Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2017

Notes:
As per report by Coeus Age Consulting, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the top state in terms of digital initiatives undertaken, with a maximum score of 100.1 on performance index, followed by Maharashtra at 99.9 and Andhra Pradesh at 99.8. The assessment by the knowledge domain service provider was done using a scoring framework made up of two key constructs, Policy and Infrastructure Readiness (PIR) Score and Mission Mode Projects’ Performance (MMP) Score for each state. Chhattisgarh (97.4) and Karnataka (95.3) occupied the fourth and fifth positions in the list, respectively, the company said in a release. The report is based on a comparative assessment of digital initiatives by 36 states and Union Territories. The assessment is based on 109 key performance indicators related to policy, infrastructure and mission mode projects.

Notes:
The 2017 Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) will be observed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) from 30th October to 4thNovember, 2017 with theme “My Vision-Corruption Free India”. The Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the Chief Guest at the Inaugural Function to be held on 30th October 2017. The purpose of observing VAW is to educate the public at large about the corruption related practices and also educating them how to report about it.

Notes:
India’s passport has been ranked 75th out of 94 countries with a visa-free score of 51, according to the ‘Global Passport Power Rank 2017’ by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital. The list is topped by Singapore, followed by Germany, Sweden and South Korea. As per report, Singapore’s passport is the most powerful ranking with a visa-free score of 159. Afghanistan was on bottom most position (94th) with the score of 22, while Pakistan was at 93rd Position with Iraq with the score of 26. The index ranks national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigning a “visa-free score” according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.

Notes:
Ministries of Power and Textiles have jointly launched a new scheme SAATHI under which Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will provide energy efficient power loom equipment to small and medium units at no upfront cost. The use of the efficient equipment would result in energy and cost savings to the unit owner and he will repay in instalments to EESL over a 4 to 5 year period. The SAATHI initiative of the government will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office of the Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis. The EESL will procure energy efficient powerlooms, motors and rapier kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium power loom units. The acronym of SAATHI stands for “Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries”.

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The global conference on consumer protection has inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on October 26, 2017 with theme “Empowering Consumers in New Markets”. This is the first time that an international conference on consumer protection is being organised by India for countries of the region which account for a majority of the global consumers and share common challenges and experiences. The 2-day conference will deliberate upon steps taken by Asian countries to implement the United Nations guidelines on consumer protection as well as challenges faced by consumers of financial services and e-commerce. Experts from different countries and India will present their papers and views. Twenty two countries from East, South and South-East Asia are participating in the conference. These include China, South Korea, Singapore, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

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The 36th edition of National Games of India will be held in Goa from November 4 to 17, 2018. The Games were originally scheduled to be held in November 2016 but the Goa administration requested a postponement at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)’s annual general meeting based on extraneous factors, mainly the State elections. The delays to the 34th and 35th editions of the Games, which were hosted by Jharkhand and Kerala respectively, affected Goa’s plan to hold the mega-event.

Notes:
Gautam Adhikari (67), the chairman and whole time director of the SAB group, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on October 27, 2017. The group is behind the successful SAB TV channel, most popularly known for the show ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’. Adhikari produced and directed several films and television series, including Hello Inspector, Commander, Marshall, Silsila and Waqt ki Raftar.

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Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has won the men’s singles title of the French Open Superseries badminton tournament 2017 by defeating Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the final by 21-14, 21-13 in Paris, France on October 29. This is his fourth title in the fifth superseries final. Beside this, Greysia POLL and Apriyani Rahayu won the Women’s doubles title, defeating Lee Sottee and SHIN Seung Chen 21-17, 21-15. The Mixed Doubles title went to Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana NATSIR who beat Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 22-20, 21-15.

Notes:
The parliamentary standing committee on defence has been constituted to examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets. The committee, headed by BJP MP B C Khanduri, will also assess the procurement policy relating to defence equipment. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the issue of preparedness of the armed forces is likely to be discussed in the next meeting of the panel, which is scheduled from November 2017. The committee has also decided to “critically review” the accidents involving strategic defence assets and look into the quality of ration given to the forces especially in border areas.

Notes:
The United Nations’s World Cities Day (WCD) is observed on October 31 to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world. This year, in 2017, the United Nations has selected the theme “Innovative Governance, Open Cities” to highlight the important role of urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion. The general theme of World Cities Day (WCD) is ‘Better City, Better Life’, while each year a different sub-theme is selected, to either promote successes of urbanization, or address specific challenges resulting from urbanization.