Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
The mini-ministerial meeting of WTO members from both rich and developing nations is proposed to be hosted by India in February 2018 to revitalize the multi-lateral trade body. The objective of the meeting is to discuss ways to revitalise the WTO, which is the best available multilateral institution to ensure predictable and transparent system of rule-making in the area of international trade. About 40 WTO member countries are expected to participate in the meeting, which is taking place after collapse of the ministerial talks held in Buenos Aires in December 2017. The meeting would be in the backdrop of rich nations forming groupings to prepare ground for pushing new issues such as investment facilitation, preparing rules for e-commerce, promoting gender equality and reducing subsidy on fisheries.

Notes:
China has launched the world’s largest human genome research project to document the genetic makeup of one lakh people to help generate the precision medicines for the future. The project would detect the genetic links between health and sickness and involve one person from different ethnic backgrounds and regions. The project will collect the genetic data of Han ethnic majority people from all over the country and 9 other ethnic minority groups with a population of more than 5 million. There are about 25,000 human genes and the project aims to decode the hereditary information contained in each. The project includes four stages – collecting, sequencing gene samples, gathering the data and sharing the findings. As per report, the project will conclude all its gene sequencing and analysis within four years, which will also make it the fastest genome engineering project in the world, the report said. The report did not disclose the budget.

Notes:
On 1st January 2018, the Assamese and Manipuri language versions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Official website (www.pmindia.gov.in) were launched. The website can now be accessed in Assamese and Manipuri in keeping with the requests from the citizens of the two states. With this launch, the PM INDIA website is available in 13 regional languages namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in addition to English and Hindi. The initiative is part of the on-going efforts of the Prime Minister Modi to reach out to the people and communicate with them in their own language.

Notes:
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) is an autonomous institute constituted under the Department of Science and Technology, GoI. The institute is located at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and is a seat of higher learning in the field of plant fossil research. The BSIP, established in 1946, was an outcome of vision of the renowned Indian botanist Prof. Birbal Sahni.

Notes:
Bengaluru will host the first edition of Karnataka International Travel Expo’ (KITE) at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center (BIEC) from February 28, 2018. The expo is being touted as the largest B2B travel event in India, which is providing a platform for over 400 registered buyers and media representatives from over 25 countries. The government expects to attract over 1,000 delegates and facilitate 10,000 or so meetings during the 3-day event. The purpose of expo is to project Karnataka globally and attract tourist footfall, with emphasis on promoting the state’s adventure and wildlife, business travel, pilgrimage, UNESCO world heritage sites, festivals of Karnataka, etc. The event would provide impetus to inbound travel and tourism and enhance the marketing efforts of Karnataka Tourism to promote destinations in the State.

Notes:
Ravi Menon, an Indian-origin banker in Singapore has been named as the best central bank governor in Asia-Pacific for 2018 by the leading UK-based magazine ‘The Banker’ for his contribution in the makeover of Singapore’s financial system. He is the managing director of Singapore’s central bank Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Notes:
Peter Denis Sutherland (71), the former Director General (DG) of World Trade Organization (WTO), has passed away in Dublin, Ireland. Sutherland became the WTO’s first chief in 1995, having previously been head of its precursor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). He also served as Ireland’s youngest Attorney General and then youngest European Union (EU) commissioner during the 1980s.

Notes:
Soon, India’s second Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) will be set up by the Union Government in Arunachal Pradesh as part of tapping the potential of the Northeastern region. The first FTII was set up in Pune, an autonomous institute operating under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). Film actor Anupam Kher is the current Chairman of this institute.

Notes:
Iran has recently banned teaching of English language in primary schools to fight against western cultural invasion. Usually, the teaching of English starts in middle school in Iran, at the ages of 12 to 14, but some primary schools below that age also have English classes. The head of the state-run High Education Council, Mehdi Navid-Adham stated that teaching English in government and non-government primary schools in the official curriculum are against laws and regulations.

Notes:
The World Hindi Day (WHD) is observed every year on January 10 to mark the first anniversary of World Hindi Conference (WHC) which was held in 1975. The first WHC was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Apart from India, the language is also spoken in Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Fiji and Mauritius. Apart from this, the National Hindi Divas (NHD) is celebrated every year in India on September 14 to mark the day on which the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the Official Language of the Union.