Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
The Ministry of Railways recently granted ‘Organized Group A Status’ (OGAS) to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and also renamed it as the Indian Railway Protection Force Service. Recently the Union Cabinet approved the restructuring of the Indian Railways and merged eight Group A services of the Railways into a central service called the Indian Railway Management Service. Vinod Kumar Yadav recently assumed charge as the chairman of Railway Board after an extension in his term.

Notes:
The renowned Indian scientist and Director General of Aeronautical Systems, DRDO, Dr.Tessy Thomas was the Chief Guest of the Women Science Congress, held at Bengaluru. It was a part of the ongoing 107th Indian Science Congress. Tessy Thomas was the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India, when she was the Project Director of India’s Agni-IV missile.

Notes:
Mission Indradhanush is a Universal Vaccination Programme launched by the Ministry of Health and Family welfare in 2014. The Intensified Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0 is carried out from December 2019 to March 2020.
Under the Indradhanush scheme, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children and pregnant women are vaccinated. The target fixed for the scheme is 2020. Recently the Ministry launched IMI 2.0 portal to record the target and real time data of the campaign.

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:
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani recently announced that a new centre for fostering innovation among the children would be set up in the state of Gujarat. It is named as the Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Centre.
The announcement was made during the Children Innovation Festival held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This festival was organised by the Gujarat University’s start up council, GUSEC in association with UNICEF. During the event, a letter of intent was also exchanged between the Gujarat University and UNICEF.

Notes:
North East Gas Grid project is being implemented by IGGL, a Joint Venture company of five CPSEs (GAIL, IOCL, ONGC, OIL and NRL). The total length of the pipeline is planned to be 1,656 km and will be built at estimated cost of Rs. 9,265 crore (Including interest during construction). It will cover eight states of the North-Eastern region i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, MeghMizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Notes:
India’s cabinet has recently (January, 2020) approved the mobility pact with France that would allow skilled workers, students and academics from the two countries to live and work in each others’ countries. The agreement was signed between India and France during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India in 2018. France, however, is yet to ratify the pact, awaiting the French parliament’s consent.

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:
HDFC and its subsidiary HDFC ERGO has got approvals the Competition Commission of India (CCI) , the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for acquiring a majority stake in Apollo Munich. HDFC acquired 50.80 % stake of Apollo Hospitals Group in Apollo Munich for ₹1485 crore
It was also announced that after the acquisition, Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co Ltd has been renamed as HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Ltd and will operate as a subsidiary of HDFC.

Notes:
The Department of Cane Development of the state government of Uttar Pradesh has recently started an awareness campaign for the farmers to protect their sugarcane crop from locusts.
During the month end of December 2019, a huge swarm of locusts destroyed more than 25000 hectares of crop lands in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Several thousand litres of pesticides were used by the state governments to kill the locusts. Gujarat recently announced Rs.18500 per hectare as relief assistance for the affected farmers.