Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2018

Notes:
Hukum Singh (79), the BJP MP from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, has passed away in Noida, Uttar Pradesh on February 3, 2018. He belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was a member of the Panel of Chairpersons of the 16th Lok Sabha and the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Water Resources. He was 7-time MLA from UP and had also served as a Cabinet Minister in Uttar Pradesh governments under both BJP and the Congress.

Notes:
Eminent molecular biologist Professor Michael N Hall of the Biozentrum University of Basel, Switzerland, has been chosen for the 2018 Genome Valley Excellence Award for his pioneering work in discovering the nutrient-activated TOR (Target of Rapamycin) proteins and their central role in the metabolic control of cell growth. The award will be presented to him during BioAsia 2018, an annual flagship event of the Telangana government. The award, instituted in 2004, was in recognition of the transformative advances toward biomedical research and facilitating improvement in human life and was chosen by an international advisory board consisting of eminent personalities of the life sciences industry.

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 first-ever Pelican Bird Festival-2018 was held at the Atapaka Bird Sanctuary on Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh on February 4, 2018. Over 5,000 pelican birds from various countries reach Kolleru Lake every year during winter by travelling over 3500 km. The Kolleru lake is located between Krishna and Godavari delta and is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country. The fest was jointly organised by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Krishna district administration.

Notes:
The 5th edition of the South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference (SARPPC-2018) was inaugurated by Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, in New Delhi on February 5, 2018. The theme of the conference is “Public Procurement and Service Delivery”. The purpose of the 3-day Conference was to enable the Heads of Public Procurement and other key stakeholders in the eight South Asian countries to meet and learn from one another and from experts in the field of public procurement. The conference was hosted by Government of India (GOI), through the Public Procurement Division (PPD) of the Ministry of Finance and All India Management Association (AIMA). It is held under the auspices of the South Asia Region Public Procurement Network (SARPPN), which is sponsored and facilitated by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.

Notes:
The World Wetlands Day (WWD) is observed every year on February 2 to mark the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the city of Ramsar in Iran in 1971. The 2018 theme is “Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future”. It highlights the value of wetlands in securing local livelihoods through activities as fishing, rice farming, tourism and water provision. The day is observed to promote, create awareness and ensure positive and affirmative action for conservation of wetlands.

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:
B.G. Banakar (91), the former speaker of Karnataka legislative assembly, has passed away in Haveri district, Karnataka on February 7, 2018. He was elected thrice to the Legislative Assembly and was Minister for Animal Husbandry in the Devaraj Urs Cabinet. He served as Speaker of the Assembly for four years from 1985 to 1989.

Notes:
Justice Abhilasha Kumari has been sworn-in as new Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur on February 9, 2018. Governor Dr. Najma Heptulla administered her the oath of office at Raj Bhavan in Imphal. Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, Ministers, MLAs and Judges attended the swearing-in ceremony. Earlier, Justice Abhilasha was a judge of the Gujarat High Court.

Notes:
R.K Singh, the Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, has launched a web-based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application “ASH TRACK” in New Delhi on February 8, 2018. These platforms will enable better management of the ash produced by thermal power plants by providing an interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc. The app will show coal based power plants situated within the radius of 100 km and 300 km from the user’s location. Therefore, any app user can select power station from where he wants to take fly ash. Ash availability, distance from user’s location, details of contact person will be displayed in the app.