Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
R Margabandu (83), an advocate by profession and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Tamil Nadu, has passed away on December 28, 2017. He represented Tamil Nadu in the Upper House from July 1995 to July 2001. He was the leader of the AIADMK party in the House.

Notes:
Rajneesh Gurbani is the India’s right-arm fast bowler who plays for Vidarbha cricket team. Recently, Vidarbha cricket team has created history by winning the 2017 Ranji Trophy tournament with a thumping 9-wicket win over Delhi in the final at the Holkar stadium in Indore on January 1, 2018. In the final, Gurbani took 6 wickets for 59 including a hat-trick and has been named as Man of the Match. He finished the season as the second-highest wicket-taker with 39 wickets.

Notes:
The first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam has listed 19 million people out of the 32.9 million applicants as legal Indian citizens in a massive exercise aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the state that borders Bangladesh. The Office of the State Coordinator of NRC Assam has provided five alternatives to check for the names included in the draft. One of them alternative is to check the printed version of the list at the NRC Seva Kendras between 10 AM to 4 PM till January 31 on all working days. One can also call at the 24X7 tollfree helpline number 15107 from Assam and 18003453762 from outside Assam. The NRC was last updated in Assam way back in 1951. Then, it had recorded 80 lakh citizens in the State. India and Bangladesh share 4,096-km-long border, of which 262 km falls in Assam.

Notes:
The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) to offer relevant training to the employees on issues pertaining payment banking. Under the agreement, IICA has been entrusted with the key responsibility of capacity building of IPPB through training of its officials/employees besides providing research support by instituting Research Chairs in the emerging area of payment banking. This joint venture is expected to enable the massive network of post offices with the ability to effectively deal with Financial Inclusion.

Notes:
Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, will inaugurate the 2018 ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Singapore on January 6. The theme of the 2-day PBD Convention is “Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic India-ASEAN Partnership”. The PBD is celebrated every year to strengthen the engagement of the overseas Indian community with the Government, reconnect them with their roots and celebrate their achievements and contributions.

Notes:
The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched Operation Alert along the over 200 km long International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to curb the increasing movement of infiltrating terrorists from across the border.

Notes:
Vasant Shankar Davkhare (67), the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Deputy Chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC), has passed away in Mumbai on January 4, 2018. He was known for his loyalty to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and was also known for having cordial relations across party lines; especially with Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray. His closeness to Thackerays always ensured his easy win in Council polls. However, he tasted defeat last year as the Sena decided to contest against him. His son Niranjan is also an MLC from the NCP.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the Conference on Transformation of Aspirational Districts at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on January 5, 2018. During the conference, which is being organized by NITI Aayog, the Prime Minister will interact with officials in-charge of transformation of over 100 backward districts. This event is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a New India by 2022. Niti Ayaog has identified 115 such districts. It nominated senior government officials as ‘Prabhari’ officers for each of these districts in November 2017. They will act as a bridge between the Centre and the district and will coordinate efforts between the Centre and states.

Notes:
The Basava Sagar Dam has been built across the Krishna River at Siddapur Village in Bijapur district of Karnataka. The reservoir that it impounds is known as Basava Sagar, and has a total storage capacity of 37.965 tmcft with 30.5 tmcft live storage. The full reservoir level is 492.25 m MSL and the minimum draw down level is 481.6 m MSL. The dam is 29 meters high and over 10 kilometres long and has 30 gates for water release.

Notes:
Gilles Simon of France has won the Tata Open Maharashtra Tennis trophy at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on January 6, 2018. In the summit clash, the unseeded French player humbled big-serving second seeded Kevin Anderson in straight sets 7-6, 6-2. Simon is ranked 89 in the world, while Anderson is ranked 14th. The tournament is India’s only ATP event. For the past 22 years, the tournament had been associated with the big metro cities, New Delhi hosting the inaugural edition in 1996, and Chennai becoming home to it for the next 21 years. This time, the event moved to the tier two city Pune and was rechristened Tata Open Maharashtra.