Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan has recently signed a friendship agreement for cooperation in various fields including environment, cultural exchange, education, tourism and heritage, and air pollution. Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and Governor of Fukuoka Hiroshi Ogawa represented the two governments. The two cities signed this agreement for three years, with effect from April 2017, till 2020. The first MoU/Friendship Agreement between Delhi and Fukuoka was signed in March 2005 and was done for the second time in March 2012.

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Prime Minister Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have dedicated the iCREATE facility to the nation, located on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. iCreate is an independent Centre created with the objective of facilitating entrepreneurship through a blend of creativity, innovation, engineering, product design and leveraging emerging technologies to deal with major issues such as food security, water, connectivity, cybersecurity, IT and electronics, energy, bio-medical equipment and devices etc. The purpose of iCreate is to develop an ecosystem in India to generate quality entrepreneurs.

Notes:
The Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) is a multidisciplinary research laboratory in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh that employs scientific personnel from various areas of biomedical sciences. CDRI is among the 39 laboratories that are functioning under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of India. The CDRI was formally inaugurated on 17 Feb 1951 by the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru with a vision to strengthen and advance the field of drug research and development in the country.

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The 10th Global Forum for Food & Agriculture (GFFA-2018) has started in Berlin, Germany on January 18, which includes the 10th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference. The theme of 3-day event is “Shaping the future of livestock – sustainably, responsibly, efficiently”. The discussions will focus on sustainable and productive animal production among other issues. The GFFA forum is organised by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMEL) in cooperation with GFFA Berlin e.V., the Senate of Berlin and Messe Berlin GmbH. The GFFA is an international conference that focuses on central questions concerning the future of the global agri-food industry. It gives representatives from the worlds of politics, business, science and civil society an opportunity to share ideas and enhance understanding on a selected topic of current agricultural policy. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is leading the Indian delegation at the GFFA-2018.

Notes:
The India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has projected the India’s economic growth to improve to 7.1% for FY19 (2018-19) from 6.5% this year, buoyed by robust consumption demand and low commodity prices. In its outlook for 2018-19, the India Ratings, a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, stated that there will be a gradual pick up in growth momentum owing to structural reforms like GST and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in place. The projection is a tad lower than 7.4% growth estimated by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for FY19. The agency has also said that it expects fiscal deficit in 2017–18 to come in at 3.5%, overshooting the budgeted estimate of 3.2%. The agency expects fiscal deficit in 2018–19 to be at 3.2%, higher than 3% stated in the medium-term fiscal policy statement.

Notes:
The Maharashtra Government has approved a Rs 4,000-crore Nanaji Deshmukh Krishi Sanjivani Yojna project to promote climate-resilient agriculture. It will be implemented in 5,142 villages across 15 districts. The purpose of the project is to improve soil quality, develop foodgrain varieties which can sustain climate variations and effect necessary changes in the crop pattern as per the availability of water in a particular region. The scheme would cover small- and medium- scale farmers, who are more vulnerable to the impact of climate change. About 70% of the project’s cost will be borne by the World Bank while the state will contribute 30% over six years. The project will roll out in the upcoming financial year.

Notes:
Thaawarchand Gehlot, the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, has launched 100 accessible websites for Divyangs on January 19, 2018. These 100 government websites are now divyang friendly. The Accessible Websites are those websites into which Persons with Disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. The divyang-friendly websites, especially for visually impaired, use features such as screen readers and screen magnifiers, which can relay website content to the user in audio format. Approx, 900 such websites will be launched in a phased manner.

Notes:
S Selvakumar, the senior IAS officer, has been appointed as new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) with effect from January 16, 2018. Selvakumar succeeded Anurag Agarwal. The state-owned SPMCIL produces bank notes, coins, postage stamps, non-judicial stamps and other official documents.

Notes:
Indian cricket team has won the 5th edition of Blind Cricket World Cup 2018 by defeating Pakistan in the final by two wickets at Sharjah in United Arab Emirates (UAE). With this, India has retained the World Cup for the Blind. In the final, Pakistan batted first and managed to score 308/8 after being put into bat by India. India chased down the target of 309 with 16 balls to spare to clinch the title. Thus, India maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament.

Notes:
Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, has launched the National CSR Data Portal & Corporate Data Portal in New Delhi on January 19, 2018. The National CSR Data Portal will capture information on CSR activities carried out by eligible companies, filed on the MCA21 registry in their financial statements. The filed information provides a snap shot of CSR activities carried out by companies. The CSR portal contains all filed information, which can generate pre-defined reports with respect to expenditure across states, districts, development sectors, etc. The Portal also provides for feedback on projects to be given by registered users. The open access to data is expected to help researchers, improve quality of data filed by companies, as well as involve intended beneficiaries in giving valuable feedback to companies. While the Corporate Data Portal aims at making all the financial and non-financial information of the companies available in a user friendly format to the general public. It also has facility to generate pre-defined reports and also customised reports.