Current Affairs Quiz , 16 Nov 2018

1) Rail Madad, a digital initiative of Indian railways is aimed at

a) Streamlining employee grievances
b) Expediting passenger grievances
c) Booking tickets online
d) Booking amenities online

Answer: b
• In line with digital initiatives of the government of India, Indian railways has for the first time completely digitized the Complaint management system.
• A new App “Rail Madad” an app to expedite and streamline passenger grievance redressal was launched recently.
• RPGRAMS (Railway Passenger Grievance Redressal and Management System), has been developed by Northern railway and comprises many novel features including Rail Madad.
• RPGRAMS integrates all the passenger complaints received from multiple modes on a single platform analyses them holistically and generates various types of management reports which enable the top management to continuously monitor the pace of grievance redressal as well as evaluate the performance of field units/ rains/ stations on various parameters.
• It also identifies weal/ deficient areas and laggard trains/ stations for undertaking focussed corrective actions.

2) The portal launched by Delhi Police with the aim to introduce advanced technology for imparting in-service training is

a) Nipun
b) Yuva Nestham
c) Unnati
d) Aapoorti

Answer: a
• The portal will provide online training and information through specialised courses designed by experts.
• With the aim to introduce advanced technology for imparting in-service training, Delhi Police has launched the e-Learning portal of Delhi Police called ‘NIPUN’.
• The portal will give online training and information through specialised courses designed by experts.
• Greater flexibility of conducting classes anytime and anywhere will now help police personnel to upgrade their skills and reinforce their learning while balancing training time with work.
• The website provides the training syllabus, study material, sample question papers, manuals, and much more.
• This will give online access to police personnel undergoing their basic training for relevant information.
• Website will not only provide information but also act as a tool for feedback mechanism and bridge communication gap.

3) East Asia Summit, 2018 was recently held in

a) Malaysia
b) Singapore
c) Philippines
d) Indonesia

Answer: b
• East Asia summit has been recently held in Singapore.
East Asia summit:
• The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian regions, based on the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism.
• Membership expanded to 18 countries including Russia and the United States at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
• Since its establishment, ASEAN has held the central role and leadership in the forum.
• EAS meetings are held after the annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings, and plays an important role in the regional architecture of Asia-Pacific.
• The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Why recent summit is important to India?
• Boost to Look East and Act East policies:
• It presented an occasion for Indian Prime Minister to share his views personally with the leaders of the EAS countries.
• India has been a founding member of the East Asia Summit ever since the first summit was held in 2005.
• Summit will be a major boost to Look East and Act East policies.
• On the backdrop of Doklam stalemate:
• Second, this year’s summit marked the first time that India met the heads of state of the EAS countries since the Doklam stalemate happened.
• Celebrating 25 years of dialogue partnership:
• India and ASEAN are celebrating 25 years of their dialogue partnership.
• The two have come a long way ever since India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN way back in 1992.
• On the backdrop of Quad meetings:
• The recent meeting of officials from the United States, Japan, India, and Australia on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit in Manila means that these countries are now less coy about making their choices, unlike in the past.
• The “Quad” meeting was also a reaffirmation of the changed realities in the region, which has been marked by the meteoric rise of China and a marked disinterest from the United States in being a part of multilateral arrangements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

4) The Himalayan State Regional Council was recently constituted by

a) Ministry of Development of North-eastern Region
b) Ministry of Home Affairs
c) NITI Aayog
d) Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change

Answer: c
• In a bid to ensure sustainable development of the Himalayan region, NITI Aayog constituted the Himalayan State Regional Council.
• The council, which will be chaired by VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, will consist of Chief Secretaries of the 12 Himalayan States as well as secretaries of central ministries, among others.
• It will review and implement identified action points based on the reports of five working groups.
• The Council will also act as the nodal agency for sustainable development in the Himalayan region which has 12 States, including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
• Five working groups have been tasked to prepare a roadmap for revival of springs in Himalayas for water security, monitor tourism sector standards and strengthen skill & entrepreneurship with focus on identified priority sectors.

5) The inaugural session of the General assembly of Network for Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and Pacific (NEDAC) was recently held in

a) Mumbai
b) Ahmedabad
c) Lucknow
d) New Delhi

Answer: d
• Network for Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC) sets agenda for Cooperatives to cooperatives trade.
• The Inaugural session of the General assembly of Network for Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and Pacific in New Delhi.
• The general assembly of 22 prominent cooperative organizations from eight countries unanimously decided on C2C (Cooperatives to cooperatives trade) and capacity development to meet challenges of climate change as transformative cooperatives.
Network for Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC):
• NEDAC was set up in 1991 by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
• It is a unique organization encompassing mix of Government and non-Government organizations created for synergizing policies and programmes of government and cooperative institutions at country level.
• NEDAC sensitises Governments in the region on the role of agricultural cooperatives in promoting agricultural and rural development to ensure rural food and livelihood security for millions of people in Asia and Pacific.