Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

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:
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed MoU with Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) for joint research programs in the field of Communication Navigation and Surveillance (CNS). The SAMEER is an autonomous Research and Development (R & D) institute under MeitY. The MoU will provide a platform for Collaborative Research for both the Organizations to work together. Both the organizations will strive to arrive at a beneficial solution for CNS Systems related R and D activities in the country. The MoU will also provide for the transfer of skill by SAMEER experts in the areas of Radio Frequency, Millimetre Wave and Antenna-related solutions to AAI domain experts; while on the other hand, it will pave way for exposure for the SAMEER researchers to the challenging Aviation field.

Notes:
The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has constituted the Task Force to look into the issues of suicides of the students in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNU). Under the Chairmanship of Psychiatrist – Dr Jitendra Nagpal, the task force will look into the circumstances leading to the suicidal deaths of students residing in the hostels of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas residential schools. It will also suggest ways and means to arrest the trend of suicides by students. Besides, the Ministry has sent a proposal to engage two full time counselors (one male and one female) in each of the 630 functional JNVs to the Department of Expenditure for approval.

Notes:
Kumar Rajesh Chandra, A 1985 batch IPS officer, has been appointed the new Director-General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and will hold the post till 31st December 2021 i.e. date of his retirement on superannuation or until further orders. He succeeded S.S. Deswal. Prior to this post, Chandra was DG at Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The SSB is one of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India and is currently under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Its headquarters is located at New Delhi and its motto is’Service, Security and Brotherhood’.

Notes:
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), also known as Non-Resident Indian Day, is observed every year on 9th of January to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.

Notes:
On 9th January, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has launched an online campaign, ‘#www : Web- WonderWomen’. The purpose of the campaign is to discover and celebrate the exceptional achievements of women, who have been driving positive agenda of social change via social media. The Ministry in collaboration with Twitter India and Breakthrough India (a human rights organization) has started this campaign. It aims to recognize the fortitude of Indian women stalwarts from across the globe who have used the power of social media to run positive & niche campaigns to steer a change in society. This Campaign will recognize and acknowledge the efforts of these meritorious Women. The Campaign invites entries from across the world till 31st of January 2019. Indian-origin women, working or settled anywhere in the world, are eligible for nomination. The shortlisted entries will be open for public voting on Twitter and the finalists will be selected by a specialized panel of judges.

Notes:
On 9th January 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a series of development projects worth Rs. 2900 Crores for the Agra city and the adjoining areas during his second visit to the city. He launched Gangajal project, which will provide Agra with better and more assured water supply. The aim of the Gangajal project is to bring 140 cusecs of Ganga water to Agra. This will help meet the drinking water demands in the city. He also laid the foundation stone for an Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) for the Agra Smart City project. In this project CCTVs will be installed throughout Agra City for monitoring and surveillance for the purpose of safety and security. The smart city project is meant to develop the tourism destination as a modern world-class city. Besides, the SN Medical College in Agra will be upgraded with a 100-bed maternity wing. During his first visit in November 2016, he had launched a housing project, the PM Awas Yojana (Gramin). Under this scheme, 65 lakh houses have been constructed so far, including 9.2 lakh in Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
Chief Minister Pema Khandu has recently inaugurated India’s longest 300-meter single-lane steel cable suspension bridge over River Siang in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China. The suspension bridge – also known as Byorung bridge – was built at a cost of Rs 4,843 crore and funded by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) under Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme. It will reduce the distance from Yingkiong to Tuting town by almost 40 km. The earlier road length was 192 km. The Byorung bridge will benefit about 20,000 people residing on both sides of the bank of Siang river and will also boost military preparedness.

Notes:
The first-ever India-Central Asia Dialogue at the level of Foreign Ministers is scheduled to be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on January 12 and 13. will be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, Abdulaziz Kamilov. The foreign minister of Afghanistan will participate in the dialogue as a special invitee for the session dedicated to connectivity issues in the region. The foreign ministers of Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and the first deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan will represent their respective countries. The dialogue is expected to strengthen India’s engagement, including political, economic, development partnership and cultural, with all the Central Asian countries and take it to a new level.

Notes:
India has been ranked at 41st at the 11th edition of EIU Democracy Index 2018, which provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories. The report explaining the index titled ‘Democracy 2018: Me too? Political Participation, Protest & Democracy’ was particularly damning of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Despite the criticism, the report pointed that in India, the image of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi resonates with an aspiring middle class, and he has also maintained the support of business. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s index rank nations on five parameters – electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties. Among all these parameters India fared the worst when it came to political culture. The index is topped by Norway, followed by Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark.