Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
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”.

Notes:
India has been ranked 177th out of 180 countries in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The report was released on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The Index stated that deaths attributed to ultra-fine PM2.5 pollutants have risen over the past decade and are estimated at 1,640,113 annually in India. Switzerland has topped the index, followed by France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden in the EPI, which found that air quality is the leading environmental threat to public health. The 10th EPI report ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across 10 categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality.

Notes:
The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has recently signed a MoU with National Housing Bank (NHB) for implementing the Rural Housing Interest Subsidy Scheme (RHISS) of the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). The purpose of the RHISS is to provide subsidy for housing loans taken by those living in rural areas for construction and modifications of their dwelling units. The interest subsidy under the scheme is 3% for a loan amount of Rs 2 lakh for 20-year tenure. With this MoU, IOB will be able to extend the benefit of RHISS to its rural home loan customers of its 923 rural branches spread across India.

Notes:
Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD and CEO of Allahabad Bank, has been elected the first woman chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) for the year 2017-18. She succeeded Jatinder Bir Singh. Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of State Bank of India, was elected Deputy Chairman of IBA for the year 2017-18. IBA is the banking sector’s industry body, whose objective, among others, is to promote and develop sound and progressive banking principles, practices and conventions and to contribute to the developments of creative banking in the country.

Notes:
India’s first indigenously developed vaccine “Rotavac” has been pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation (WHO). To be “pre-qualified” means that the vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in Africa and South America. The vaccine was developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited (BBL) and was included in India’s national immunisation programme. The Rotavac vaccine protects against childhood diarrhea caused by the rotavirus. Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea and kills more than 200,000 children every year.

Notes:
Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan has won the 2018 women’s singles Indonesia Masters badminton tournament by defeating Saina Nehwal in the final by 9-21, 13-21 in Jakarta. With this win, Tai Tzu has now defeated the former world No.1 nine times in their last 10 meetings.

Notes:
The first-ever India-Vietnam Bilateral Army Exercise, christened as ‘VINBAX-2018″, has started in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh on January 29, as part of joint training undertaken with friendly foreign countries by Indian Army. It is the first-ever military exercise between the two countries. The 6-day-long Table Top military exercise has been especially designed to enable and train officers from Vietnam in United Nations Peace Keeping Operations.

Notes:
Kalamandalam Geethanandan (58), the acclaimed Ottanthullal artist, has passed away while performing at Avittathur Mahavishnu Temple in Avittathur, Kerala on January 28, 2018. He, who performed on more than 5,000 stages across the country, was also a tutor of Ottanthullal at Kerala Kalamandalam for decades. He had acted in many films, including Mohanlal’s Kamaladalam.

Notes:
Achanta Sharath Kamal from Tamil Nadu has won the 79th edition of the 11Even Sports National Senior Table Tennis Championship 2018 by defeating top-seed Anthony Amalraj in the final by 4-1 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. With this, he lifted the National men’s singles title for the 8th time and equaled the record of Kamlesh Mehta. The winner received Rs 2 lakh as prize money. Suthirta Mukherjee from West Bengal emerged the new women champion, beating Hyderabad Nationals winner Manika Batra 4-3. Her maiden effort fetched Rs 1.5 lakh, while Manika received 50% less in prize money.

Notes:
The Anti-Leprosy Day is observed every year in India on the Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, remembers his selfless efforts and care for the people affected by leprosy. The day aims to make people aware of the real need to fight the infectious disease. On this day, a campaign named ‘Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign (SLAC)” has been organised in all the Gram Sabhas throughout the country by the Central Leprosy Division of the Health Ministry. The campaign carries important information about the disease to help affected people. It includes free of cost multidrug therapy that is available at all government dispensaries, health centres and hospitals to provide complete treatment. The facility is given to all the affected people as only timely treatment prevents disability caused due to the disease. Some important symptoms of leprosy are light colour patches, redness, swelling and nodule formation over the skin.