Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2019

Notes:
Noted Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashashchandra has been awarded the 27th edition of the Saraswati Samman 2017 for his poetry collection in Gujarati named “Vakhar”. He received the award by the noted film director and author Gulzar at a solemn function at National museum auditorium in New Delhi. The prestigious award is instituted by K.K.Birla foundation & is given every year to an outstanding work of an Indian citizen published during the last 10 years in any of the languages mentioned in Schedule 8 of the constitution. The award comprises of a citation and a plaque apart from award money of Rs. 15 lakh. Mr. Yashashchandra, recipient of the Padmashri in 2006, is known for seamlessly blending history with poetry.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has recently instituted an annual award titled Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar. The award is to be announced every year on 23rd January on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. For the year 2019, 8th Battalion of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) located at Ghaziabad has been selected for the award for its commendable work in Disaster Management. The Award recipient will receive a certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh. The 8th Battalion of NDRF was raised in 2006 and is a highly specialised Rescue and Response Force with large area of responsibility covering National Capital Region (NCR), Uttarakhand, Western UP & Haryana. The battalion has participated in 314 major operations and rescued over 50,000 people. In the devastating Kerala floods in 2018, the battalion had rescued 5,338 victims and evacuated 24,000 people to safety. Other major disasters in which this NDRF battalion participated are Leh cloud burst (2011), Kedarnath floods (2013), cyclone Hudhud (2014), Chennai floods (2015) and Tripura floods (2018).

Notes:
On 70th Republic Day parade 2019, women power displayed at Rajpath, with contingents of the Indian Navy, India Army Service Corps and a unit of Corps of Signals (transportable satellite terminal) were all led by women officers and a woman officer exhibiting stunts on bike. In it, Major Khushboo Kanwar led all-women Assam Rifles contingent has created history by participating for the first time in a Republic Day parade. Capt Shikha Surabhi from the Corps of Signals became the first woman to perform bike stunts alongside her male teammates as part of daredevils, a major attraction every Republic Day. For the first time, a lady officer, Lt. Bhavana Kasturi led a contingent of the India Army Service Corps and Capt Bhavna Syal, a third-generation officer in the armed forces, led the transportable satellite terminal’s contingent.

Notes:
Sultan Abdullah of Pahang has been elected as the new King of Malaysia, after Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V step down from the throne before completing his five-year tenure on 6th January 2019. Sultan Abdullah will be sworn-in as the Nation’s 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (or head of state) in a traditional ceremony on 31st January 2019. Malaysia is the only country in the world to have a rotational monarchy since the country became independent from Britain in 1957. The country has nine royal households, who typically take turns to sit on the throne. King’s constitutional powers include the ability to veto the appointment of key political office holders, including the prime minister. The king also has powers to grant full pardons to citizens convicted in the courts.

Notes:
Atin Bandyopadhyay (85), the renowned Bengali writer, has passed away in Kolkata on 19th January, 2019. Born in 1934 in Dhaka, he had taken up various jobs as a sailor, school teacher, factory manager, journalist to finally became a writer. He won the 2001 Sahitya Akademi award for his compilation of short stories ‘Panchashati Galpo’. His masterpiece is considered to be a four-part tetralogy on the Partition: “Nilkantha Pakhir Khonje”, ”Manusher Gharbari”, “Aloukik Jalajan” and “Ishwarer Bagan”.

Notes:
The South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH) is a major international research programme to tackle the challenge that nitrogen pollution poses for environment, food security, human health and the economy in South Asia. The SANH will be established with funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). 18 Indian research institutions are part of a group of 50 which have received £20 million funding from the United Kingdom Government.The SANH will study the impact of the different forms of pollution to form a coherent picture of the nitrogen cycle. In particular, it will look at nitrogen in agriculture in eight countries – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. The Hub’s recommendations will support cleaner and more profitable farming, as well as industrial recycling of nitrogen, fostering development of a cleaner circular economy for nitrogen.

Notes:
Novak Djokovic from Serbia defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men’s Singles title at Melbourne on 28th January 2019. The resurgent world No.1 outplayed the second-ranked Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one-sided match. With this, Djokovic has surpassed American legend Pete Sampras to elevate himself to outright third on the all-time Grand Slam title leaderboard. Earlier, In 2019 Women’s Singles, Japan’s Naomi Osaka clinched her first-ever Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title in Melbourne. With this, Osaka became the first Asian player to achieve the world number one ranking.

Notes:
On 27th January 2019, Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her first Indonesia Masters title after three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain limped out of the final due to a leg injury in Jakarta. Marin was leading 10-4 in the first game when she developed an injury in the knee.

Notes:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently announced to launch “Jiban Sampark” project in partnership with UNICEF India to generate awareness about the development and welfare initiatives of state government among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) of the state. The announcement was made at the annual tribal fair popularly known as “Adivasi Mela” on 70th Republic Day 2019. The focus areas of the Project will include skill development, empowering communities, cooperation and innovation among the groups. Of 75 tribal communities in the country, 13 PVTGs reside in remote and far-off areas of 12 districts in Odisha.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has launched a special scheme to curb infant deaths. The scheme is applicable only for the first child and will benefit around four lakh women across the state, Women. Each kit contains a blanket, a small mattress, a towel, a thermometer, baby oil, shampoo, toys, nail-cutter, gloves, socks, among other things. The cost of the kit is around Rs 2,000. For this cause, Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde distributed baby-care kits to the children born in primary health centres and government hospitals.