Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
In Rajasthan, Dungarpur has become the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) tribe district of the state. With this, Dungarpur has also become the first ODF district of Udaipur division. The district administration has achieved the goal of building 2 lakh 85 thousand toilets in 291 panchayats. This is the result of the extraordinary efforts made in Dungarpur towards Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. Having more than 65 percent tribal population, objective of making the district ODF has been acquired before the time limit by the District Administration with continues awareness campaign and public participation. Dungarpur city has also been declared the cleanest city of the state for two consecutive years for the year 2016 and 2017.

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The World Animal Day (WAD) is observed every year on October 4 to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe. It is done by encouraging individuals, animal welfare organisations, community groups, youth and children’s clubs and businesses to organise events in celebration of this day.

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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:
Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, has been awarded a prestigious global Anna Politkovskaya Award, which is given in the memory of a slain Russian reporter and political activist. With this, she became the first person from India to receive the honour. Lankesh shared the award with Gulalai Ismail, a Pakistani peace activist who has faced death threats for speaking out against the Taliban. The award marks the 11th anniversary of the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian investigative reporter and activist who uncovered state corruption and rights abuses, especially in Chechnya. The award is presented annually by Reach All Women in War (the RAW in WAR organisation) and honours women human rights defenders from around the world.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has launched Rs 100 crore Mata Amritanandamayi Math Project “Jeevamritham” in Kollam district of Kerala to provide the filtration system for cleaning drinking water to 5000 villages across India, in Kollam district in Kerala. The President also distributed the certificates to three village out of 12 villages in the States of Bihar, UP, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chatisgarh, Uttarakand, Maharashtra and Kerala, which were adopted by the Math, verified as Open Defecation Free by Swatch Bharat Abhiyan.

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The Uttarakhand Government and a charitable funding agency ‘Swan Cultural Center and Foundation’ launched ‘Solar Briefcase’ in Kedarnath Dham to provide electricity to far-flung areas in the hill state.

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M Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, has inaugurated the 3rd International Conference on Yoga in New Delhi with theme “Yoga for Wellness”on October 10, 2017. The 2-day conference is being organized by the Ministry of AYUSH as a part of year long events being organized to celebrate 21st June as International Day of Yoga. The conference consists of seven technical sessions and a panel discussion on different aspects of Yoga and Wellness including recent research trends, Integrated medicine, non communicable diseases, mental health, women health, cancer, pain management and policy making. Around 500 delegates, including those from 44 countries are attending the conference, which will provide a common platform for AYUSH and allopathy practitioners, researchers, academicians, and policy makers and students.

Notes:
The 48th Conference of Governors has started at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on October 12, 2017. The 2-day conference is being attended by 27 Governors and 3 Lt. Governors of States and Union Territories. The two-day Conference will deliberate on distinct agenda items in different sessions. The theme of the opening session was ‘New India-2022’. The second session is on the subjects of ‘Higher Education in States’ and ‘Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to Make Youth Employable’. In the third session, to take place on October 13, 2017, Governors will make brief remarks on any special issues pertaining to their respective States/Union Territories. In the concluding session, a brief report on the deliberations will be presented by the respective conveners.

Notes:
The Union Law Ministry has finalized the appointment of a Second National Judicial Pay Commission to recommend salary hikes for the 21,000 lower court judges in India. The proposed commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge PV Reddi. The commission will submit its recommendations in early 2019 and the hike again is expected to be given with retrospective effect. The move comes after directions from the Supreme Court in May. The first judicial pay commission, headed by Justice Jagannatha Shetty, was set up in March 1996 and it submitted its report in November 1999. The judges and judicial officers got the last pay hike in 2010, a three-fold jump, from their salaries decided in 1999. The 2010 hike was applied retrospectively from January 1, 2006. The current entry level salary for a junior civil judge is Rs 45000 while a senior judge gets nearly Rs 80,000.

Notes:
Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has been honoured with the 2017 National Awards for senior citizens by President Ramnath Kovind. Sandhu was India’s longest-serving men’s national coach, occupying the position for two decades before he was handed charge of the women campers earlier in 2017. He was the chief coach when India won its maiden Olympic medal in boxing through Vijender Singh in 2008.