Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
The new naval air base ‘INS Kohassa’ has recently commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba into the Indian Navy at the Shibpur Naval Air Station in Diglipur, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as part of efforts to expand operational presence in the Indian Ocean where China has been increasing its military presence. This is the India’s fourth air base and the third naval air facility in the region that overlooks key sea lanes of communication and strategic points. INS Kohassa has been named after a White-Bellied Sea Eagle, which is a large bird of prey, endemic to A&N islands. The new airbase will be used for both Defence and civil aircraft. Earlier, Naval Air Station at Shibpur was manned by utilizing the manpower from INS Utkrosh. Now, the airbase will function as an independent unit. The airbase will be used to handle operations of helicopters and small aircraft like the Dornier.

Notes:
IIT Ropar has launched an android app ‘Roshni’ to help the blind in recognizing the denomination of the currency notes, using image processing and analytics. At present, notes of Rs 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 2,000 are in circulation, which the blind people find it difficult to recognize due to their size and the tactile marks. The app can recognize both old and new notes and gives audio information as to which note you are holding in your hands. The user has to bring the currency note in front of phone camera and the app would provide audio notification intimating the currency notes denomination to the user. The app uses the patterns and features embedded on the notes to differentiate and determine the currency denomination. The app is developed by assistant professor Dr Puneet Goyal and his students — Mandhatya Singh, Joohi Chauhan, and R Ram.

Notes:
The Telangana government has decided to set up an armed “State Tiger Protection Force” (STPF) to save the Big Cat population in the State. The 112-member-armed STPF will be headed by anAssistant Conservator of Forests to protect tiger populationin Amarabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves. The State and Central government will share the cost of the force on 40:60 basis. The cases under the Preventive Detention Act would be registered against violators.

Notes:
Aparna Kumar has become the India’s first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) DIG and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officer to successfully complete the South Pole expedition. She unfurled the National and the ITBP flags at the South Pole on 13th January 2019 after covering 111Km of walking on the snow. Aparna will now attempt to conquer the North Pole this April. She has covered six of the highest peaks across continents including the Mount Everest. The one left for her to scale is the Mount Denali in Alaska.The ITBP is a Central Armed Police Force which is primarily deployed to secure the icy Himalayan borders of the nation since its Inception in 1962.

Notes:
The National Voters Day (NVD) is celebrated every year in India on January 25 since 2011 to enhance participation of citizens in the electoral process. The day also marked the Foundation day of Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established on 25th January 1950. The main purpose of the celebration is to encourage, facilitate and maximize the enrollment, especially for the new voters. In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, ‘No Voter to be Left Behind’ has been selected as the theme for the 9th National Voters’ Day. During the 9th NVD 2019, the National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices were conferred on Officers for their outstanding performance in the conduct of elections. President Ram Nath Kovind was the Chief Guest at the main function being organized by Election Commission in New Delhi.

Notes:
The South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH) is a major international research programme to tackle the challenge that nitrogen pollution poses for environment, food security, human health and the economy in South Asia. The SANH will be established with funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). 18 Indian research institutions are part of a group of 50 which have received £20 million funding from the United Kingdom Government.The SANH will study the impact of the different forms of pollution to form a coherent picture of the nitrogen cycle. In particular, it will look at nitrogen in agriculture in eight countries – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. The Hub’s recommendations will support cleaner and more profitable farming, as well as industrial recycling of nitrogen, fostering development of a cleaner circular economy for nitrogen.

Notes:
Oxford dictionaries has declared “Nari Shakti” as the Hindi word for the year 2018. The announcement was made during a session at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) at the Diggi Palace. According to the Oxford dictionaries, the word has been derived from Sanskrit and is used today to symbolise women “taking charge of their lives”. The word was selected by the Oxford Dictionaries (India) with the help of an advisory panel of language experts, including Namita Gokhale, Randhir Thakur, Kritika Agrawal and Saurabh Dwivedi. Oxford had named ‘Aadhaar’ as its Hindi word for the year 2017.

Notes:
Narthaki Nataraj, a renowned dancer from Tamil Nadu, has become the first Indian transgender to be honoured with Padma Shri, the third highest civilian award of India. She is a Bharatanatyam exponent and specialises in the Thanjavur-based Nayaki Bhava tradition. Born in the temple town of Madurai, Nataraj learned the art under Tanjore Shri K P Kittappa Pillai and gave her on advances to the Tanjore Quartet of Bharatanatyam (Nayaki Bhava tradition) through a dance school she established.

Notes:
The Delhi government has decided to provide the Capital’s farmers a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops based on the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee’s report. In its 2006 report, the National Commission on Farmers’ chairman Prof. M S Swaminathan suggested the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) to fix MSP at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production.

Notes:
On 26th January 2019, Nepalese batsman Rohit Paudel created history by becoming the youngest player in men’s international cricket to hit a half-century surpassing the likes of batting legends Sachin Tendulkar (in Tests) and Shahid Afridi (in ODIs). He accomplished the feat in the 2nd ODI against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai at the age of 16 years and 146 days. Hence, Paudel overtook the long-standing record held by Tendulkar, who achieved the feat in a Test against Pakistan at the age of 16 years and 213 days. In ODI cricket, the record was held by Shahid Afridi who creamed a maiden 50-over century aged 16 years and 217 days in his maiden international innings against Sri Lanka. Though, the overall record for the youngest player to hit a half-century in international cricket is held by South African female player Johmari Logtenburg who recorded Test and ODI half-centuries at the age of 14.