Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

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:
President Ram Nath Kovind has approved to confer the Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards, 2019 to 54 persons. This includes Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 7 persons, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 8 and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 39 persons. Five awards are to be given posthumously.
Jeevan Raksha Padak awards, a branch of the Ashoka Chakra series of Gallantry awards, were instituted in the year 1961. The award is given for meritorious act of human nature in saving the life of a person in incidents like accidents, electrocution, natural calamities or rescue operation in mines.

Notes:
USA’s second seed Fabiano Caruana clinched the title of the ‘Tata Steel Masters chess tournament’ with a record-winning score of 10 points from 13 rounds. He was assured of the title even before the final round. Only Garry Kasparov (1999) and Magnus Carlsen (2013) have won the tournament by scoring 10 points since 1980.
Current World champion Magnus Carlsen finished second in the tournament. Indian Grand master and five-time Viswanathan Anand settled for the sixth place with 6.5 points from 13 rounds.

Notes:
The former captain of Indian women’s hockey team Sunita Chandra passed away in her residence in Madhya Pradesh. The 76-year-old Hockey player had also received the prestigious Arjuna award.
She had played for the Indian women’s hockey team from 1956 to 1966 and also served as the captain of the team from 1963 to 1966. Several hockey players of the country and leaders mourned her demise. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath hailed her achievements and expressed his condolences to her husband and sons.

Notes:
India’s first underwater metro project, the East-West project of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation is set be launched by March 2022.
The metro project runs partly under the famous Hooghly river of Kolkata. The new line is expected to carry about 9 lakh people daily and will take less than a minute to cross the underwater tunnel of half a kilometre. Rs 41.6 billion was provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency to fund nearly half of the project. The East-West metro project is 74% owned by Union Railway Ministry of India and 26% by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Notes:
The Oxford University Press has selected the hindi word ‘Samvidhaan’ as the Oxford Hindi Word of 2019’. Samvidhaan is the Hindi word which represents the meaning of constitution. It also denotes a body of fundamental principles as per which a state or an organisation is to be governed.
A word or expression that has attracted the attention of large number of people and reflects the mood and character of the past year is selected as the Oxford word. The Oxford Hindi Word of the Year is chosen by the team of Oxford Dictionaries in India with the guidance from a panel of language experts.

Notes:
Indian Navy has been engaged in providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the Cyclone-affected population of Madagascar. The mission launched by the Navy is named as Operation Vanilla.
Madagascar was recently hit by the Cyclone Diane, which caused huge devastation across the country. After its request, the Indian Navy Ship Airavat has been diverted to the city of Antsiranana, in north Madagascar for undertaking Disaster-relief mission. The Indian Navy is expected to set up a medical camp and supply essential relief materials to the local population.

Notes:
Gita Sabharwal of India has been recently appointed as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Thailand, with the approval of the host country.
Gita Sabharwal was serving as the Peace-building and Development Adviser representing the United Nations, in Sri Lanka. The UN Resident Coordinators are the representatives of the UN Development system and leaders of the UN country teams. They also support to member countries in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets.

Notes:
Maharashtra-based renowned rights activist and feminist, Vidya Bal recently passed away. She had been undertaking legal battles against social and gender inequalities throughout her life.
She was the founder of the social organisation ‘Nari Samata Manch’ which aimed at discussing and providing solutions to various problems of women. The centre mainly focussed on reclaiming the rights of rural women. She was also the editor of the progressive magazine ‘Miloon Saryajani’ and author of many literary works. She is well-known for demanding the entry of women in all temples.

Notes:
The Assam Rifles was founded in 1835 and is the oldest paramilitary force of India headquartered in Shillong. They guard the India-Myanmar border at present. It has constructed a combined war memorial in Nagaland for the personnel of Army and Assam Rifles, who were killed while fighting insurgency in the state.
The memorial which is named as ‘Veer Samriti’, has been built at Mokokchung, Nagaland. The names of all the 357 martyrs are inscribed on a single granite stone.