Current Affairs Quiz | 15‐16 August 2017

Stephen Wooldridge (39), Australia’s former Olympic and world cycle champion, has passed away in Australia on August 14, 2017. The former star team pursuiter won gold for Australia in the 2004 Athens Olympics, was also a four-time world champion in the discipline and the 2002 Commonwealth Games champion. There were no details about when and how Wooldridge died.

Sankara Rao has been appointed as the new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL). According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post for a period of 3 years. Currently, he is the Chief General Manager at IIFCL. Rao is also currently a director and chief executive officer at IIFCL Asset Management Company Ltd.

Shashi Shekhar Vempati, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, has been given the additional charge of CEO in Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV). Vempati succeeded Gurdeep Singh Sappal, who has been serving as the CEO and editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV since 2011. The RSTV is owned and operated by Rajya Sabha and the Vice-President is its chairman. It covers the proceedings of the upper house of the Parliament. Prasar Bharati runs Doordarshan television and All India Radio (AIR).

Italy will host a summit of G7 Interior Ministers centered on security issues, which is scheduled to be held in October 2017. The meeting is being organised at the request of Italy’s G-7 partners- Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. Currently, Italy holds the rotating helm of the G-7 industrialised nations.

Santosh Sharma has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Hindustan Coper Limited (HCL). Currently, he is Director (Operations) in the HCL. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post for a period of five years.

The International Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) will be chaired by Bangladesh at the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in the Bay of Bengal in November 2017. The ships and aircraft of the members and observers of the IONS including China, India and Pakistan will participate in the exercise. The IONS is a regional forum of Indian Ocean littoral states, represented by their Navy chiefs, launched by India in February 2008. It presently has 23 members and nine observers.

The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU), which is India’s first-ever aviation university, will soon be inaugurated at Fursatganj in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. The central university is planned as an autonomous body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation with an aim to facilitate and promote aviation studies, teaching, training and research. Air Vice Marshal (retired) Nalin Tandon has been appointed as the Vice Chancellor.

India’s first-ever railways disaster management centre is expected to come up near Bengaluru, Karnataka by 2018 and will be used to replicate train accidents to improve rescue operation efforts. It will also have a virtual reality centre for analyzing railway accidents. The focus is on imparting state-of-the-art training on rescue, medical relief and rolling stock restoration techniques in a classroom and also using various simulated teaching aids. Though, it is the practical reproduction of accidents on site and the ensuing rescue operations that are being touted as the big ticket venture.

Dr Bhakti Yadav (92), the first woman doctor of Madhya Pradesh, has recently passed away in Indore on August 14, 2017. Her life epitomised the power of compassion and service and she is an inspiration for all. Dr Yadav had offered free treatment to patients for last 68 years. She was awarded Padma Shri for her exemplary services in the field of medicine in April 2017.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has launched the live twitter wall for promoting Bharat Ke Veer portal on the eve of 71st Independence Day. According to an official release, this social media awareness campaign will display all tweets with hashtag Bharat Ke Veer at Connaught Place, CGO complex and Khan Market in New Delhi where huge LED display screens have been installed. This portal facilitates online donation directly to the families of CAPF Martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the country in line of duty from January 2016. The Bharat Ke Veer portal was launched by Rajnath Singh and actor Akshay Kumar on April 2017.