GK & Current Affairs Quiz: January 28-29, 2018

Notes:
Maharashtra’s tableau titled “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj coronation” has won the best tableau award at the 69th Republic Day Parade 2018. Assam’s tableau depicting traditional “masks and sastras” bagged the second prize. The third prize went to Chhattisgarh’s display of Ramgarh’s ancient amphitheatre and artistes performing dance based on Kalidasa’s Meghadootam. Among the tableaux by Union Ministries and departments, the first prize went to “Khelo India” of the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry. The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave away the awards at Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment on January 28, 2018. Apart from this, the Punjab Regiment has bagged the award for the best marching contingent among the three services and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) among the paramilitary and other auxiliary forces in the 69th Republic Day parade.

Notes:
The documentary titled ‘Kailash’ has won the US Documentary Grand Jury Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Park City in Utah on January 28. The documentary, which is directed by Derek Doneen, traces the journey of Indian Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and his efforts to eliminate child trafficking and child labour. The film has been produced by Davis Guggenheim and Sarah Anthony, and co-produced by Purnima Raghunath.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind has launched the countrywide Pulse Polio programme for 2018 by administering polio drops to children below five years at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The programme will cover around 17 crore children to maintain the country’s polio-free status. The president administered the drops on the eve of 2018 National Immunisation Day (NID), which is observed on January 28.

Notes:
Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2018 men’s Singles title in the Australian Open 2018. He successfully defended his title by defeating 6th seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia by 6-2,6-7, 6-3 3-6, 6-1. With this, Federer won his sixth title at the Australian Open equalling the record held by Roy Emerson and Novak Djokovic. The win has brought the Swiss to the elite group of Margaret Court, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf, the only players to have won 20 or more Grand Slam singles titles.

Notes:
The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has planned to set up a ‘Social Media Communication Hub’ that would help it keep a tab on trending news in districts and gather feedback on the Centre’s flagship schemes. Under the project, media persons would be employed on contractual basis in each district to be the eyes and ears of the government and provide real-time updates from the ground. They would also take the people’s feedback on the government’s policies and follow the news trending in their areas. Experts would also be employed at the central level to analyse the feedback. Recently, the Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the ministry, had floated a tender to supply a software for the project. The tender document stated the platform is expected to provide automated reports, tactical insights and comprehensive work-flows to initiate engagement across digital channels.

Notes:
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has been sworn-in for a second term in capital Tegucigalpa with high security after a disputed presidential election 2017. President Hernández, has been in power since 2013, and is the first president in Honduran running for a second term after the country’s Supreme Court lifted a ban on re-election. It must be noted that, the country’s 1982 constitution bars presidents from seeking a new term and conservative politicians deposed a leftist president in 2009 for allegedly even considering re-election. But, Hernandez won a Supreme Court ruling in 2015 to get around that prohibition.

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:
Vijay Keshav Gokhale, the 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has taken charge as the new Foreign Secretary of India on January 29, 2018. Prior to this post, Gokhale was serving as the Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He succeeded S Jaishankar and will have a two-year tenure. Gokhale had played a key role in negotiations to resolve the Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese armies in 2017. He also served as India’s Ambassador to China, Germany and worked in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi and in New York. Beside this, he is the only IFS to have served as India’s Representative both in Taiwan and China.

Notes:
Dr. Gurcharan Singh Kalkat (91), the former agriculture commissioner of India and Padam Shri and Padam Bhushan awardee, has passed away in Chandigarh, Punjab on January 27, 2018. He was known for his contribution during the Green Revolution era which led to a boom in the production of wheat and rice in the country. He was the one who even ushered a soybean revolution in Punjab. Kalkat was also the former vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (Ludhiana) from 1998-2001.

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).