Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
The 71st Army Day is celebrated across the country on 15th January 2019 to commemorate the day when Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) Kodandera M. Carriappa (C-in-C) took over the command of Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post Independence. KM Cariappa is one of only two Indian Army officers to hold the five-star rank of field marshal; the other being Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. The day also remembers the glory of Indian Army and to salute the valiant soldiers, who have sacrificed their lives for the Nation.

Notes:
The Madras High Court has expressed serious concern over the exotic invasive species that have stifled the growth of the native shola forests and grasslands on the Western Ghats. It observed that such species are the second largest cause of biodiversity loss in the world and impose high costs to agriculture, forestry, and aquatic ecosystems. Hence, for this burning issue, the court has constituted an expert committee to suggest ways and means to remove the alien plants species and rehabilitate the forests. Here, a division bench of justices M M Sundaresh and N Sathish passed the interim order on a batch of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions seeking to restrain the Tamil Nadu government from cultivating eucalyptus trees in Western Ghats for commercial purpose. It has also directed the committee to file a report on the ways to weed out such species within two months. The committee will be headed by Cherukuri Raghavendra Babu, the chairman of the expert committee on invasive species in Chennai National Biodiversity Authority.

Notes:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently launched ‘Ama Ghare LED’ scheme, under which about 95 lakh families in the State will each get four LED bulbs free of cost. Under the scheme, each beneficiary registered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) will be provided four LED bulbs of 9 watt each free of cost. To implement the scheme, the bulbs will be distributed at Panchayat offices as well as PEETHA (People’s Empowerment—Enabling Transparency and Accountability of Odisha Initiative) camps across the state. The beneficiaries will have to produce biometric authentication to get the benefits of the scheme.

Notes:
Detained Chinese lawyer, Yu Wensheng has won the Franco-German Human Rights Award for his exceptional contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights. His wife, Madam Xu Yan, received the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law on her husband’s behalf from the French and German ambassadors to China at an event organised by the German embassy in Beijing on January 14, 2019. Wensheng is best known for suing the Beijing government over the city’s once chronic pollution – was detained in January 2018 and charged with “inciting subversion of state power”. Prior to his arrest, he had circulated an open letter calling for five reforms to China’s constitution, including the institution of multi-candidate presidential elections.

Notes:
Ace Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Haryana has become the first Indian athlete to receive a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. Vinesh made a sensational comeback after battling a long injury lay-off to win a gold medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games. She has been nominated alongside US Tour Championship winner Tiger Woods, who won his first tournament in five years. The Awards will be presented in Monaco on the 18th of February 2019. Monaco is a tiny independent city-state on France’s Mediterranean coastline.

Notes:
Prabhat Singh, a 1988 batch IPS officer of Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as new Director General (Investigation) in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Singh is at present Special Director in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). He has been appointed to the post for a period up to April 30, 2020, the date of his superannuation. The NHRC is an autonomous public body constituted on 12th October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (TPHRA). Apart from him, S N Pradhan has been appointed Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

Notes:
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has decided to organize an event named Shehri Samridhi Utsav from 1st -15th February 2019 all over the country focusing on urban livelihoods. The purpose of the event is to extend the outreach of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) to the poorest of poor and the most vulnerable.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Finance has started ‘Know Your Budget’ fortnight series on its Twitter handle to educate general public about the budgetary process. The series would explain the importance of Union Budget and its making, and would continue for about a fortnight. In the first series of tweets, the Ministry explained the terms – Union Budget and Vote on Account. These are as follows: The Budget is the most comprehensive report of the government’s finances in which revenues from all sources and outlays for all activities are consolidated. The Budget also contains estimates of the government’s accounts for the next fiscal year called Budget estimates. The Vote on Account is defined as a grant made in advance by Parliament for expenditure for a part of the next financial year.

Notes:
After Gujarat and Jharkhand, the Uttar Pradesh government has approved 10% reservation in jobs and educational institutions for economically backward in the general category. The decision was taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow. Recently, President Ram Nath Kovind cleared the landmark Constitution (124 Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed by parliament, which will provide 10% reservation in government jobs and college seats for people outside high income brackets. Now, the Act empowers all individuals of the General category whose family’s combined annual income is less than Rs 8 lakh, and who hold less than five acres of agricultural land.

Notes:
India’s first PolicyHack for Teachers has been launched by Dell in partnership with the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) and Ignus. As a part of its three-city PolicyHack series, Dell hosted an interactive hackathon where teachers focused on their learning journey. It’s first-of-its-kind hackathon for teachers which will create a platform where teachers, school representatives and a cross-sectional group experts related to education can interact with each other.