GK & Current Affairs Quiz: February 28, 2018

Notes:
The National Science Day (NSD) is observed every year on February 28 to mark the discovery of Raman effect by Physicist CV Raman on 28th February, 1928. The purpose of the day is to spread the message of importance of science and its application among the people. The theme of NSD-2018 is “Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future”, which has been chosen for the purpose of raising public appreciation of the scientific issues involved.

Notes:
Roger Federer, 20-times Grand Slam champion, has won the 2017 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year and Comeback of the Year awards at the 18th edition of the awards ceremony in Monaco. Federer, who returned to the world number one ranking, had clinched the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles in 2017 after the 7-year break of winning any major. He won the 2018 Australian Open also. Beside this, Serena Williams has won the World Sportswoman of the Year award after winning her 23rd grand slam in 2017. Formula 1 constructors’ champions Mercedes picked up the Team of the Year trophy, while wheelchair athlete Marcel Hug bagged the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability. Brazilian football club Chapecoense were given the Best Sporting Moment of the Year for their response in adversity following a plane crash in 2016 in which they lost the majority of their team.

Notes:
Vijayendra Saraswathi has become the 70th Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, traditionally referred to as Kamakshi, on 28th February 2018 with the demise of Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamiji. The Kanchipuram mutt is a Hindu monastic institution, located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is a pilgrimage for Hindus all around the world and particularly in South India. It is known as Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, and the head of the matha is referred to as a “Sankaracharya”. The mutt was established by Adi Shankaracharya about 2520 years ago.

Notes:
India has been ranked 47th out of 86 countries in the latest Inclusive Internet Index (III-2018) report, which was commissioned by Facebook and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The index is topped by the Sweden, followed by Singapore and the US. This year’s index covered 91% of the world’s population and an expanded data set of 86 countries, up from 75 countries in 2017. The index assessed a country’s Internet inclusion across four categories: availability, affordability, relevance and readiness. The EIU is a British business within the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis.

Notes:
Television journalist Rahul Mahajan has been appointed as the new editor-in-chief of the television channel Rajya Sabha TV. He is currently a consulting editor in Prasar Bharati. Mahajan has been a journalist for 26 years, starting off with Hindi daily ‘Jansatta’. He later branched out to television news. He worked with leading Hindi television channels such as Aaj Tak, Zee News and Star News.

Notes:
The Karnataka cricket team has won the 2018 Vijay Hazare trophy after defeating Saurashtra in the final by 41 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on February 27. With this, It has won the Vijay Hazare trophy 3 times. During the tournament, Karnataka’s Mayank Agarwal scored 723 runs and won the Player of the match award. Beside this, Mohammed Siraj from Hyderabad took 23 wickets in the tournament.

Notes:
The 2nd India-Korea Business Summit 2018 was held in New Delhi on February 28 to strengthen the economic relationship, boost trade relations and increase investments between India and Republic of Korea. The 2018 theme was “India-Korea: Scaling up the Special Strategic Relationship through Trade and Investments”. The summit addressed various issues across industries and was attended by over a 1000 delegates, including 425 South Korean delegates from 90 Korean companies, senior government officials and political leaders. It was organized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, in partnership with ChosunILbo, KOTRA, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Invest India.

Notes:
Moody’s Investors Service has recently estimated India’s GDP growth forecast for year 2018 & 2019. In it, it has kept the GDP growth forecast for India in the calendar year 2018 unchanged at 7.6 % and for 2019 at 7.5 %, amid signs of economic recovery from the negative impact of demonetisation and disruption caused by GST roll out. In its global growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019, Moody’s said the Budget for fiscal year beginning April 1 (2018-19) includes some measures to stabilize rural economy that was disproportionately hit by scrapping of high denomination 500 and 1000 rupee notes.

Notes:
The 45MW Nimoo Bazgo Power Project (NBPP) is a run-of-the-river power project on the Indus River situated at Leh district of Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The project is designed to generate 239 MUs of energy. The Power station comprises of a 57m high concrete gravity dam, 3 intake structures on the power dam portion on right bank for diversion of water through 3.3 m diameter steel penstock of about 55.0 m long, a surface power house located at the toe of the dam on right bank and a short tailrace channel. The power house has an installed capacity of 45 MW (3 x 15 MW). It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 2014.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised exposure limit under Exchange Traded Currency Derivatives (ETCD) trading for residents and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to $100 million across all currency pairs involving the Indian rupee. The RBI’s decision to raise the limit will help entities engaged in forex transactions to maintain their currency risks in a better manner. The ETCD is a financial instrument that trades on a regulated exchange, and whose value is based on the value of another asset. These are derivatives that are traded in a regulated fashion. These derivatives can be used to hedge exposure or speculate on a wide range of financial assets like commodities, equities, currencies, and even interest rates. Earlier, the RBI had imposed a limit of $15 million for USD-INR and $5 million for other currency pairs of Indian rupee with Euro, Japanese Yen and British Pound.