Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
Indian golfer Shiv Kapur has won the Royal Cup at Pattaya on December 31, 2017, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017. Kapur, who had just one win in almost 11 years till April this year, has now won three times in last 8 months. This latest win marks Kapur’s fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title as he won twice on European Challenge Tour also.

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:
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Defence Minister, has launched a new state-of-the-art incubation centre “Centre for Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning (CEOL)” at Mallikatta in Mangaluru, Karnataka on December 29, 2017. The aim of CEOL is to nurture talent, foster the spirit of innovation and to support young engineers to realize their ideas. This is part of the project ‘Startup Coast’ under which it is proposed to establish innovation centres, incubation set-up, tinkering labs and co-working space for startups on the west coast in Karnataka. The CEOL, which will be managed by the Society headed by Deputy Commissioner, will provide perfect ecosystem for youngsters to work on their ideas. Sitharaman has allocated Rs. 1.5 crore from her MPLAD (Member of Parliament’s Local Area Development) scheme for the development of CEOL. She represents Karnataka as an MP in the Rajya Sabha.

Notes:
Vidarbha cricket team has created history by winning the 2017 Ranji Trophy tournament with a thumping 9-wicket win over Delhi at the Holkar stadium in Indore on the 4th and penultimate day of their final on January 1, 2018. It is Vidarbha’s first Ranji Trophy title. After conceding a 252-run first innings lead, Delhi were bowled out for 280 in their second innings, setting a target of merely 29 runs for Vidarbha. Vidarbha lost only one wicket and took only five overs to chase down the target which gave them their first Ranji Trophy title. Rajneesh Gurbani’s 6 for 59, including a hat-trick and a century from Akshay Wadkar were the key moments in Vidarbha scripting a fairytale run.

Notes:
Vijay Keshav Gokhale, the 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has been appointed the new Foreign Secretary of India. He will succeed S Jaishankar, whose term ends on January 28, 2018. Currently, he is Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He has also held the post of India’s ambassador to China during the term of the Narendra Modi government. Before that, he served as India’s envoy to Germany and Hong Kong. Above all, he is known for his fluency in the Chinese language, as well as his long experience in dealing with East Asia, and China in particular. He has served as Director (China and East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and went on to be Joint Secretary (East Asia). Gokhale is the only IFS to have served as India’s Representative both in Taiwan and China.

Notes:
Rajneesh Gurbani is the India’s right-arm fast bowler who plays for Vidarbha cricket team. Recently, Vidarbha cricket team has created history by winning the 2017 Ranji Trophy tournament with a thumping 9-wicket win over Delhi in the final at the Holkar stadium in Indore on January 1, 2018. In the final, Gurbani took 6 wickets for 59 including a hat-trick and has been named as Man of the Match. He finished the season as the second-highest wicket-taker with 39 wickets.

Notes:
The Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is a leading research institute, which is located in Nainital, Uttarakhand. It is an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI) and has specialization in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Atmospheric Sciences.

Notes:
Radha Vishwanathan (83), Carnatic vocalist and former classical dancer, has passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on January 2, 2018. She was the daughter of legendary classical singer M S Subbulakshmi. She performed extensively with her mother for nearly five decades on stage.

Notes:
The first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam has listed 19 million people out of the 32.9 million applicants as legal Indian citizens in a massive exercise aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the state that borders Bangladesh. The Office of the State Coordinator of NRC Assam has provided five alternatives to check for the names included in the draft. One of them alternative is to check the printed version of the list at the NRC Seva Kendras between 10 AM to 4 PM till January 31 on all working days. One can also call at the 24X7 tollfree helpline number 15107 from Assam and 18003453762 from outside Assam. The NRC was last updated in Assam way back in 1951. Then, it had recorded 80 lakh citizens in the State. India and Bangladesh share 4,096-km-long border, of which 262 km falls in Assam.

Notes:
Recently, the Rajasthan Government and HDFC Bank have signed MoU to promote and nurture startups in the state. As per pact, HDFC Bank will team up with the state government to provide end-to-end solutions including current accounts, credit cards and more under its SmartUp programme. HDFC Bank will also assist startups in showcasing their offerings to the general public.