GK & Current Affairs Quiz: February 21, 2018

Notes:
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently constituted a four-member Empowered Expert Committee (EEC), which is being entrusted to conduct the appraisal of applications for short listing 20 Institutions of Eminence. N Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner of India is the Chairperson of the committee. The government is likely to announce the names of the selected institutions by April 2018. The committee was constituted by the UGC after the approval of the central government, as per the UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulation, 2017, and UGC (Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017.

Notes:
Uma Bharati, the Union minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, has launched the Bagori Ganga Gram project, New Swajal Project at Bagori and Gangotri Iconic Place at Dunda village in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on February 20, 2018. Besides creating cleanliness, providing basic amenities to the people of Ganga bank villages, these projects would also generate employment. The Open Defecation Free (ODF) village Bagori is one of the 24 pilot Ganga Villages picked up to be transformed into Ganga Grams this year. Swajal is a community owned drinking water programme for sustained drinking water supply.

Notes:
The Singapore government will impose a ‘carbon tax’ from 2019 to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and make companies more competitive as global agreements on climate change take effect. According to government, the tax would be levied on all facilities producing 25,000 tonnes or more of greenhouse gas emissions a year. The tax, to be applied to all sectors, will be Sg$5.0 ($3.8) per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 to 2023, after which the levy will be reviewed and possibly raised to between Sg$10 and Sg$15 per tonne by 2030.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a new 5-member expert Committee under the chairmanship of Y H Malegam, a former member of the Central Board of Directors of RBI, to look into the reasons for wide divergence by banks in asset classification and provisioning by banks and measures to prevent frauds. The committee will also look into the issue of huge non-performing asset divergences — between what banks classify and what is detected in RBI inspection — and recommend steps to address the issue. The other members of the committee are Bharat Doshi, S. Raman and Nandkumar Saravade. A.K. Misra, Executive Director of RBI, will be the Member-Secretary of the committee.

Notes:
The Indian team, led by Kiran Nadar, won the 5th Commonwealth bridge championship, held from February 14 to 18 in Gold Coast, Australia. India beat Australia 103-65 in the final, after negotiating 11 rounds of qualification phase, followed by the knock-out stage from the quarterfinals. B. Satyanarayana, Jaggy Shivdasani, Rajeshwar Tewari, Sunit Chokshi and Keyzad Anklesaria were the other members.

Notes:
State-owned telecom firm BSNL and Japan’s NTT AT along with their Indian partner Virgo Corps, have signed a MoU (memorandum of understanding) to collaborate in futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence / IoT and jointly create a 5G test bedan agreement to collaborate in developing futuristic technologies. The agreement is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to collaborate on the next generation technologies and use the expertise of India in software and Japanese expertise in manufacturing.

Notes:
The 22nd edition of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT-2018) has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a video conference in Hyderabad on Feb 19, which will continue till Feb 21. The WCIT is held for the first time in India. Beside this, the 26th edition of NASSCOM India Leadership Forum (ILF) was also held in the same venue later on. Since NASSCOM is the host of the WCIT, the 26th edition of India Leadership Forum (ILF) is a limited edition. Telangana is the state partner for both the events. At least 20 CEOs from Fortune 500 companies and 100 other top executives besides over 5,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference.

Notes:
The Sanskriti Mahotsav “Swachhagrah – Bapu ko Kaaryaanjali” has started at the Man Mandir Ghat and Assi Ghat in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on February 21, 2018 to celebrate the creative and cultural industries in Varanasi and to focus attention on the need for Swachhta by using cultural forms. The 2-day Mahotsav will integrate the tangible and intangible heritage along the river-belt and will see the engagement of the academia, artists, artisans, writers, poets, environmental and cultural forums on the use of cultural expressions for conservation and protection of the river and the ancient city. It will cover a profusion of art forms from classical, folk music, dance and visual arts and would offer the chance to experience the best in established and emerging virtuosity.

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the construction of 4.531 km long 2-Lane Bi-Directional Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarakhand as part of ‘Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana’. The tunnel will have escape passage including approaches on Dharasu -Yamunotri section between Chainage 25.400 Km. and Chainage 51.000 Km. The project will be falling along NH-134 (old NH-94) in the State of Uttarakhand and will be built under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Mode. This is funded under NH (O) Scheme of Ministry of RT&H and forms part of ambitious Chardham Plan. The construction period of the project is 4 years.

Notes:
The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focused on public policy. It was established in 1973 and located in New Delhi. It is one of 27 national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), the apex advisory body of the Government of India for the promotion of research in the social sciences. The aims of CPR are to develop substantive policy options on matters relevant to the Indian polity, economy and society; to provide advisory services to governments, public bodies and other institutions; and to disseminate information on policy issues through various channels.