Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2018

Notes:
Jerome Hayden Powell has been sworn-in as the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve for a four-year term on February 5, 2018. The oath was administered by Vice Chairman Randal K. Quarles in the Board Room. He succeeded Janet Yellen, the first woman to lead the US central bank in its 100-year history. He was nominated to the position by President Donald Trump on November 2, 2017, and was later confirmed by the United States Senate. Prior to this appointment, Powell served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors .

Notes:
The Ministry of Railways has signed MoU with Ministry of AYUSH in New Delhi on February 6, 2018 to augment Ayush services in Railway hospitals i.e. New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Guwahati. As per MoU, Ministry of Railways will provide logistics and infrastructure in the form of Land & building, Equipments, Furniture, AYUSH medicines and consumables as well as Manpower. It will organize and provide orientation training to newly recruited AYUSH Doctors and AYUSH Paramedicals. Ministry of AYUSH in turn will provide all other technical inputs required for introduction of AYUSH Systems in the five identified Railways Hospitals. The Ministry will also provide technical knowhow regarding the pharmacopoeia, medicine inventory, hospital planning. Presently, Indian Railways is running 126 Homeopathic Clinics and 40 Ayurvedic Clinics through Staff Benefit Fund under Welfare Section of Establishment Directorate.

Notes:
Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, has launched the Start-up-India ranking framework in New Delhi to help the Startup India initiative to drive economic growth of the country. The tools are: the State and Union Territory Startup Ranking Framework, the Compendium of Good Practices for Promoting Startups in India and the Startup India Kit. These will act as catalysts to help the Startup India initiative to drive India’s economic growth. The key objective of the Startup States and Union Territories ranking framework is to encourage States and Union Territories to take pro-active steps towards strengthening the Startup ecosystems at the local level. The Ranking Framework will measure the impact of each step initiated at the local level for building a strong Startup ecosystem. The Ranking Framework will also enable continuous learning through the dissemination of good practices.

Notes:
John Mahoney (77), an English-American actor of stage, film and television, has passed away in Chicago, United States on February 4, 2018. He was best known for playing the blue-collar patriarch Martin Crane in the American sitcom Frasier, which aired on NBC from 1993 to 2004. In addition to his film and television work, Mahoney also worked as a voice actor and was particularly passionate about his stage work on Broadway and in Chicago theatre. He was born in UK but he got US citizenship in 1959.

Notes:
Haryana has topped the overall medal tally at the first-ever Khelo India School Games (KISG-2018) in New Delhi after winning the 102 medals which include 38 gold and 26 silver. Maharashtra has acquired the 2nd position with 111 medals while Delhi with 94 medals came third. The Khelo India School Games was a part of the Khelo India programme which has been introduced by the Union Sports Ministry to revive the sports culture in the country at the grassroots level and make India a sporting nation. The 16 sports disciplines including Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Shooting, Weightlifting and Wrestling were the part of the weeklong event. It was organized at multiple venues across Delhi including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Notes:
The 4th Nepal Buildcon and Wood International Expo 2018 has started at Kathmandu on February 9, which was inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Kamal Thapa. Manjeev Singh Puri, who is Indian Ambassador to Nepal, graced the event as guest of honour. The purpose of the 3 day expo is to provide a single platform to architects, engineers, builders, construction material suppliers, interior decorators, furniture, lighting, heavy machine and equipment manufacturers and other stake holders. Over 200 brands and products are being displayed through more than 150 stalls. More than 80 companies from India are also participating in the expo through an Indian Pavilion, which has been set up jointly by Ministry of Commerce, CII and Commerce Wing of Indian Embassy.

Notes:
The 2018 International Conference on Unani Medicine has inaugurated by Dr Jitendra Singh (the Union Minister of Development of North-East Region) with theme “Integration of Unani System of Medicine in Mainstream Healthcare” in New Delhi on November 10, 2018. The purpose of the 2-day conference is to promote integration of Unani Medicine in mainstream healthcare across the globe. This year is special for Unani fraternity as it is the 150th Birth Anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan. To mark this day, the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), under the Ministry of AYUSH is organizing the conference as part of Unani Day Celebration. Besides national delegates, countries like South Africa, UK, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, USA, Portugal, UAE, Slovenia, Israel, Hungary, Bahrain, Tajikistan, etc is also participating in the conference. The conference will cover issues related to globalization, research, standardization, quality control, safety assessment, and industry perspective.

Notes:
The Almatti Dam is a hydroelectric project on the Krishna River in North Karnataka, which was completed in July 2005. Geographically, it is located in the Bijapur district. The target annual electric output of the dam is 560 MU. The dam holds a gross water storage capacity of 123.08 TMC at 519 meters MSL.

Notes:
The National Productivity Council (NPC) is observing National Productivity Day (NPD) on 12th February 2018, and National Productivity Week till 18th February. It is the 60th Anniversary of the National Productivity Council (NPC) and is being celebrated as Diamond Jubilee Year. The theme for the 2018 National Productivity Week is – Industry 4.0 Leapfrog Opportunity for India. Industry 4.0 would mean the convergence of real and virtual worlds – the next phase in bringing together conventional and modern technologies in manufacturing. This will result in the “Smart Factory”, which is characterized by versatility, resource efficiency, ergonomic design and direct integration with business partners.

Notes:
Swayam Prakash Pani (41), a 2000-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, has taken charge as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Range on February 12, 2018. With this, he became the youngest officer to hold the post. Pani has served in key positions, including deputy IG, south Kashmir range, senior superintendent of police, Kulgam and Kathua. He has also held position in the served in the Intelligence Bureau and National Investigation Agency (NIA). He replaced Munir Ahmad Khan, who has been given the charge of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) security and home guards.