GK & Current Affairs Quiz: January 05-06, 2019

Notes:
Saurabh Kumar, a 1982-batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service officer, has taken charge as new Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in Kolkata. An expert in the manufacture of ordnance, Kumar was on deputation to the Ministry of Defense as the director of planning and coordination from 2002 to 2009. During this period, he was involved in drafting the Indian offset policy for defence purchases and the ‘Make’ procedure in the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2003-04. He was also instrumental in piloting the proposals and obtaining the approval of the government for setting up two new greenfield ordnance factories at Nalanda and Korwa in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh respectively.

Notes:
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) hosted third edition of the National Entrepreneurship Awards (NEA) in New Delhi on January 4, 2019. The awards aim to recognize and honor outstanding young first-generation entrepreneurs and those who have contributed immensely in building the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Total of 43 awards will be presented this year. These include 39 awards for Young Entrepreneurs in different sectors and four awards for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders. The winners will receive trophy, certificate and cash prizes ranging from Rs. 5 to 10 lakhs. There are special awards for women, persons with disability, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and entrepreneurs from areas with limited opportunities. The NEA is a platform focused on driving innovation, ushering in a positive change for youth in entrepreneurship across all the industries. The awards will inspire and promote growth of entrepreneurs in India.

Notes:
The World Braille Day (WBD) is observed every year on January 4 to remember the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille – for the people with visual disabilities. Louis Braille was born on 4th January 1809 in the town of Coupvray in northern France. At the age of just 3, he lost his both eyes in an accident. This resulted into the invention of the 6 dots- which is popularly known as braille. The day is also observed to raise awareness on the importance of Braille for approximately 1.3 billion people living with some form of distance or near vision impairment. It is a means of realizing fully the human rights of visually-impaired and partially-sighted people, and bringing written language to the forefront as a critical prerequisite for promoting fundamental freedoms. Around the world, 39 million people are blind, and another 253 million have some sort of vision impairment.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the introduction of a Bill to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) of Arunachal Pradesh. Now, the bill – Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2018 – will be introduced in the Parliament for certain amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. The bill proposes deletion of the Abor tribe from the state’s ST list “as it is the same as Adi” tribe. The bill seeks to include the Mishmi-Kaman (Miju Mishmi), Idu (Mishmi) and Taraon (Digaru Mishmi) tribes in the list. It also proposes inclusion of “Monpa, Memba, Sartang, Sajolong in lieu of the Momba” tribe. The Nocte, Tangsa, Tutsa and Wancho tribes would replace the words “any Naga tribe” in the state’s ST list. As there is no tribe called “Khampti”, the bill replaces it with “Tai Khamti” on the list.

Notes:
Prof. Jayanta Kumar Ghosh of IIT Roorkee was conferred with ISRS National Geospatial Award for Excellence-2017 (Life Time Achievement Award) at the Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad. He won the award for his contribution towards the development of geospatial science and applications. The award comprised a citation, a medal and Rs 1 lakh. The Indian Society for Remote Sensing (ISRS ) is an organization known in the area of space science, remote sensing and geo-spatial technology.