Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

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:
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:
Shivakumara Swami (111), a revered seer of the Lingayat-Veerashaiva faith, has passed away in Tumkur, Karnataka on January 21, 2019. He was affectionately referred to as Nadedaduva Devaru (Walking God) in the State. He was also the head of 5-centuries-old Sree Siddaganga Matha, which educated and hosted lakhs of students from economically deprived backgrounds. In recognition of his humanitarian work, the Swami was conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Literature by Karnataka University in 1965. On his centenary in 2007, the Government of Karnataka awarded Swamiji the prestigious Karnataka Ratna award, the highest civilian award of the state. In 2015 the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan.

Notes:
The 2nd World Integrated Medicine Forum (WIMF-2019) on the ‘Regulation of Homeopathic Medical Products’ will be held in Goa from 23-25 January, 2019. The 3-day forum, which will be inaugurated by AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik, will explore and illustrate the potential benefits and pitfalls of bi-lateral/multilateral collaboration and advance global cooperation on a synergistic basis. In it, approx 20 countries are participating.

Notes:
On January 19, the Tamil Nadu government roll out ‘Startup & Innovation policy 2018-2023’ with a mission of providing an enabling and innovative ecosystem for startups registered in the State and to make Tamil Nadu a ‘Global Innovation hub for startups’ by 2023. The mission shall aim for a minimum of 1,00,000 high skilled job creation, direct and indirect, in the Startup ecosystem. For implementing the policy, the State will set up Tamil Nadu Startup Fund with a corpus of Rs 250 crore. The fund will be invested in other SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds for investment in startups and MSMEs established in Tamil Nadu.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
An Indian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur, Gurinder Singh Khalsa has been conferred with the prestigious 2019 Rosa Park Trailblazer award for his campaign that forced US authorities to change their policy towards headgear of the Sikh community. In 2007, Khalsa was refused access to board an aeroplane because of his turban. Thereafter Khalsa mobilised more than 67,000 people nationwide for petitions and took the issue to all the way to the US Congress, which forced Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) to change its headgear policy towards the Sikh community. As a result, Sikhs can now wear their turban through airport security in the US. Khalsa natively belongs to village Adhoi in Barara block of the Ambala district.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently released its biannual World Economic Outlook (WEO) update at the World Economic Forum (WEF-2019) in Davos. In it, IMF estimates India’s economic growth at 7.3% in 2018-19, 7.5% in 2019-20 and 7.7% in 2020-21. With the latest outlook, India will remain the fastest-growing economy in the world, at least for the next two years. The IMF report stated that India’s economy is poised to pick up in 2019, benefiting from low oil prices and a slower pace of monetary tightening than previously expected as inflation pressures ease. The latest growth projection by the IMF is a tad higher than the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) estimate of 7.2%, but lower than the RBI’s estimate of 7.4%. But it is in line with the World Bank’s estimate of 7.3%.