Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2018

Notes:
Cyril Ramaphosa, head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), has been sworn-in as the new President of South Africa on 15 February 2018. He was elected as the fifth president of South Africa by the ruling party politicians after the resignation of Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa, who is an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader and businessman, served as the Deputy President of South Africa from 2014 to 2018.

Notes:
Sanjiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Finserv, has been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 for solutions in lending, life and general insurance and wealth advisory. He will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from June 13, 2018. Dr. E Sreedharan was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for transforming the face of public transportation in India.

Notes:
Khwaja Haleem (78), the former Uttar Pradesh minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader, has passed away in New Delhi on February 16, 2018. Haleem, who belongs to a family of freedom fighters, completed his masters’ degree from the Aligarh Muslim University in 1969. He started his political career with the Youth Congress in the early 1970s.He later joined the Lok Dal and was elected to the Vidhan Sabha from Aligarh Assembly constituency in 1980. He remained a Mulayam Singh loyalist ever since, and was elected twice for the Vidhan Parishad. In 1990, Haleem was appointed as the chairman of Uttar Pradesh Minority Commission and was the member of the Samajwadi Party Central Committee for nearly two decades. In 2014, he was appointed as advisor in tourism department by then chief minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav.

Notes:
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated the 8th edition of the Theatre Olympics at Lal Quila in New Delhi on April 17. The event has been organised by National School of Drama under the aegis of Ministry of Culture. The theme of the festival is – “Flag of Friendship”. The 51-day long nationwide theatre extravaganza will feature Indian and international theatre groups, eminent theatre personalities along with their performances. 30 countries are participating from across the globe. It will include 60 ‘living legends’ series conversing with theatre enthusiasts and 50 ‘master classes’ on various art forms. The 51-day long nationwide theatre extravaganza will be held in various cities. The event will continue till 8th of April. There will be exhibitions, seminars, symposia, interactive discussions and workshops with well-known authors, actors, designers and directors.

Notes:
Legendary singer Asha Bhosle has been conferred with the 5th edition of Yash Chopra Memorial Award 2018 on February 16 in Mumbai for her outstanding contribution to the Hindi film industry. The award has been instituted by MP T Subbarami Reddy in the memory of Chopra, who died in 2012, in association with Anu Ranjan and Shashi Ranjan. The award also carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. The previous recipients of the award were Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Shah Rukh Khan.

Notes:
India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) centre will be set up by the Maharashtra Government in Mumbai. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will launch the plan for the institute during the Magnetic Maharashtra Summit and at the Global Economic Conference in Canada in March 2018. The AI institute will give a fresh impetus to the fourth industrial revolution, and promote Mumbai as an investment destination in innovations and data analysis. The main aim of the centre is to integrate artificial intelligence in the field of social development.

Notes:
The National conference on “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income” has started at National Agriculture Science Complex (NASC) in New Delhi on February 19, 2018. It is organized by the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW). The 2-day conference is organized with a view to identifying various critical issues relating to agriculture and farmers’ welfare and finding appropriate solutions. The main aim of the conference is to build a consensus around appropriate recommendations that will help in shaping the vision of the government. The participants of conference comprising farmers, farmers’ associations, scientists, economists, trade industry, NGOs and policymakers. In the Budget 2018, the government has proposed fixing of the minimum support price of Kharif crops at least 1.5 times over the cost of production.

Notes:
Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2018 Rotterdam Open men’s singles tennis tournament by defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the final by 6-2-6-2 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was his 97th career title. This was Federer’s 3rd title in Rotterdam following successes in 2005 and 2012. In the Open era, only American Jimmy Connors has won more titles than Federer, with 109.

Notes:
Uma Bharati, the Union minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, has launched the Bagori Ganga Gram project, New Swajal Project at Bagori and Gangotri Iconic Place at Dunda village in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on February 20, 2018. Besides creating cleanliness, providing basic amenities to the people of Ganga bank villages, these projects would also generate employment. The Open Defecation Free (ODF) village Bagori is one of the 24 pilot Ganga Villages picked up to be transformed into Ganga Grams this year. Swajal is a community owned drinking water programme for sustained drinking water supply.

Notes:
The 22nd edition of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT-2018) has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a video conference in Hyderabad on Feb 19, which will continue till Feb 21. The WCIT is held for the first time in India. Beside this, the 26th edition of NASSCOM India Leadership Forum (ILF) was also held in the same venue later on. Since NASSCOM is the host of the WCIT, the 26th edition of India Leadership Forum (ILF) is a limited edition. Telangana is the state partner for both the events. At least 20 CEOs from Fortune 500 companies and 100 other top executives besides over 5,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference.