Current Affairs Quiz , 06 Dec 2018

1) Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) comes under the aegis of which of the following ministries/organisations?

a) Ministry of Commerce and Industry
b) Ministry of Finance
c) NITI Aayog
d) Ministry of Home Affairs

Answer: b

• Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Ministry of Finance observed Swachhata Pakhwada to mobilize its staff for voluntary work. 

Swachhata Pakhwada:
• Swachhata Pakhwada started with an objective of bringing a fortnight of intense focus on the issues and practices of Swachhata by engaging GOI Ministries/Departments in their jurisdictions.
• An annual calendar is pre-circulated among the Ministries to help them plan for the Pakhwada activities.
• The Ministries observing Swachhata Pakhwada are monitored closely using online monitoring system of Swachhata Samiksha.
• Through the Swachhata Samiksha portal action plans, images, videos related to Swachhata activities are uploaded and shared.
• After observing Swachhata Pakhwada, Ministries/ Departments announce their achievements through a press conference and other communication tools.
• For the Pakhwada fortnight, observing ministries are considered as Swachhata Ministries and are expected to bring qualitative Swachhata improvements in their jurisdictions.

2) Green Ganga app, developed to aid Namami Gange Programme, was developed by

a) National Informatics Center
b) Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
c) ISRO
d) National Ganga River Basin Authority

Answer: c
• Green Ganga app was developed by Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO recently to aid ganga rejunevation.
• Green Ganga App is used for geo-tagging of saplings and delineation of plantation boundaries under ongoing afforestation activities of Namami Gange programme.
• It was launched on the occasion of India Water Impact summit 2018.

3) Which of the following is the first Latin American country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)?

a) Brazil
b) Argentina
c) Panama
d) Guatemala

Answer: c
• Panama has become the first Latin American country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
• In a state visit to China, Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela has officially embraced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

4) Who among the following has been named Athlete of the Year by the International Association of Athletics Federations?

a) Caterine Ibarguen
b) Almaz Ayana
c) Molly Huddle
d) Hima Das

Answer: a
• World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya and 2018 triple and long jump Diamond League champion Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia are the 2018 IAAF Male and Female Athletes of the Year, as each beat out four other finalists to claim the honour for the first time at the IAAF Athletics Awards in Monaco
• Ibarguen became the first jumper ever to complete a triple jump/long jump Diamond League title sweep in 2018, and her victory made her the first South American athlete ever to win the IAAF Athlete of the Year award.

5) Who among the following bagged the Sahitya Academy Award for English novel in 2018?

a) Anees Salim
b) Shyam Besra
c) Chitra Mudgal
d) Sanjib Chattopadhyay

Answer: a
• Renowned writer Anees Salim won this year’s Sahitya Akademi award in the English category for his novel ‘The Blind Lady’s Descendants’
• Apart from ‘The Blind Lady’s Descendants’ (2014), the writer has four books to his credit – ‘The Vick’s Mango Tree’ (2012), ‘Vanity Bagh’, ‘Tales From a Vending Machine’ (2013) and ‘The Small Town Sea’ (2017).