Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
Mangubhai C. Patel since 6 July 2021.

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The Ramayana Festival of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries has started in New Delhi at the Kamani Auditorium from January 20. The 5-day fest is organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and is marking 25 years of the Indo-ASEAN ties. Cultural groups from the 10 member-nations of the ASEAN will stage musicals and plays based on the epic at the festival celebrating the India-ASEAN dialogue. Troupes from ASEAN countries will display the shared heritage also at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ayodhya and Kolkata. The festival seeks to underline the common cultural heritage and India’s friendship with ASEAN nations.

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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.

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The garbage festival ’Kachra Mahotsav’ was organized by the Raipur Municipal Corporation in Chhattisgarh from January 19 to 21, 2018. This unique fest was organized by the Raipur Municipal Corporation. According to the municipal corporation, it was the India’s first such festival. The purpose of this Garbage festival was to increase awareness, to guide people on waste management and to showcase multiple techniques for reusing things that are labelled as garbage. During the 3-day festival, talks, competitions and cultural performances were organized. In addition, different types of workshops were held to educate people on how effectively they can start managing their waste. In this fest, there were different stalls of utility items made out of waste.

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Mauritius was the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India in FY17, according to recent census by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It has 21.8% share at market value. As per RBI’s data on Census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets of Indian Direct Investment Companies 2016-17, United States has acquired 2nd position followed by UK, Singapore and Japan. Beside this, Singapore (19.7% was the major FDI destination, followed by the Netherlands, Mauritius, and the USA. According to the data, manufacturing sector accounted for nearly half of the total FDI at market prices. Information and communication services, and financial and insurance activities were the other major sectors that attracted FDI.

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To mark the silver jubilee of India-ASEAN partnership, the 2018 India-ASEAN Business & Investment Conference was organized by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in collaboration with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It was held in New Delhi on January 22-23 to promote mutual trade and investment for shared prosperity. This initiative was held ahead of the landmark 2018 ASEAN-India commemorative summit on the 25th of January. India & ASEAN partnership began in 1992 completed 25 years in 2017. India adopted the Act East policy in 2014 which has led to ties with South Asian nations reaching new highs. Top leaders of all 10 ASEAN nations would also be guests of honour at the 2018 Republic Day celebrations. It would be the first time that the Republic Day parade would be graced by such a large number of heads of state or govt.

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Hugh Masekela (78), the legendary jazz musician and anti-apartheid activist, has passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa on January 23, 2018. He was also known for his jazz compositions and for writing well-known anti-apartheid songs such as “Soweto Blues” and “Bring Him Back Home”. He also had a number 1 US pop hit in 1968 with his version of “Grazing in the Grass”.

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The Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) is the nodal agency for catering to the needs of the brackish water aquaculture research in India. The institute is headquartered at Chennai, Tamil Nadu and works under the Ministry of Agriculture. It is one of the research institutes under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi.

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The National Voters’ Day (NVD) is observed every year by India on January 25 with an aim to increase the enrolment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones. The day is also observed to mark the establishment of the Election Commission on this day in 1950, a day before India became a republic. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has celebrated the 8th National Voters’ Day 2018 with theme ‘Accessible Elections’ across the country, which will be used to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

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The 2018 India-ASEAN commemorative summit has started in New Delhi on January 25 with theme “Shared Values, Common Destiny”. The focus of the Summit, which marks the 25 years of Indo-ASEAN ties, will be counter-terrorism, security, trade and connectivity. All 10 leaders of ASEAN countries will attend the Summit. The 2018 summit will mark the conclusion of a series of events held over the last one year to mark the 25th anniversary of the Dialogue Partnership. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.