Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2020

Notes:
Indian boxer Mohammed Hussamuddin was seen in news recently as he clinched the silver medal in the 57-kg category, at the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament. The tournament was being held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Hussammudin, who is a Commonwealth Games bronze-winner, lost the final bout to Italy’s Francesco Maietta and settled with the silver. Other two Indian boxers who won bronze medals in the tournament were four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa and former world silver-medallist Sonia Lather.

Notes:
According to the recent bid document released by the Government, it would sell all its 100 per cent of its equity share capital in Air India, which includes the Air India’s 100 per cent stake in AI Express Limited and 50 per cent in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited.
The government has also announced that it would absorb 30 per cent more in debt and liabilities, than it did in the previous year. March 17 has been set as the dead line for the submission of bids for the sale, which is to be implemented through the open bidding route. The net worth for the interested entities is also reduced to Rs.3500 Cr from the earlier limit of Rs.5000 Cr.

Notes:
The third Global Potato Conclave recently commenced in Gandhinagar, with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address through video-conferencing.
Two Global Potato Conferences were organised in 1999 and 2008, one in every 10 years. The conclave for this decade is being organised by the Indian Potato Association (IPA) in association with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Shimla based ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute and International Potato Centre (CIP), Peru. The three-day global event will showcase the achievements in potato research and to set a blueprint for the decade.

Notes:
The 11th edition of the biennial mega defence exhibition, DefExpo 2020 is to be held in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh- Lucknow from February 5 to 9, 2020. The theme of this edition of the event is ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’. The sub-theme is announced as ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’.
Recently it was announced that the number of companies participating in this year’s edition has reached 1000, and this is set to become the biggest ever DefExpo to be held in India by far. In December 2019, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the DefExpo app, which provides detailed information about the event.

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:
The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik recently launched a Virtual Police station under the state’s flagship 5-T initiative.
The Chief Minister also launched two other innovative projects of the Odisha Police called Road Accident case documents module and Medico Legal opinion system. The Virtual Police Station will enable the citizens directly lodge FIR online without having to visit the police stations. The other two applications will help in downloading the required documents and online medical examination reports of accident victims.

Notes:
The think tank to Indian Government, NITI Aayog has ranked the aspirational districts on the basis of incremental progress made across six developmental areas in December 2019.
As per the list, Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh has been placed in the top position, followed by Belangir district of Odisha. Andhra Pradesh’s YSR district is in the third place. The six developmental areas which are taken into account are: Health and nutrition, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, education, skill development and infrastructure.

Notes:
The 34th Surajkund International Crafts Mela is set to be held from February 1 to 16, 2020, at Surajkund, Haryana. It is an annual flagship event organised by the state government of Haryana.
This year, Himachal Pradesh is selected as the theme state for the festival. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur attended the inaugural ceremony of the Mela. Various cultural programmes and exhibitions are arranged to promote the tourism of the state. This will enable the state to showcase its tourism potential and attract more people to the state.

Notes:
According to the recent announcement by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Telangana has emerged as the best performing state in promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all in the SDG Index 2019. With a score of 82, the state has topped the country, which is followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which scored 72.
Telangana has also improved in several other SDG categories in 2019, when compared to the previous year, according the recent data in NITI Aayog’s website.

Notes:
e-commerce major Flipkart said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gujarat state Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation (GSHHDC) for promotion of local handicrafts.
The pact is part of the Samarth initiative of Flipkart, which aims at assisting local artisans, weavers and craftsmen to access the global market and establish their business on the Flipkart Marketplace. Under the recent agreement, eligible sellers of the state will receive training and incubation support from Flipkart in many fields including business insights, dedicated seller support and warehousing.