Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
A government committee, headed by IIT-Hyderabad chairman B V R Mohan Reddy, has advised the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to stop setting up new colleges from 2020 and review the creation of new capacity every two years after that. The panel has also suggested that no additional seats should be approved in traditional engineering areas such as mechanical, electrical, civil and electronics and that institutes should be encouraged to convert current capacity in traditional disciplines to emerging new technologies. This recommendation has been justified on the ground that current capacity utilisation in traditional disciplines is just 40% as opposed to 60% seat occupancy in branches such as computer science and engineering, aerospace engineering and mechatronics. For the same reason, the committee has urged the AICTE to introduce undergraduate engineering programmes exclusively for artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, quantum computing, data sciences, cyber security and 3D printing and design.

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:
Prof. Manoj Das, an eminent English and Odia Litterateur, received the Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja National Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. This ceremony was instituted by the Berhampur University, Odisha. During the 53rd foundation day ceremony, the university also honoured noted folk dance guru Nabaghana Parida with Dakshin Odisha Loksanakruti Samman.

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:
Hemant Bhargava, the senior-most MD at LIC, has been appointed acting Chairman of LIC. The move comes after VK Sharma retired from the top job at LIC on 31st December 2018. In order to select new chairman and one MD, selection process will be conducted by Banks Board Bureau (BBB) and 8 officials will be interviewed for both the posts on January 4 in Delhi. One MD post was vacant since Usha Sangwan retired on September 30. The top management of LIC consists of chairman and four MDs.

Notes:
Parliament has passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018, with the Rajya Sabha approving it on 3rd January 2019. The bill seeks to amend a law to abolish the ‘no detention policy’ till Class VIII by enabling state governments to allow schools to fail students. The Lok Sabha had already passed the bill seeking to further amend the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009 to abolish the no-detention policy in schools on July 2018. Under the current provisions of the RTE Act, no student can be detained till class 8 and all students are promoted to the next grade. As per the amendment, it would be left to the States to decide whether to continue the no-detention policy. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar assured the Rajya Sabha that no child will be excluded from school in case he or she fails. The Bill provides for a regular examination in classes V and VIII and if the child fails, he or she shall be given additional opportunity for re-examination in two months’ time.

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:
Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya has become the first Indian businessman to be declared a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) under the newly enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 by the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai. The tag now allows the government to confiscate and sold his properties in alleged Rs. 9,000 crore loan default case in India. According to the new law, a FEO is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for his or her involvement in economic offences involving at least Rs. 100 crore or more and has left India to avoid prosecution. Mallya has been accused of defaulting on loan repayments and money laundering and had left India in March 2016. Mallya currently facing extradition from the United Kingdom after a Westminster Magistrates Court in London ordered his return to India to face fraud charges resulting from the collapse of his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. However, the ruling has been challenged in the High Court in the UK.

Notes:
Veteran journalist Dinu Randive (93) has been conferred with the lifetime achievement award by the Mantralaya and Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh, an association of journalists covering Maharashtra legislature and secretariat. Mr Randive started his journalistic career in 1956. He also participated in the freedom struggle, the Sanyukta Maharashtra movement and the Goa liberation movement. Award winners in other categories included Vishwas Waghmode, Mahesh Tiwari and Prajakta Pol.

Notes:
On 2nd January 2019, the Haryana government approved 11 projects for the rejuvenation of the mythical Saraswati river. The purpose of the projects is to revive the ancient Sarasvati river in the state and ensure regular flow of fresh water into it. These include the construction of Somb Saraswati barrage, Saraswati reservoir and Adi Badri dam on Somb river, a tributary of the Yamuna that originates in the Shivalik Hills. The projects were approved at a meeting of the Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board (HSHDB) chaired by the chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The board also approved construction of bridges at different locations and a Saraswati ghat. The construction of Somb Saraswati barrage and Saraswati reservoir would enable the storage of 1,000 hectare metres of water. The Haryana plan also involves interlinking of the Markanda river with what is said to be the course of the Saraswati through the Kainthla supply channel.