Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan has taken charge as first Chief Justice of Telangana High Court. Governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oath to him at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan. The separate High Court for Telangana came into existence on 1st January 2, 2019 after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Later, Governor Narasimhan administered oath to Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar as the first Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court in Vijayawada on the same day. With this, the separate high courts for Telugu states became functional.

Notes:
In Kerala, around 50 lakhs of women assembled under the aegis of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to create an almost unbroken human wall that stretched 620 km from Kasaragod in north Kerala to Thiruvananthapuram in the south on 1st January 2019. Marshalled by the Kerala government and a section of Hindu organisations, the wall was organised against the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala. The programme ended with a joint pledge to harness the power of renaissance principles to insulate society against revanchist forces that sought to push Kerala back to the dark ages of casteism and discriminatory religious practices. The event was organised by the ruling CPI(M) along with over 176 other socio-political organisations, including the CPI, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and the Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha.

Notes:
On 1st January 2019, Jair Bolsonaro has been sworn-in as new president of Brazil for a four-year term. He is a member of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and succeeded Michel Temer. Bolsonaro won the presidential election by a wide margin against Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers Party on 28 October 2018.

Notes:
The 106th Indian Science Congress (ISC-2019) has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar, Punjab from 3rd January 2019. The theme of the 5-day science congress is ‘Future India: Science & Technology’. Approx 30,000 delegates, including 300 top scientists and Nobel Laureates from across world are attending the congress. In it, around 100 plus conferences and events of scientific and technology origin will also be held, where eminent personalities from DRDO, ISRO, DST, AIIMS, UGC, AICTE, and many elite universities of the USA, UK, India and other countries will participate. The event will play a pivotal role in stimulating scientific research effort and raising the scientific temperament in the country and the world. There will also be four parallel mega events, including the children’s science conference; women’s science conference; science communicators’ meet; and, science exhibition. The exhibition will see participation from the national and international science companies, especially from the US, Australia, Germany and Switzerland.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Justice AK Sikri as the Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) with effect from December 31, 2018. The post got vacant after the retirement of Justice Madan B Lokur. The NALSA was constituted on 5th December 1995 under the authority of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987. Its purpose is to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society and to organise Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes. The Chief Justice of India is the Patron-in-Chief, while second seniormost judge of Supreme Court of India (SCI) traditionally takes over as the Executive Chairman of the Authority. The prime objective of NALSA is speedy disposal of cases and reducing the burden of judiciary.

Notes:
The Indian Panorama Film Festival (IPFF) has started at Siri Fort Auditorium II, New Delhi from 4th January. The 10-day Festival is being organized by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B). The directors of the opening feature film ‘Olu’ and of the opening non-feature film ‘Kharvas’ viz. Shri Shaji N Karun and Shri Aditya Suhas Jambhale were presented at the inauguration of the fest. All the films selected under the Indian Panorama section in the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2018) will be screened during the Festival. The entry for the Festival is free and seating is on the first-come-first-served basis.

Notes:
Indian mountaineer Dr. Arunima Sinha has become the world’s first female Amputee to scale Antarctica’s Highest Peak – Mount Vinson on 4th January 2019. Apart from this, she was also the world’s first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest in 2013. Sinha was a national level volleyball player who was pushed from a running train by some robbers in 2011 while she was resisting them. As a result, one of her legs had to be amputated below the knee. Now, her aim is to climb all the continents’ highest peaks and hoist the National Flag of India. She has already scaled five peaks — Mt Everest, Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Ebrus, Mt Kosciuszko and Mt Aconcagua.

Notes:
The 80th National Table Tennis Championship began at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on January 4, 2019. As many as 35 teams, including 550 players from different parts of the country are participating in the mega championship. Medal winners at Commonwealth Games and Asian Games Manika Batra, Senior players like Sharath Kamal, Madhuriba Patkar, Olympian Ankita Das are some of the key players who will be in the limelight during the event. Odisha State Table Tennis Association (OSTTA) is hosting the championships after a gap of 18 years. The event will conclude on January 9.

Notes:
Andhra Pradesh has topped the 2018 Ease of Doing Business (EDB) Index of Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI). The ACI team, led by Tan Khee Giap, mentioned that despite Andhra Pradesh’s excellent performance in ACI’s EDB Index, the government needs to bridge numerous institutional and infrastructural gaps in order to sustain its position in the future. The index ranked economies of 21 states of India. In it, Maharashtra acquired 2nd position, while Delhi came in third place, respectively. The EDB index is based upon three parameters called ABC – Attractiveness to Investors, Business Friendliness and Competitiveness Policies.

Notes:
The 27th New Delhi World Book Fair has started at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on January 5 with theme “Readers with Special Needs”. The All India Radio (AIR) is the radio partner for book fair. Over 20 countries including Canada, China, Sri Lanka, and the US are participating in the book fair. More than 600 publishers from across the country are participating in the event. The book fair focuses on Readers with Special Needs, to promote the idea of inclusive learning through a series of exhibitions. The timing of the fair is from 11 am to 8 pm and tickets are available at 50 metro stations. The cost of the entry tickets is 30 rupees for adults and 20 rupees for children. There will be free entry for students in school uniform and senior citizens.