Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has constituted a 7-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to boost the real estate sector under the GST regime. Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Nitin Patel will be the convener of the GoM. The panel will analyse tax rate of GST and suggest a composition scheme for residential construction units. It will also look into the issue of the legality of inclusion or exclusion of land or any other ingredient in the composition scheme and suggest valuation mechanism. It will also examine various aspects of the GST levy on Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and Development Rights in a joint Development Agreement and suitable model. Currently, GST on the under-construction flats and houses is 12% whereas ready-to-move-in flats with a completion certificate attract no GST. There are also complaints about the builders not passing on the benefit of input tax credit to the consumers. The Council’s law and fitment committee will assist the panel. The officers from the Centre and states can also be invited in the committee for inputs, if required.

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:
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:
Mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta conquered the highest point Antartica ‘Mount Sidley’ on 19th of January 2019. With this feat, he became the first Indian and youngest man to climb the seven highest peaks and volcanic summits across all continents. According to the in-Reach Satellite, Communicator Satyarup was carrying, he summited Mount Sidley at 6. 28 in the morning Indian Standard Time (IST) at a temperature of minus 40-degree Celsius. He achieved the feat at the age of 35 years and 262 days. Australia’s Daniel Bull had done it at the age of 36 years 157 days. Last year, Satyarup had scaled the highest volcanic peak in North America, Pico de Orizaba. Satyarup hails from Haridevpur in South Kolkata and is a software engineer by profession.

Notes:
The world’s first television channel dedicated to human rights has been launched in London with a promise to deliver hidden stories ignored by mainstream media into people’s living rooms. The International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) stated that its web-based channel would bring human rights issues to audiences in over 20 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Topics will include refugees, press freedom and the incarceration of journalists, extremism, women’s rights, LGBT+ issues and the plight of the world’s stateless people. Broadcasts can be viewed via the netgem.tv interactive platform and will shortly be available via a mobile app.

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.

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The 7th ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers was held in Ha Long City, Viet Nam on 18th January 2019. Here, Union Tourism Minister of India, K J Alphons co-chaired the Tourism Ministers’ meeting with the Vietnamese minister, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien. As a follow up to the Summit, the Ministers launched the ASEAN-India Tourism Cooperation Year 2019, and looked forward to enhancing cooperation with a view to increasing two-way tourist visits and promoting greater people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN and India. The Ministers’ meeting agreed to further enhance ASEAN-India cooperation in tourism under the framework of the ‘2012 Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and India on strengthening tourism cooperation with intensified efforts and activities. The Tourism Ministers of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand also attended the meeting.

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.

Notes:
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 first-ever UN’s International Day of Education is observed on January 24 to highlight the role of education for peace and development. Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. The day recognizes the importance of ensuring inclusive quality education & access to lifelong learning opportunities for all. The right to education is enshrined in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, 262 million children and youth still do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable. Hence, UNESCO calls on governments and all partners to make universal quality education a leading priority. In India, National Education Day (NED) is observed on November 11 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the first education minister of independent India — Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.