Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
Soloman Deksisa from Ethiopia has won the 15th edition of Tata Mumbai Marathon in men’s category on January 22, 2018. It is the richest race in India with a prize money worth 4 lakh 5,000 dollars. Another Ethiopian, Shumit Akalnaw became the first runner-up, while Joshua Kipkorir from Kenya came second. Meanwhile, Indian Olympic athlete T Gopi won the Mumbai Marathon in the Indian Elite category and Sudha Singh of Central Railways won in the Indian Elite Women category. Beside this, Amane Gobena from Ethiopia has won the Mumbai Marathon in women’s category.

Notes:
India will host the Ministerial Meeting of International Energy Forum in New Delhi from April 10 to 12, 2018. More than 60 Energy Ministers will participate in the event and it will be the largest global gathering of Energy Ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will deliver the concluding address. The International Energy Forum (IEF), with a membership of 71 countries (both producers and consumers), is the most representative international organization in the field of oil and gas. India is the member of IEF and currently the Chair of its Executive Board.

Notes:
The 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 will be hosted by West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. The preliminary round matches will be held at the Guyana National Stadium and Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia, while Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda will stage the two semi-finals and the final. Hosts Windies will defend the title they won with an eight-wicket victory over Australia in Kolkata in 2016.

Notes:
N Biren Singh, the Chief Minister of Manipur, has launched a pioneering health assurance scheme “Chief Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT)” for the poor and disabled people on January 21, 2018. The CMHT will provide cashless treatment to the poor at government hospitals, health centres and other empanelled selected private hospitals. The scheme will provide cover up to Rs 2 lakh per eligible family identified from the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) in the treatment of seven critical identified critical ailments – cardiovascular diseases, kidney ailments, neurological conditions, liver ailments, cancer, neo-natal diseases and burns per year. The beneficiaries may get themselves enrolled for the scheme with the help of ASHA workers at the kiosks opened in nearby PHCs, CHCs and District Hospitals.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
Ursula K. Le Guin (88), the award-winning science fiction and American author, has passed away in Portland, Oregon on January 22, 2018. She explored feminist themes and her best-known works are the 1969 science fiction novel “Left Hand of Darkness”, which explore themes of gender by featuring characters with no fixed sex, and the 1968 coming-of-age story “A Wizard of Earthsea”.

Notes:
The Jawai Bandh is a dam built across the Jawai river, a tributary of Luni river near Sumerpur town in Pali District of Rajasthan. The dam has capacity of 7887.5 million cubic feet and covers an area of 102,315 acres of cultivable command area. Its height is about 61.25 feet. Sei dam and Kalibor dam are the feeder dams of the Jawai dam.

Notes:
Dr V Narayanan, a rocket propulsion expert, has taken charge as new Director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC). He succeeded S Somanath, who has been appointed Director of, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Narayanan played a vital role in the successful launch of GSLV Mk III vehicle in its maiden attempt in 2017 from the spaceport of ISRO “Satish Dhawan Space Centre”. He is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (FINAE) and Member of Space Propulsion Committee of International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and member in various national and international professional bodies. The LPSC is the centre for design, development and realisation of liquid propulsion stages for ISRO’s Launch Vehicles.

Notes:
The Economic Survey 2017-18 has tabled by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on January 29, 2018. The survey has predicted 7 to 7.5% of India’s GDP growth in FY 2018-19. It says that a series of major reforms undertaken over the past year will allow real GDP growth to reach 6.75% this fiscal and will rise to 7.0 to 7.5% in 2018-19. It stated that the employment, education and agriculture will be the focus areas in the midterm. The survey underlines that due to the launch of transformational Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform, resolution of the long-festering Twin Balance Sheet problem, implementing a major recapitalization package to strengthen the public sector banks, further liberalization of FDI and the export uplift from the global recovery, the economy began to accelerate in the second half of the year and can clock 6.75% growth this year.

Notes:
Asha Bhosle, the legendary playback singer, will be awarded with the 5th edition of Yash Chopra Memorial Award 2018 for her outstanding contribution to the Hindi film industry. The award will be presented to her on February 16. The previous recipients are Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Shah Rukh Khan. The award has been instituted by the TSR Foundation of T. Subbarami Reddy in memory of producer-director Yash Chopra, who died in 2012. Asha Bhosle has officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. In her illustrious music career spanning nearly seven decades she has recorded over 11,000 songs in 20 different languages. The Government of India (GoI) has honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2008).