Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
Abhinav Shaw (10) has become the youngest gold medallist in shooting at the Khelo India Youth Games 2019 in Pune. He teamed up with Mehuli Ghosh to help West Bengal win the 10m air rifle mixed team event. Delhi’s Devanshi Rana bagged gold in Under-21 girls 25m pistol event. In overall medals tally, Home state Maharashtra is leading in Medal tally of the event with 177 Medals including 64 Gold. Delhi is on No. 2 with 121 medals including 47 Gold and Haryana is on No.3 with 110 Medals including 37 Gold.

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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.

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Yohei Sasakawa, who is Goodwill Ambassador of the WHO for Leprosy Eradication, has been conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018. The award will be given to Sasakawa in recognition of his work towards eradication of the disease in India and across the world. The Ministry of Culture has also announced the Gandhi Peace Prize for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. These are as follows: Ekal Abhiyan Trust has been chosen for the award for year 2017 while Akshaya Patra Foundation and Sulabh International will share the award for 2016. Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari bagged the award for 2015. Vivekananda Kendra will be awarded for its contribution in rural development, education, development of natural resources. The annual award was instituted by the Government of India in 1995 during the commemoration of 125th Birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The award carries an amount of Rs 1Crore, a Citation in a scroll, a plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.

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In Arunachal Pradesh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has inaugurated the Diffo Bridge over Diffo river in Lower Dibang Valley district on 18th January 2019. The bridge is 426 mts long Pre Stressed Concrete Box Girder type bridge on Roing-Koron-Paya road in the state. It would provide uninterrupted access between Dibang valley and Lohit valley region of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh and an all-weather Road to the troops deployed on the China Border. The construction work was done by Project Udayak, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in this region.

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The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad will launch India’s first full-fledged B.Tech (Bachelors of Technology) programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the academic year 2019-20. The course will have an intake of around 20 students and the admission will be done on the basis of the JEE-Advanced score. The course syllabus will comprise of the study of algorithms from the computer science department, signal processing from the electrical engineering department, robotics from mechanical engineering department and mathematical foundations. The course will also focus on application verticals such as healthcare, agriculture, smart mobility, among many others. The aim here is to produce students with a sound understanding of the fundamentals of theory and practice of AI and machine learning. Globally, US-based Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offer similar courses. It must be noted that IIT Hyderabad already offers an M.Tech programme in Artificial Intelligence-Machine Learning.

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India’s First Lithium Ion Giga Factory will be build by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Libcoin. Both the companies are in dialogue to form a world class consortium to initially build 1GWh lithium ion battery plant in India. Its capacity will be scaled up to 30GWh in due course. With this, India has finally taken steps into its energy security and clean energy commitment to the world. This project will bring energy independence by replacing oil imports with abundant renewable. This project also includes “Made by India, for India”, with focus on core-cost components manufactured domestically. It will also create integrated manufacturing ecosystem resulting in self-reliance and lower cost.

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The Arab Economic and Social Development Summit held in the Lebanese capital Beirut, in which the Arab leaders and officials issued a joint statement called Beirut Declaration. The declaration calls for the establishment of an Arab free trade zone. It also urged the International community to support nations hosting Syrian refugees and take steps to minimise the impact of the refugee crisis. The declaration stated that the refugee crisis in Arab countries is the worst humanitarian problem since World War II. It points out that the crisis leads to an economic slowdown, increases the expenditure and deficit, imposes burdens on public sectors and infrastructure and poses risks to the society. At the conclusion of the 2019 summit, Arab leaders have agreed a 29-item economic agenda in addition to encouraging the safe return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

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According to recent Union Home Ministry communique, Aadhaar cards are now valid travel documents for Indians under 15 and over 65 years travelling to Nepal and Bhutan. Indians other than those in the two age brackets will not be able to use Aadhaar to travel to the two neighbouring countries, for which no visas are needed. Indian citizens going to Nepal and Bhutan don’t need a visa if they have a valid passport, a photo identity card issued by the Government of India (GoI) or an election ID card issued by the Election Commission (EC). Earlier, persons over 65 and under 15 could show their PAN card, driving licence, Central Government Health Service (CGHS) card or ration card, but not the Aadhaar, to prove their identity and visit the two countries.

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Andry Rajoelina has been sworn-in as the new President of Madagascar after taking the oath of office in Antananarivo before 9 judges of the High Constitutional Court. He won the 2018 Malagasy presidential election with 56% of the vote.

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The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has got listed amongst the top 30 container ports globally, as per the latest Lloyds Report. Hence, JNPT has become the only Indian port to be listed amongst the world’s top 30 container ports. JNPT notched up five spots, to be 28th on the list, compared to its previous ranking. This is a validation of all the efforts and strategic initiatives being implemented at JNPT in order to enhance overall port efficiency. The JNPT also launched their App service to facilitate better tracking of consignment and ease the trade process for their EXIM partners.