Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - September, 2017

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 Gorumara National Park (GNP) is located in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. The park is located in the Dooars region of the Himalayan foothills, it is a medium-sized park with grasslands and forests. It is primarily known for its population of Indian rhinoceros. The park has been declared as the best among the protected areas in India by the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the year 2009. It has recorded 50 species of mammals, 194 species of birds, 22 species of reptiles, 7 species of turtles, 27 species of fish, and other macro and micro fauna. The park is rich in large herbivores including Indian rhinoceros, gaur, Asian elephant, sloth bear, chital and sambar deer.

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:
Dr Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Public Grievances and Pensions, will inaugurate the first Pension Adalat in New Delhi on September 20, 2017. The Pension Adalats is being convened with the objective of bringing the aggrieved pensioner, the concerned department, the bank on a common table so that such cases can be settled within the framework of extant rules. Dr Singh will also award the pensioners for their outstanding contribution towards Anubhav- a platform for retiring employees for sharing their experience of working with government. The workshop on Pre-Retirement Counseling (PRC) of 300 retiring central government employees is also scheduled to be held. The objective of this workshop is to create awareness about the post-retirement entitlements as well as an advance planning for life after retirement.

Notes:
Ajay Bisaria has been appointed as the new high commissioner to Pakistan. It is expected that he will succeed Gautam Bambawale in October 2017. Presently, Bisaria is serving as the Indian ambassador to Poland.

Notes:
The first ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This exercise will be a platform for sharing best practices on all aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), strengthening regional response and coordination for Disaster Management among the BIMSTEC member countries. The main focus of the exercise will be on testing the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response. The delegates from all 7 nations of the BIMSTEC grouping, – namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are participating in the event.

Notes:
India and Sri Lanka have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to upgrade Thondaman Vocational Training Centre at Hatton located in Nuwara Eliya district of the Island nation. The up gradation of the center will be done using a grant of around Rs 9 crore from the Government of India. The project includes construction of new infrastructure facilities as well as renovation of existing building. The project also includes supply of machinery, equipment & tools for the new courses, furniture and vehicles. A total of 500 youth of Sri Lanka are expected to be trained as skilled workers with suitable skills catering to the job market annually with the completion of the project. This project is in line with Government of India’s efforts to assist and cooperate with government of Sri Lanka in the field of vocational training and skill development.

Notes:
Ajay Kumar Saroj from India won the gold in men’s 1500m race in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on September 20, 2017. In track cycling, Deborah Herold won a silver in women’s 200m individual sprint race. Meanwhile, Neha Solanki and Jyoti bagged a bronze each in women’s kurash +87kg and —87kg respectively. With 5 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze, India are 8th in the medals tally with hosts Turkmenistan on top with a whopping 52 gold, 36 silver and 37 bronze. India are being represented by more than 200 athletes in 15 sports disciplines in the Games, touted as the second biggest multi-sporting event of the continent after the Asiad.

Notes:
Amit Masurkar’s acclaimed political satire “Newton” has been selected as India’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars 2018. Rajkummar Rao played a role of Newton Kumar, a presiding officer who is determined to hold a free and fair election in a Chhattisgarh village despite the threat of Naxalite violence and all-round cynicism. The movie, produced by Drishyam Films and distributed by Eros Entertainment, also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav, and was released on September 22, 2017.

Notes:
India’s first electric bus service has launched by Himachal Pradesh Government for Rohtang Pass, a tourist destination near Manali. The electric bus, which is built by Goldstone Infratech, has been certified by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), after extensive testing at the parts and vehicle level. With this initiative, Himachal has become the first in the world to ply electric buses at an altitude of 13 thousand feet. These buses will ply on 51km eco fragile stretch between Manali and Rohtang. Each electric bus has a capacity to carry 30 passengers and can cover 200 km with the fully charged batteries. The fare is yet to be fixed but it would be marginally higher than diesel buses.