Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched Operation Alert along the over 200 km long International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to curb the increasing movement of infiltrating terrorists from across the border.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended the annual conference of DGPs and IGPs at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh on January 7, 2018. Over 250 top police officers from all over the country are taking part in the three-day conference. The 2-day Director Generals of Police (DGPs) Conference is an annual event in which top police officers from all over the country share and discussed security-related issues. Holding the Annual DGP Conference outside the national capital, is in line with Prime Minister’s vision that such conferences should be held across the country, and not just confined to Delhi. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had addressed the conference in Guwahati in 2014, Dhordo, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat in 2015 and National Police Academy, Hyderabad in 2016.

Notes:
T S Tirumurti, a 1985-batch officers of Indian Foreign Service, has been was appointed the Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry on January 5, 2018. According to the order issued by the personnel ministry, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post, in place of Vijay Keshav Gokhale, who was recently named as the Foreign Secretary. Prior to this post, Tirumurti was the India’s High Commissioner to Kuala Lumpur.

Notes:
Gilles Simon of France has won the Tata Open Maharashtra Tennis trophy at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on January 6, 2018. In the summit clash, the unseeded French player humbled big-serving second seeded Kevin Anderson in straight sets 7-6, 6-2. Simon is ranked 89 in the world, while Anderson is ranked 14th. The tournament is India’s only ATP event. For the past 22 years, the tournament had been associated with the big metro cities, New Delhi hosting the inaugural edition in 1996, and Chennai becoming home to it for the next 21 years. This time, the event moved to the tier two city Pune and was rechristened Tata Open Maharashtra.

Notes:
The World Sweet Festival (WSF-2018) will be held in Hyderabad from January 13 to showcase the cosmopolitan nature of Hyderabad in a sweet way. The sweets from around 25 states in India and 15 foreign countries, to be prepared locally by members of various associations, will be displayed at the event, being organized by the Telangana government. The 3-day festival would be organised in association with various cultural, language and region-based associations of people, including those from foreign countries living in Hyderabad. The event would be held along with kites festival which the Telangana government organises every year.

Notes:
Actor Sterling K Brown has created history by becoming the first African-American to win Golden Globe for best actor in a drama television series for his role as Randall Pearson on NBC’s breakout hit “This Is Us”. He won the award at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards (AGGA-2018) at Beverly Hills in California on January 8, 2018. Elizabeth Moss has won the Golden Globe trophy in Best Drama Actress TV category for her performance in “The Handmaids Tale”. Actor Nicole Kidman won the award for the Best Actress in a Limited Series at the event for her work on “Big Little Lies” and took the opportunity to speak out against abuse.

Notes:
Elina Svitolina, a Ukrainian professional tennis player, has won the 2018 women’s singles Brisbane International tournament in Brisbane, Australia on January 6, 2018. She beat Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1 in the final to win her 10th title on the women’s elite tour.

Notes:
Sunny Verghese, the Singapore-based Indian-origin businessman, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). He succeeded Paul Polman, the CEO of Unilever, on January 1 and will serve a two-year term. The WBCSD is a global network of more than 200 CEOs who are responsible for a combined revenue of more than $8.5 trillion and 19 million employees.

Notes:
John Watts Young (87), the legendary astronaut who walked on the Moon and later commanded the first space shuttle flight, has passed away at Houston, United States on January 5, 2018. He became the 9th person to walk on the Moon as Commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Young enjoyed the longest career of any astronaut, becoming the first person to fly six space missions (with seven launches, counting his lunar liftoff) over the course of 42 years of active NASA service. He was the only spaceman to span NASA’s Gemini, Apollo and shuttle programs and became the first person to rocket away from Earth six times.

Notes:
The 4th edition of International Dharma Dhamma conference (IDDC-2018) has inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in Rajgir, Bihar on January 11, 2018. This 3-day conference has been jointly organised by India Foundation, Nalanda University, Ministry of External Affairs, ASEAN-India and Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha. The conference is an endeavour of Nalanda University as a bridge between India and other nations. Over one hundred dignatories and experts from 11 countries will hold deliberations and present research papers on various topics related to Buddhism and other religions and global peace. The conference brings together a wide array of dignatories who are responsible for governance, policy making and giving directions to countries. Sages, monks and Swamis will also share their spiritual views in different sessions.