Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2018

Notes:
R.K. Singh, the Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, has inaugurated the ‘International R&D Conclave’ in New Delhi. It is a 2-day conference on Emerging Opportunities and Challenges of R&D in Indian Power Sector. It has been organized by Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The conference was stressed upon the need of a dedicated R&D department in CEA to coordinate the research in the power sector. The sessions in the Conference will focus on R&D activities in Thermal Generation, Hydro Generation, Renewable Energy, Transmission, Grid Operation, Distribution, Trading, Marketing and Tariff.

Notes:
Neelabh Mishra (57), the Veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of Delhi-based National Herald, has passed away in Chennai Hospital. In 2016, he steered the re-launch of National Herald, the newspaper founded by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938, as a digital news website. In 2017, Mishra relaunched the National Herald as Sunday newspaper, and then National Herald’s sister publications Navjivan and Qaumi Awaz as news websites.

Notes:
Michael McCormack has been elected as the new Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, after being selected as the leader of the country’s National Party. McCormack succeeded former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce who was forced to resign last week amid public anger over an extramarital affair with his former press secretary. The leader of the National Party automatically becomes deputy prime minister under the terms of the coalition agreement with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal party.

Notes:
TSR Subramanian (79), the former Cabinet secretary of India, has passed away in New Delhi on February 26, 2018. He served as the cabinet secretary from 1996 to 1998. Subramanian worked hard to protect the bureaucracy from political interference. He was part of a group of bureaucrats that filed a PIL seeking directions from the Supreme Court for insulating bureaucracy from political interference following which the Supreme Court rolled out key civil services reforms in 2013. He was a 1961 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh Cadre. He also wrote several books on India and governance such as “India at Turning Point: The Road to Good Governance”, “GovernMint In India: An Inside View” and “Journeys Through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India”.

Notes:
Kanakalata Mohanty (82), the noted Odia author, has passed away in Bhubaneswar, Odisha  on February 26, 2018. She has written several novels, including ‘Ete Andhara’, ‘Kete Jwala’ and ‘Anuradha’, and more than 100 short stories. She was also recognized by All India Radio (AIR) as a noted lyricist, particularly for her devotional songs on Lord Jagannath.

Notes:
Sagar Chaya Vanchar, director of Marathi film ‘Redu’ (Radio), has bagged the prestigious Aravindan Puraskaram for the best debutant director of 2017, instituted in memory of iconic Malayalam filmmaker late G Aravindan. The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 25,000, a memento and a citation, is instituted by the Chalachitra Film Society. The expert panel observed that Vanchari’s film expresses the ripples and changes that resulted in the life of a rural Konkan village during the seventies after the arrival of a radio in the hamlet. The award will be presented on March 15, 2018, on the 27th death anniversary of Aravindan.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu government has tied up with Microsoft to accelerate cloud technology adoption. The partnership aims to reform education sector, build tech capacity and enhance digital literacy across all levels. As a part of the agreement, Microsoft will adopt 7 schools identified by the government and train their teachers and students around building 21st century skills which includes critical thinking, creative coding and gaming, app development, robotics, and entrepreneurship. It will also offer its Microsoft Innovative Educator Program to all educators in primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary education across the state. Additionally, the company will train and provide a digital literacy certification District Education Officers (DEOs) in Tamil Nadu. 

Notes:
The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed a MoU with the Regional Center for Science and Technology Transfer (RCSTT) of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) for designating Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow (CSIR-CIMAP) as Coordinating Center on Medicinal Plants. The IORA Center at CSIR-CIMAP will establish a database on the important medicinal plants, their value added products, related experts and industries of the IORA member states and organize meetings and training programmes to promote trade, commerce and scientific exchanges to complement the strength and limitation of the member states. The IORA is an association of 21 countries and 7 dialogue partners which have identified 6 areas of cooperation including medicinal plants.

Notes:
Vijayendra Saraswathi has become the 70th Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, traditionally referred to as Kamakshi, on 28th February 2018 with the demise of Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamiji. The Kanchipuram mutt is a Hindu monastic institution, located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is a pilgrimage for Hindus all around the world and particularly in South India. It is known as Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, and the head of the matha is referred to as a “Sankaracharya”. The mutt was established by Adi Shankaracharya about 2520 years ago.

Notes:
The 2nd India-Korea Business Summit 2018 was held in New Delhi on February 28 to strengthen the economic relationship, boost trade relations and increase investments between India and Republic of Korea. The 2018 theme was “India-Korea: Scaling up the Special Strategic Relationship through Trade and Investments”. The summit addressed various issues across industries and was attended by over a 1000 delegates, including 425 South Korean delegates from 90 Korean companies, senior government officials and political leaders. It was organized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, in partnership with ChosunILbo, KOTRA, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Invest India.