second one in 2016. These LOCs are collectively worth Tk3.06 billion, but till last year, Bangladesh government has been able to use only USD 576 million.

Notes:
India’s first-ever Industrial Training Institute (ITI) for the Divyangans will come up in Assam. Recently, the foundation stone for the institute was laid at Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah in Assam. As per the guidelines of National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT), the ITI will have sixty seats for three different trades with 20 seats per trade. The three different trades included in the curriculum are Computer Operator and Programming Assistant, Cutting and Sewing Technology and Hair & Skin Care.