Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
The ‘Central Indian Ocean Leadership Workshop’ is to be organised in the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in Chennai. The workshop is organised with the assistance of the United Nations. Several scientists across the world are going to participate in the workshop, which will focus on coastal vulnerabilities.
National Institute of Ocean Technology is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It was established in the year 1993 with its headquarters at Chennai.

Notes:
According to the recent study published in ‘Astrophysical Journal’, Scientists have discovered thirteen huge black holes in some dwarf galaxies. The galaxies are found to be located several light years from the earth and in half of the galaxies, the black holes are not in the centre of the galaxies.
The high-resolution images of the galaxies with black holes were captured using the Very Large Array (VLA) observatory. It is a radio telescope observatory, which is situated in New Mexico, U.S.A. VLA was set up by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Notes:
The fourth edition of the ‘Buxa Bird Festival’ was recently inaugurated in the Buxa National Park of West Bengal. It is a famous bird festival which is held at the National Park organised by the Forest Department of West Bengal.
Several bird watchers and bird lovers across the country have registered to take part in the festival, which will be held for four days. Many rare bird species such as the Great Horn-bill, the Greater spotted eagle and several migratory birds are expected to arrive in the national park during this season.

Notes:
Khurana shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley for research that showed the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids, which carry the genetic code of the cell and control the cell’s synthesis of proteins. In 1972, he also created the first ever artificial gene.

Notes:
For the first time in the state, the Kerala State Youth Commission has announced that it would conduct a state-level Adalat for LGBT community. The programme would be held at the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram.
The main objective of the Adalat is to encourage the transgender community to come out with their grievances and to make arrangements for redressal of the issues. The Government of Kerala had introduced a Transgender policy in 2015 and it has a dedicated ‘Transgender Cell’ working under the state’s Social Justice Department.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Steel is to launch a program called ‘Purvodaya-Accelerated Development of Eastern Region through an Integrated Steel hub’. The Union Minister for Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the program.
The Eastern states of India such as Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Northern Andhra Pradesh possess a huge share of reserves but lag in development. This proposed Integrated Steel Hub in the Eastern region would lead to an inclusive socio-economic development in the region.

Notes:
The ‘State Energy Efficiency Index 2019’ was developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy. The index was prepared based on efforts and achievements of states towards implementation of energy efficiency.
Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala have topped this year’s index and are placed in the ‘Achievers’ category. On the basis of Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) required to meet the state’s actual energy demand, Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry topped their groups.

Notes:
According to the second wetland bird count conducted by the officials of the Kaziranga National Park and avian specialists, ithe park recorded 96 species of wetland birds. This count is one of the highest among the other national parks with birdlife.
Kaziranga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is located in the state of Assam. It has the world’s largest population of Indian rhinoceros also called as the one-horned rhinoceros. Several migratory birds visit the park attracting many tourists.

Notes:
The recently built monument of Gujarat, ‘Statue of Unity’ was recently included in the ‘8 Wonders of SCO’ list released by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It is the tallest statue of the world, which was built as a tribute to the Indian leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The 182-metre statue was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India in October 2018 in Gujarat’s Kevadiya colony. The statue was built on the river Narmada, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam. SCO comprises of eight member states, which are India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Notes:
The Armed Forces Veterans Day is celebrated on January 14 every year and was instituted in the year 2017, to commemorate the retirement date of the first Indian Chief of Army Staff, K M Cariappa. He served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1949 to 1953.
The present Indian Army Chief General M M Naravane attended the event organised to observe the Armed Forces Veterans Day and announced that special pensions would be provided to the emergency commissioned and short service commissioned officers who fought in the wars of 1965 and 1971 against Pakistan.