Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
The Punjab government has rolled out e-Raktkosh web portal in all the 45 government blood banks. The web portal provides the guidelines and streamlines the workflow of blood blanks and storage centres across the nation and interconnects all blood banks with a single network. Brahm Mahindra, the State Health Minister, has stated that in the next phase all 59 private blood banks of the state will be linked with the e-Raktkosh application software.

Notes:
Dr. K Sivan will be the new Secretary of the Department of Space, and Chairman of the Space Commission and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Sivan is popularly known as the “Rocket Man” for his significant contribution in the development of cryogenic engines for India’s space programme. Currently, he is director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). He will succeed A.S. Kiran Kumar, who is going to retire on January 14, 2018. He joined ISRO in 1982 in the then young PSLV project and has been project director of the GSLV rocket.

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The Election Commission (EC) has constituted a 14-member committee to suggest changes to Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act in view of social media expansion. The Act prohibits poll campaign in the last 48 hours of voting. The Committee chaired by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha will study the impact of social media during the silence period and suggest modifications to the election law and model code of conduct.

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The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has appointed Harjinder Singh as the Chef De Mission for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games (WOG-2018) to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea on February 2018. Currently, Singh holds the post of General Secretary in the Ice Hockey Association of India.

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The Supreme Court collegium, headed by CJI Dipak Misra, has created history by selecting Indu Malhotra as the first woman lawyer to be directly promoted as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC). She will be the 7th woman judge in the Supreme Court, since it was established 67 years ago, if her appointment goes through. Along with Malhotra, Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph has also been promoted as a Supreme Court judge. At present, Justice R Banumathi is the lone woman judge in the apex court. In 1989, Justice M Fathima Beevi became the first woman to be appointed as a judge of the apex court. Thereafter, Justice Sujata V Manohar, Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai made it to the top court as judges.

Notes:
The 13th edition of joint military drill exercise “Iron Fist 2018” has started between American and Japanese forces at Camp Pendleton in California on January 12 and will continue till February 12.. More than 500 U.S. Marines and sailors are partnering with about 350 members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force to train in fire support operations and amphibious assaults. Iron Fist is an annual, bilateral training exercise where U.S. and Japanese service members train together and share techniques, tactics and procedures to improve their combined operational capabilities.

Notes:
The 7th edition of the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM), under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat matrix, has started in Karnataka on January 14, 2018. The event, organised by the Ministry of Culture, will continue till the 20th of this month. The state paired with Karnataka is Uttarakhand. An official release said the event will cover a profusion of art forms from classical and folk, music and dance, theatre to literature and visual arts. The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme was launched in 2017 to promote engagement among the people of different states to enhance mutual understanding and bonding. It also took note of the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative to make the country a global manufacturing hub and of a significant push to improve key enablers and move towards a more connected economy with announcement of a 59 billion dollars investment in infrastructure in 2017.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has inaugurated the third edition of the geo-political conference – Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi on January 16, 2018. The event is jointly organised by the External Affairs Ministry and Observer Research Foundation (ORF). The theme of the dialogue this year is ‘Managing Disruptive Transitions: Ideas, Institutions and Idioms’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are also part of the inaugural session of the three-day event, which has an impressive line up of more than 150 speakers and over 550 delegates. Army chief General Bipin Rawat and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will also address a session, along with Admiral Harry Harris, Commander, US Pacific Command, General Chris Deverell, Joint Forces Commander, UK, among others. Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, former prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper and former prime minister of Sweden Carl Bildt are among more than 150 speakers and over 550 delegates from around 90 countries who are participating in the dialogue.

Notes:
Prof. Narayana Sadashiv Pharande (78), the senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC), has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on January 16, 2018. He was popularly known as Na Sa Pharande & was elected thrice as the Member of the Legislative Council. Originally, he hailed from Satara district and was a gold medallist in Marathi and Sanskrit from Shivaji University in Kolhapur.

Notes:
In an attempt to fight air pollution, China has constructed an experimental air purifying tower, touted to be the “world’s biggest air purifier” at a height of over 100 meters (328 feet). The tower has been built in Xian in Shaanxi province and is being tested by researchers at the Institute of Earth Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As per reports, the air purifier has produced more than 10 million cubic meters of clean air since it was launched. The air purification system works through greenhouses covering about half the size of a soccer field around the base of the tower.