Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
National award-winning filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the West Bengal Film Journalists Association (WBFJA). The award is in the name of the late Satyajit Ray. He was awarded the award in the third edition of the ‘Cinemar Samabartan’ ceremony on January13, 2019. Dasgupta is a big name in the parallel cinema. He is known for his political films like “Dooratwa” (Distance) and “Grihajuddha” (Crossroads). As a director, he has won the National Film Award for Best Direction twice, for “Uttara” (2000) and “Swapner Din” (2005).

Notes:
Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has recently launched ‘One Family, One Job’ scheme which entitles one government job for every family in the state. Though, the employment will be awarded only to members of those families which do not have a government job at present. As per scheme, CM Chamling handed over appointment letters to over 12,000 unemployed youths at a “Rojgar Mela” (employment fair) at the Paljor stadium, Gangtok. The task of providing employment was entrusted to the Department of Personnel. He also declared that all loan debts in the farming and agriculture sector would be revoked. As of now, the state government has over 1 lakh regularised employees on its rolls from a population of just 6.4 lakh. Sikkim is the only state in the country that gives the highest salaries to state government employees.

Notes:
Bengaluru Raptors have won their first-ever Premier Badminton League (PBL) title at Bengaluru on 13th January 2019. In the title clash played, Bengaluru edged out Mumbai Rockets, with a 4-3 win. Star player Kidambi Srikanth, Vu Ji Trang and the Men’s Doubles pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Satiawan won their matches for Bengaluru guiding them to victory.

Notes:
On 13th January, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the India’s largest startup ecosystem -named as ‘Integrated Startup Complex (ISC)’ – with a 1,000-seat capacity in Kalamassery, Kochi. The 8-floor facility, which is spread across 1.82 lakh sqft area, is set up by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM). The ISC houses ultra modern facilities of Maker Village that promotes hardware startups, Bionest that promotes medical technologies, BRINC which is the country’s first international accelerator for hardware startups, BRIC which is country’s first cancer technology incubator developing solutions for cancer diagnosis and care, and a Centre of Excellence set up by industry majors. The Kochi facility has beaten the status of Jaipur-based Bhamashah Techno Hub, as South Asia’s largest startup hub. In future, it will beat Station-F of Paris to emerge as the world’s biggest technology hub after its full expansion in 13 acres. It is built to provide top quality infrastructure for incubation and acceleration for the state’s startups.

Notes:
Prof. Sir Michael Atiyah (89), the noted British mathematician has passed away in United Kingdom on 11th January 2019. He was best known for his co-development of a branch of mathematics called topological K-theory and the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. His research also involved deep insights relating to mathematical concepts known as “vector bundles”. Sir Michael was also a recipient of the Abel Prize (2004) and Fields Medal (1966), and was the former president of the Royal Society in London. He was one of the foremost mathematicians whose work encompassed topology and geometry, and worked with several Indian mathematicians such as Indian-American mathematician Harish-Chandra and Vijay Kumar Patodi, during his career.

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:
On 14th January 2019, the 1st National Level Sports Meet for the students of Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) was held at G.M.C Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. The event has a participation of 1777 students comprising of 975 boys and 802 girls representing 20 States of the country. The striking feature of Sports meet has been the platform made available to tribal students studying in EMRS from the remote corners of North East India to Himachal Pradesh in North to Kerala in South and Gujarat in West to exhibit their latent talent in sports which would otherwise not be possible in normal course. The three day event had competitions in 13 different disciplines of track and field that includes Hockey, Wrestling, Football, Archery, Volley Ball, Kabaddi, Handball, Kho Kho and Athletics.The scheme of EMRSs is one of the flagship intervention of the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs introduced in the year 1997-98 to ensure tribal students get access to quality education in the remote tribal areas.

Notes:
In pursuance of decision in the 32nd Meeting of GST Council held on 10th January 2019 at New Delhi, a Group of Ministers (GoM) on issues relating to lottery has been constituted. The ministerial panel headed by Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar will examine uniformity of taxation on lottery under GST or other issues arising out of it. Under GST, state-organised lottery falls under the 12% tax slab while state-authorised lottery attracts 28% tax. According to the terms of reference, the panel will decide whether the disparity in tax structure on the same product needs be continued or a uniform rate be prescribed for both. The panel will also examine any other issue related to enforcement, including the legal frame work, in order to curb evasion of tax on lottery and suggest appropriate tax rate to address the problem. The GoM for lottery will submit its report to GST Council in next its meeting for approval.

Notes:
Saksham 2019 is an annual high intensity one-month long people-centric mega campaign, which is organised by Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The purpose of the Saksham (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) is to sensitize the masses about conservation and efficient use of petroleum products which will lead towards better health and environment. The campaign seeks to promote effective utilization of petroleum products, something that will lead to environmental protection.

Notes:
On 18th January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat global investors’ summit- 2019 at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre in Gandhinagar. The main theme of the 3-day summit is “Shaping a new India”. More than 30 thousand international and Indian delegates including the 5 Heads of States from from Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Denmark, Czech Republic and Malta are participating in the summit. Apart from this, 11 international organizations are participating as partner organizations for the Summit. The summit will provide a forum for discussion on Global, National and State-level agendas with a sharp focus on all round economic development for a ‘New India’.