Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2018

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 4th meeting of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) was held in New Delhi on February 12, 2018 under the chairmanship of Dr Bibek Debroy. During the meeting, the Council discussed the possible modalities of implementing the National Health Scheme announced by the government in the Union Budget-2018-19. Besides, presentations were made on Health Reforms, World Bank Report on Indian Economy and on Indian Fiscal – Monetary Framework.

Notes:
Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister, has launched the Centre for learning Sanskrit language in Gujarat University in Ahmedabad on February 10, 2018. The first-of-its-kind spoken Sanskrit centre centre will offer a six-month course for people on how to speak the language. The classes will be held on Saturday and Sunday. In it, no prior knowledge of Sanskrit is required and the first batch shall begin in 10 days. The fees have been fixed at Rs 500.

Notes:
The Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari has released India’s first-ever Highway Capacity Manual (Indo-HCM) in New Delhi on February 12, 2018. The manual has been developed by CSIR – CRRI on the basis of an extensive, country-wide study of the traffic characteristics on different categories of roads like single lane, two-lane, multi-lane urban roads, inter-urban highways and expressways and the associated intersections on these roads. The manual lays down guidelines for when and how to expand or manage different types of roads and their intersections and the level of services to be put in place. It is designed to be a useful tool for guiding road engineers and policy makers in the country. It has been developed based on the unique nature and diversity of traffic on Indian roads.

Notes:
India’s financial capital Mumbai, with a total wealth of $950 billion, has been named 12th wealthiest city among the top 15 wealthiest cities globally. Mumbai also features among the top 10 cities in terms of billionaire population. The city is home to 28 billionaires, individuals with $1 billion or more in net assets. According to a new report by New World Wealth, the list was topped by New York with a total wealth of $3 trillion. London ranked second in the list with $2.7 trillion, followed by Tokyo ($2.5 trillion), and San Francisco Bay area ($2.3 trillion). Total wealth, refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each city. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. Government funds are excluded from the figures.

Notes:
The 3-day International Conference on Operations and Maintenance “Indian Power Stations 2018” has inaugurated by R.K. Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New and Renewable Energy, in New Delhi on February 13. The Minister exhorted the NTPC to become India’s power sector multinational by setting up power plants in other Nations and become world’s largest power producer. He also added that there was huge opportunity to export cheap power to neighbouring countries which will be beneficial for the entire region.

Notes:
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai has launched the test of the world’s first autonomous pods at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on February 11, 2018. The autonomous pods are designed and engineered in cooperation with the US-based Next Future Transportation. These are designed to travel short and medium distances in dedicated lanes. They can be coupled together in as little 15 seconds or detached – depending on the riders’ destination – in five seconds. Each pod is fitted with cameras and electromechanical technologies to carry out the coupling and detaching, which can be activated while the pod is in motion.

Notes:
India’s Umang App has won the Best M-Government Service award in the Accessible Government category while Aadhaar won the best emerging technology award at the recently concluded 6th edition of the World Government Summit 2018 in Dubai, where India had the status of ‘Guest of Honour’ country. The summit acknowledged technology pioneers for providing global solutions to global challenges. The mobile application “Umang App” provides users a unified platform that combines government departments and services, facilitating transactions for citizens. The award acknowledged Government of India’s efforts to provide convenient services to its citizens. The Aadhaar project was recognized as the world’s largest biometric enabled identification programme which provides access to service income tax, passport services, bank accounts, social services benefits aimed at providing 1.2 billion citizens unique identification card with fingerprint, eye-print and other vital data. The award recognized the efforts of the Government of India (GoI)’s invention and innovation in the field of technology and making the country completely digitalized.

Notes:
The Bheemgarh dam is built across the Wainganga river in Chhapara tehsil of Seoni district of Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The dam is also known as Sanjay Sarovar Bandh and Upper Wainganga dam. It is known as the biggest Mud / Earthen dam of Asia. It is bounded by mountains from all sides

Notes:
Vikas Sathaye, a Pune-born person has been honoured with the Scientific and Engineering Academy Award at the Oscars Scientific and Technical Awards 2018 at Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, California. Sathaye and his team received the award for his contribution towards conceptualisation, designing, engineering, and the implementation of the ‘Shotover K1 Camera System’ during his stint at Shotover Camera Systems in Queenstown, New Zealand. The Scientific and Engineering Award is given for scientific achievements that produce a definite influence on the advancement of the motion picture industry.