Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

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:
Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, has bagged the broadcast and production rights of Union Sports Ministry’s flagship ‘Khelo India School Games (KISG)’ for a period of five years from 2018 to 2022. The first-ever Khelo India School Games 2018 will be held from January 31 for under-17 age group (boys and girls) across 16 sports disciplines. The purpose of KISG is to inculcate a nationwide culture of sports through a grassroots sports revolution. The KISG 2018 is the marquee event under revamped Khelo India porgramme. The event is expected to host around 6000 athletes and officials in its first edition. The best talent selected through the competition will be amongst the 1000 (one thousand) budding athletes eligible for a scholarship worth 5 lakhs each per year for a period of eight years. Every year, new athletes will be added under the Khelo India scheme. Thus, over the period of the scheme, the country will have a solid bench-strength for all sports.

Notes:
Salil S Parekh, an aeronautical engineer from IIT Bombay, has formally taken charge as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Infosys on January 2, 2018. Parekh joins Infosys from Capgemini, where he was a member of the Group Executive Board. He has Master of Engineering degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.

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The Karnataka government has recently received the approval for purchase of electric vehicles from the Department of Heavy Industries of the Union Government under FAME India subsidised scheme. The state will purchase 40 electric buses, 100 four wheelers and 500 three wheelers at maximum of 60% subsidy under the scheme. The subsidy support is also provided for setting up electricity charging infrastructure across Bengaluru. The electric vehicles to ply in the city as public transport will protect the environment, save fossil fuel and ensure public health. The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India was launched in 2015 under the National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM) aims at promoting eco-friendly vehicles in the country.

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G Sathiyan has become India’s highest- ranked player in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings. Sathiyan (ranked 49th) surpassed his compatriot the legendary Sharath Kamal (51st). They are followed by Soumyajit Ghosh ranked 58th, Harmeet Desai ranked 60th, Sanil Shetty ranked 68th and Anthony Amalraj ranked 87th. As for the women, Manika Batra is topping the world chart among Indians at 62, while Mouma Das is ranked 74th and Madhurika Patkar is ranked 81th. The ITTF rankings have undergone a change after the new system was approved in September 2017. The new simplified and comprehensive system provides for a more dynamic world ranking based on paddlers’ performance and results during the entire year.

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R Margabandu (83), an advocate by profession and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Tamil Nadu, has passed away on December 28, 2017. He represented Tamil Nadu in the Upper House from July 1995 to July 2001. He was the leader of the AIADMK party in the House.

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Turkey’s endangered ‘bird language’ has entered the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is an unusual and very efficient whistle language used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey. UNESCO has accepted the “bird language” of Black Sea villagers as an endangered part of world heritage in need of urgent protection. Around 10,000 people, mostly in the district of Canakci in Giresun province, still use the highly-developed and high pitch system of whistling to communicate in the rugged terrain where most of the times they cannot see each other. This form of communication which dates to some 500 years ago, during the Ottoman Empire, was widespread across the Black Sea regions, but 50 years ago it suffered the impact of the progression of technology and nowadays the ever rapid growing of cellular mobile systems has put this cultural heritage under serious threat.

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Abhay, the 1986-batch police officer of Odisha cadre, has taken charge as the new chief of the of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at the NCB headquarters in Delhi on January 2, 2018. He will hold the post the post till 18th of November 2019. Prior to this appointment, he was Additional DG (Training) in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The post of the NCB DG was lying vacant since April 2017 when the incumbent R R Bhatnagar was appointed as the CRPF DG. Special Secretary in the home ministry Rina Mitra was handling the additional charge of NCB DG since then. The NCB, under the command of the Union Home Ministry, is the apex coordinating and enforcement agency in the country against drug crimes and for countering drugs abuse.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the Conference on Transformation of Aspirational Districts at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on January 5, 2018. During the conference, which is being organized by NITI Aayog, the Prime Minister will interact with officials in-charge of transformation of over 100 backward districts. This event is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a New India by 2022. Niti Ayaog has identified 115 such districts. It nominated senior government officials as ‘Prabhari’ officers for each of these districts in November 2017. They will act as a bridge between the Centre and the district and will coordinate efforts between the Centre and states.

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The 31st International Kite Festival (Uttarayan) has launched at Sabarmati River Front in Ahmedabad, Gujarat from January 7, 2018. The week-long colorful festival has inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the presence of Governor Shri O.P.Kohli. As per reports, 149 foreign kite fliers from 44 countries are participating in this edition of international kite festival. More than 96 kite fliers from 18 states and 290 kite fliers of Gujarat will also take part in this week-long event.