Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Recently, the head of Amazon, Jeff Bezos announced that the company will invest 1 billion to digitise Small and Medium Businesses in India. Jeff also announced that Amazon India will export several ‘Make in India’ products, worth 10 billion, by the year 2025.
He made this announcement during his recent official visit to India, where he met many Small and Medium businessmen, top Indian business leaders and government officials. Recently, The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) alleged that the company follows unfair business practices.

Notes:
The district administration of Puri, Odisha has recently won the Swachhata Darpan Award for adopting innovative methods in plastic waste management. The award was presented by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) under Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The award was presented during the workshop organised by ODF Sustainability in New Delhi, by the Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. The Odisha Government has launched a scheme last year, to make Puri completely free from plastic.

Notes:
The ‘National Highway Excellence Awards’ was instituted by the Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highway, in the year 2018. It was then changed to an annual version and the second edition of the awards was presented by the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi recently.
The awards are presented to motivate the companies that perform well in the construction, operation, maintenance, tolling phase and road safety. There are seven categories in the award and 12 winners were selected from several shortlisted applicants.

Notes:
The Union Territory of Ladakh recently hosted the first ever Food Processing Summit to guide the entrepreneurs and attract investments. The UT administration of Ladakh hosts the summit in association with the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
Several entrepreneurs from Leh and Kargil regions are participating in the Summit. As Ladakh is capable of exporting processed foods made from unique horticultural products, the entrepreneurs were encouraged to begin their own start-up companies in the food processing sector.

Notes:
The 51st K-9 Vajra-T Gun manufactured by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was flagged off by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Larsen and Toubro Armoured Systems Complex at Hazira, Surat. With a weight of 50 tonnes, the gun can fire 47 kg bombs on targets, that are 43 km away. It can also make zero-degree radius turns.
As a part of Make in India initiative of the Government, L&T won the Rs.4500 crore contract from the Union Ministry of Defence to supply 100 units of K-9 Vajra-T self-propelled gun systems to the Indian Army.

Notes:
Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) is a research institute in India, under the aegis of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. It has a dedicated research centre in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. It is located at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
RGCB is to organise the 39th Annual Conference of Indian Association for Cancer Research (IACR) from February 5 to 7. The theme of the research conference is “Leading the Fight Against Cancer”. Several students, research fellows and oncologists will have a discussion about current developments in cancer therapeutics.

Notes:
The highest civilian award in the field of contribution to the unity and integrity of India is named after the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The award is named as ‘Sardar Patel National Unity Award’. The award recognises the contributions made towards the national unity and integrity.
Recently the Home Ministry announced that the on-line nomination process for the award is open and the last date for the nominations is 30th April. The award will be announced on the National Unity Day on 31st October, which is the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.

Notes:
The construction project of the Z-Morh Tunnel, to be built in in Jammu and Kashmir has been awarded to APCO Amarnathji Tunnelway. An MoU was recently inked between National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and the company in this regard, in the presence of Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The project entails a cost of Rs. 2,379 crores and it would provide road connectivity to the tourist spot Sonamarg, in Jammu & Kashmir. The tourist destination mostly remains closed due to heavy snowfall.

Notes:
The entire government of Russia including the then Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned following the constitutional reforms proposed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin proposed the former bureaucrat and tax official, Mikhail Mishustin as the next Prime Minister of Russia.
The lawmakers have approved the nomination of Vladimir Putin, for the new Prime Minister. Russia’s lower house of Parliament, the State Duma voted in favour of the nominated Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, which fetched him 383 votes out of 424.

Notes:
After a two-year formal maternity break, India’s ace tennis player Sania Mirza clinched the ‘WTA Hobart International doubles title along with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok. In the final match which lasted for 1 hour 21 minutes, Sania along with her partner defeated the second seeded Chinese duo Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang 6-4, 6-4.
This was the first tournament for the 33-year old Sania, after giving birth to her son. This series proved to be a great come-back for the Indian star, while she earned her 42nd WTA doubles title.