Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
A leading research agency, HexGn conducted a study of the funding patterns in the start-up ecosystem in the year 2019. The total international funding for technology start-ups decreased by 22% to 293 billion when compared to the funding of 375 billion, last year. However, the start-up funding in India has grown by 18% to $14 billion in 2019. For the first time, two Indian cities namely Delhi NCR and Bengaluru were ranked in the “Global Top 10 Cities for Start-up Funding” list.

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet recently approved the reappointment of Abhinav Kumar, IPS as the Inspector General (IG) of Border Security Force (BSF) and extended his tenure up to July 2021, following the proposal by the Home affairs ministry. The extension was made by relaxing the tenure policy of Indian Police Service. Border Security Force is the national border defence force and also the largest border defence force in the world.

Notes:
The Nankana Sahib Gurdwara is a highly revered gurdwara located in the city of Nankana Sahib near Lahore in Pakistan. The gurdwara is built at the place where the first Sikh Guru was believed to born and preached Sikhism. It is also called as the Janam Asthan Gurdwara. It is seen in news recently as there was a severe mob attack and vandalism in the Gurdwara.

Notes:
The Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) recently announced that the ‘Farmers’ Innovation Fund’ would be set by next financial year. The announcement was made during the Farmers’ Science Congress, the first of its kind event, organised as a part of the National Science Congress.
He announced that an innovation centre would be established in New Delhi, which would assist the farmers in their research and would authenticate the innovations of the farmers. At present, the Krishi Vigyan Kendras record the innovations of farmers.

Notes:
Niti Aayog and Indian Railways have recently released a discussion paper for running 150 trains on 100 routes by private operators. The plan envisages a total investment of Rs. 22500 crore. The discussion paper titled ‘Private Participation: Passenger Trains’ has identified 100 routes, including Mumbai Central-New Delhi, New Delhi- Patna, Allahabad-Pune and Dadar-Vadodara.

Notes:
Proposed “Global Electricity Grid” was an idea mooted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The grid plans to leverage solar power generated in one geography to feed the electricity demands of other nations. India is reportedly in talks with World Bank as its technical partner to implement the plan.

Notes:
As per statement of Lok Sabha Speaker, India will mark 75th anniversary of the country in 2022 and in same year parliament session will be held in the new building. The existing Parliament House Building has completed 92 glorious years after it was made functional in 1927.

Notes:
The World Economic Forum, held annually at Davos, is a meeting in which world leaders discuss economic matters. This year’s summit will take place on January 21- 24.

Notes:
Eminent social worker, Dr. Gutta Muniratnam was chosen as the first recipient of ‘Muppavarapu National Award for Social Service’’. The announcement was made during the 10th Anniversary celebration of the foundation. The award was instituted by the Swarna Bharat Trust.
Dr. Gutta Muniratnam is a former member of the National Planning Commission of India and the founder of an NGO named ‘Rashtriya Seva Samithi’ serving the villages of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. G. Muniratnam is also a Padma Shri awardee.

Notes:
An International Conference cum Exhibition on Civil Aviation sector named ‘WINGS INDIA 2020’ is scheduled to be organised from March 12 to March 15, 2020. The event is to be held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.
Recently the Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri participated in the curtain raiser event for the WINGS INDIA Conference in New Delhi. The Ministry of Civil aviation is to organise the event in association with the industry body FICCI. This is one of the largest events on Civil Aviation in Asia.