Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

Notes:
Thomas Bach, the President of International Olympic Committee (IOC), has officially announced that Paris will host 2024 and Los Angeles will host 2028 Summer Olympics. Both cities wanted to host the 2024 event, before Los Angeles agreed to wait an extra four years after the IOC made guarantees on funding. Los Angeles will also receive up to $2 billion from the IOC, which is up to $300 million more than it would have gotten for 2024.

Notes:
India has been ranked 103rd out of 130 nations at the 2017 Global Human Capital Index (GHCI). The list compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) takes into account ‘the knowledge and skills people possess that enable them to create value in the global economic system” to measure the ‘human capital’ rank of a country. The list is topped by Norway, Finland, Switzerland and United States. The report measures 130 countries against four key areas of human capital development; Capacity (determined by past investment in formal education), Deployment (accumulation of skills through work), Development (continued upskilling and reskilling of existing workers) and Know-how (specialised skills-use at work).

Notes:
The 13th edition of joint military training exercise “Yudh Abhyas-2017” has started between Indian and US armies at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington, USA on September 16, 2017. During the two week long exercise soldiers from both countries will hone their tactical skills in counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations under a joint brigade headquarter. Both sides will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed tactical drills for neutralization of likely threats that may be encountered in UN peace keeping operations. Experts from both sides will hold detailed discussions to share their experience and expertise on varied operational topics.

Notes:
Mercedes Araoz, who is also a lawmaker and one of Peru’s two Vice Presidents, has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Peru by the Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on September 17, 2017. Araoz succeeded Fernando Zavala, who lost vote of confidence by lawmakers. All 19 ministers in the previous Cabinet were forced to resign under Peru’s constitution because of the no-confidence vote. Kuczynski reappointed six of the 19 ministers in the previous Cabinet.

Notes:
The first ever National Conference on “Mission Mode to address Under-Nutrition” was successfully held in New Delhi on September 19, 2017. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Women & Child Development in collaboration with Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, keeping in mind the goal of “Mission Malnutrition Free India-2022”. The Ministry of Women & Child Development will soon issue new guidelines on supplementary nutrition in this regard in the next few days which will supersede all existing guidelines. Similarly, a separate self contained protocol for severely and acutely malnourished (SAM) children will also be issued shortly. The Minister also highlighted the importance of child protection alongwith nutrition.

Notes:
India have signed off with a rich haul of one gold, four silver, and three bronze medals at the Ahmet Comert Boxing Championships for youth women boxers in Istanbul, Turkey. Soniya (48kg) gave India the lone gold medal by defeating Kazakhstan’s Zhazira Urakabeva in her summit clash. The rest of the four Indian finalists settled for silver medals after going down in their respective bouts. The silver winners for India were Niharika Gonella (75kg), Shashi Chopra (57kg), Parveen (54kg), and Ankushita Boro (64kg). Earlier, Tilotama Chanu (60kg), Jyoti Gulia (48kg), Lalita (64kg) and Manisha (69kg) had to be content with bronze medals after losing their respective semifinal bouts.

Notes:
The Jharkhand Government has launched the Shaheed Gram Vikas Yojana at Ulihatu in Khunti district of Jharkhand. Ulihatu is the birthplace of Jharkhand’s tribal icon Birsa Munda. The purpose of the scheme is to develop villages of freedom fighters in the state. Under this scheme, villages of many tribal freedom fighters will be developed and their habitats will be provided basic amenities. Birsa Munda was a freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe from Chhotanagpur area. He is known for leading Munda rebellion towards end of 19th century against British Raj.

Notes:
YC Modi, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed as Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and will hold the post till his superannuation, i.e. May 31, 2021. He will take over from incumbent NIA Chief Sharad Kumar Sinha after he completes his tenure on October 30, 2017. Currently, Modi is special director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). NIA was set up after an Act was enacted on December 31, 2008. The federal probe agency is tasked with probing terrorism and terror-financing related cases.

Notes:
The high-level committee headed by retired judge Arvind Kumar Goel has recommended that Non-resident Indians (NRIs) who harass or desert their wives could face impoundment or cancellation of their passport. The panel has also recommended that cases of domestic violence be included in the scope of extradition treaties that India inks with other countries. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has constituted the committee in May 2017 to look into various legal and regulatory challenges and suggest measures to address them due to several complaints lodged by women deserted by their NRI husbands.

Notes:
The joint military exercise “Iron Union 5” will start between United States and United Arab Emirates (UAE) exercise in Abu Dhabi on September 23, 2017 to consolidate their bilateral relations and exchange training and military expertise. The purpose of the exercise is to upgrade and boost the readiness of the UAE’s armed forces and to allow both armies to promote their international co-operation in joint military operations.