Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
The people of the three North-eastern states- Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura celebrated their Statehood Day on January 21. On the same day in 1972, these three states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Re-organisation) Act, 1971. This year, the states celebrate their 48th Statehood day.
Many National Leaders including the Prime Minister and the President expressed their wishes to the states on their Statehood day and greeted the cultural heritage and traditions of the North-Eastern states.

Notes:
Retired IAS Officer Yudvir Singh Malik has been recently appointed as the Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of crisis- hit realty firm Unitech. He assumed office on January 21, 2020.
A few days back, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to take total management control of Unitech and appoint a new board of nominee directors. As per the directions, the Centre has replaced the board of the realty firm and asked the new board to come out with a resolution framework within two months. The firm was reported of allegedly using flat-buyer’s money and default the delivery of flats.

Notes:
The Union government recently announced that a National Start-up Advisory Council has been set up. The Council will advise the Centre on steps to be taken to create a strong environment for start-up companies in India.
The Council will be chaired by the Union Commerce minister while it will have non-official members with 2-year-term, to be nominated by the Centre. Other members include founders of successful start-ups and veterans who have started and grown companies in India. The nominees of the ministries and organisations concerned, not below the rank of joint secretary will be ex-officio members.

Notes:
The Head of the IT Industry at the World Economic Forum, Eric White announced that C. Vijayakumar, the President & CEO of HCL Technologies, would be the chairman of the World Economic Forum’s IT Governors community.
The announcement was made during the 50th annual meeting of WEF in Davos. The IT Governors community of WEF convenes CEOs of the world’s top Information Technology firms for tackling the issues in the field and solving them together. The community, under Vijayakumar will focus on the industry’s concerns including Talent re-skilling, Data governance and Security.

Notes:
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was recently signed between the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of Ghana to expand the country’s Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) network.
Indian Oil will provide assistance and share its technical expertise with the Petroleum authorities of the African country to implement the National LPG Promotion Policy of Ghana. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Petroleum and natural gas. Indian Oil is also expected to assist Ghana in areas of infrastructure development for the new LPG Value chain.

Notes:
Kumar Munnan Singh has been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2020 under the Individual category. Under the Institution category, Disaster Mitigation & Management Centre, Uttarakhand has been selected for the award. Kumar Munnan Singh was the founding member of the National Disaster Management Authority in 2005. He is also lauded for establishing the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), from scratch.
The award is given by the Government of India to recognize the commendable work done by individuals and organisations in the field of disaster management. The award is announced every year on 23rd January which marks the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Notes:
India’s first e-waste clinic, which is jointly set up by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) was recently inaugurated in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The clinic would process, segregate and dispose the electronic waste from both household and commercial units. The e-waste will be collected door-to-door from the city while it can also be deposited in the clinic. It is being opened in Bhopal as a pilot project and it will be extended to other parts of the country once this turns successful.

Notes:
The inaugural edition of the Ganga Volga Dialogue was recently held in New Delhi, the idea of which was originated during the India-Russia Summit between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi, held in October 2018.
The Dialogue was organised by the Union Ministry of External Affairs, India in association with Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation. Several scholars of India and Russia participated in the event and had discussions in the context of India-Russia bilateral cooperation, with the main focus on culture and civilization.

Notes:
National Voters’ Day is being celebrated across the country on January 25. It was first celebrated on January 25, 2011, to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Which was established on the same day in 1950.
The National Voters’ day of this year marks the tenth year of celebration and the 70th year of functioning of the Election Commission of India. The theme for the National Voters’ Day, 2020 is ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy’. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind will be the Chief Guest of the celebration organised at New Delhi, by the ECI.

Notes:
Leading Private Sector bank IndusInd bank has launched its wealth management platform called ‘Pioneer Banking’, which serves the banking needs of its high net-worth customers.
The new service of wealth management recently introduced is expected to be merged with the other set of personal and commercial banking products offered by the bank to its customers. The new service mainly focuses the high net-worth individual (HNI) customers and provides various benefits including Free doorstep banking up to Rs 4 lakh per day and Services of dedicated wealth managers and investment specialists.