Current Affairs Quiz , 03 Nov 2018

1) Samruddhi Scheme to boost employment opportunities for SC/ST youth through entrepreneurship was launched by

a) Odisha
b) Maharashtra
c) Kerala
d) Karnataka

Answer: d
• Following the success of Unnati and Airavata schemes, Karnataka Social Welfare Department today launched the Samruddhi scheme.
• Karnataka Social Welfare Department launched the Samruddhi scheme to boost employment opportunities for SC/ST youth through entrepreneurship.
• For this, the government is partnering with private enterprises to train the youth from backward communities.
• The Samruddhi scheme is targeted at socially marginalised communities to provide them with skill development and alternate means of employment.
• As part of the Samruddhi scheme, the government will also provide a seed grant to deserving youth to start their own franchises or retail outlets after they receive the required training and certification.
• Significance:
o The department is hoping to create around 10,000 entrepreneurs annually in the next three years from among the economically and socially marginalised communities in the State.

2) Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is headquartered in

a) Sweden
b) Austria
c) Belgium
d) France

Answer: c
• Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT):
• The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) provides a network that enables financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about the financial transactions in a secure, standardized and reliable environment.
• Established in 1973, SWIFT uses a standardized proprietary communications platform to facilitate the transmission of information about financial transactions.
• SWIFT neither holds funds on its own nor manages external client accounts.
• SWIFT also sells software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network.
• The majority of international interbank messages uses the SWIFT network.
• SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer: rather, it sends payment orders, which must be settled by correspondent accounts that the institutions have with one another.

3) Soura Jalanidhi scheme, aimed at increasing use of solar energy for irrigation, was launched by

a) Telangana
b) Rajasthan
c) Odisha
d) Bihar

Answer: c
• Odisha has launched ‘Soura Jalanidhi’ scheme which aims at increasing use of solar energy for helping farmers in irrigation.
• Soura Jalanidhi’ is a dug well based solar pump irrigation system in convergence mode.
• Under the scheme, 5,000 solar pumps will be provided to farmers at a subsidy of 90 per cent to irrigate 2,500 acres of land.
• The government also launched the web portal of this scheme.
• In the first phase, the facility will be available to farmers where electricity is not supplied for operating pump sets.
• Farmers having valid farmer identification, belonging to the small and marginal categories having minimum 0.5-acre cultivable land and a dug well will be covered under the programme.

4) Ayurveda Day is celebrated annually on

a) October 5th
b) December 15th
c) November 5th
d) August 25th

Answer: c
• Ministry of AYUSH observes Ayurveda Day every year on Dhanawantari Jayanti (Dhanteras).
• This year Ayurveda Day is being observed on 5th November 2018.
• On this occasion, Ministry is organising a “National Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business Development in Ayurveda” in association with NITI Aayog.
• National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award” comprising of Citation, Trophy (Dhanwantari Statue) and Cash reward of Rupees five lakh shall be conferred on this day to eminent Vaidyas.
• Another highlight observation of the 3rd Ayurveda Day would be the launch of the AYUSH-Health Management Information System (A-HMIS).

5) India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is set to come up in which of the following states?

a) Tamil Nadu
b) Karnataka
c) Andhra Pradesh
d) Telangana

Answer: a
• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a stay on the implementation of the Neutrino project in Theni district, pending approval from the National Board for Wildlife.
• Observing that the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) was set to come up in an ecologically sensitive area of the Western Ghats, a bench headed by NGT judicial member Justice Raghuvendra S. Rathore directed that the project should not be implemented until and unless approval from the National Board for Wildlife is received, since the project site is [situated] within the eco-sensitive zone of the national park.