Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
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.

Notes:
French President Emmanuel Macron has been ranked first in the latest Gallup international annual survey “Opinion of Global Leaders”, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and PM Narendra Modi. The survey was conducted across 50 nations and interviewed 53,769 people. In each country a representative sample of around 1,000 men and women was interviewed either face-to-face, or via phone, or through online mediums. The field work was conducted during October-December 2017. The survey shows that PM Modi is a popular leader in the Indian subcontinent with 69% of respondents in Afghanistan and 51% in Bangladesh holding a favourable view towards him.

Notes:
The Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency “JioCoin”. It is expected to build a 50-member team of young professionals to work on blockchain technology, which can also be used to develop applications such as smart contracts and supply chain management logistics. The JioCoin project will be headed by Mukesh Ambani’s elder son Akash Ambani. The Blockchain is a digital ledger for storing data. In simple terms, blockchain decentralizes information without it being copied. The information is held on blockchain through a shared database which can be accessed on a real-time basis. This database is not stored on physical servers but on the cloud, which makes it easy to store unlimited data.

Notes:
The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) is an anthropology museum to present an integrated story of the evolution of man and culture with special reference to India. It is located in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and is also known as the National Museum of Humankind. This museum depicts the story of mankind in time and space. Prof. Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri is the current director-in-charge of IGRMS. The museum also has a regional centre for the South India region at Mysore in Karnataka.

Notes:
Actor Sudhir Dalvi has been honoured with the Janakavi P Sawlaram award at a function in Mumbai on January 13, 2018. The award is jointly given by the Thane Municipal Corporation and the Janakavi P Savlaram Kala Samiti. Well-known dancer Jaishree T was bestowed with the Ganga Jamuna award, which is instituted in memory of a popular song written by Sawlaram. Dalvi first came to prominence for portraying Guru Vashishta in Ramanand Sagar’s TV series “Ramayan”. He also featured in the famous TV show “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and other Hindi serials.

Notes:
Doodhnath Singh (81), the well-known Hindi writer, critic and poet, has passed away in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh on January 12, 2018. In 2014, the government of Uttar Pradesh honoured him with their Bharat Bharti Samman. He is known for his works like “Sapaat Chehre Wala Aadmi”, “Aakhri Kalaam”, “Nishkaasan”, “Bhai Ka Shok Geet”, “Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra” and “Surang se Lautate Huye”.

Notes:
The Army Day is celebrated every year by the Indian Army on January 15 to commemorate the day when General (later Field Marshal) K.M Carriappa took over the command of Army from General Sir Francis Butcher , the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post Independence. The day is also celebrated to remember the sacrifices made by the gallant soldiers and to pay homage to the martyrs. This year, in 2018, the 70th edition of Army Day has celebrated on Jan 15. On this occasion, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Naval Staff Sunil Lanba and Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa paid tributes at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Delhi.

Notes:
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:
India has contributed $50,000 to the UN’s youth mission which works to raise awareness and attention to youth issues globally. UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake received the cheque from Paulomi Tripathi, a First Secretary in India’s UN mission at the UN headquarters in New York on Jan 12, 2018. The contribution is voluntary with no strings attached and is in addition to the regular payments India makes to the UN’s general and peacekeeping budgets. The Youth Envoy’s mission is to promote the engagement of youth and advocate for them across all the four pillars of the UN’s work – sustainable development, human rights, peace and security and humanitarian action.

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.