Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - January, 2018

Notes:
Uttar Pradesh will be the theme state for the 32nd Surajkund International Crafts fair, which is scheduled to be held from the first week of February at Faridabad in Haryana. Besides participation of all states, about two dozen countries would also take part in the fair. The aim of fair is to preserve Indian folk traditions and cultural heritage. It also provides a world-class platform for craftsmen from around the world to showcase their skills. The fair would be organised by the Haryana Tourism and Surajkund Fair Authority in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs. Renowned folk artists and cultural groups of national and international repute would enthrall tourists with various programmes in the ‘Choupal’ and Open-air theatre located in the fair premises in Surajkund.

Notes:
Prominent Urdu poet Anwar Jalalpuri (71), who translated Bhagwad Geeta into Urdu, has passed away in Lucknow on January 2, 2018. Jalalpuri wrote ‘Rahraw se Rahnuma tak’, ‘Urdu Shayri Mein Geetanjali’ and ‘Urdu Shayri mein Geeta’. He was the recipient of Uttar Pradesh’s Yash Bharti award. His last rites will be performed on Jan 03 in his hometown Jalalpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), which is India’s Premier Container Port, has won the 2017 “Samudra Manthan – Caring Organisation of the Year” award.The award instituted by Bhandarkar Shipping aims to fuel healthy competition in the maritime sector. Besides achieving operational excellence, JNPT provides excellent facilities to their staff like medical insurance, residential township with school, transport service, canteens, rest rooms, recreation, sports activities and regular training programs on various key topics.

Notes:
Bengaluru will host the first edition of Karnataka International Travel Expo’ (KITE) at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center (BIEC) from February 28, 2018. The expo is being touted as the largest B2B travel event in India, which is providing a platform for over 400 registered buyers and media representatives from over 25 countries. The government expects to attract over 1,000 delegates and facilitate 10,000 or so meetings during the 3-day event. The purpose of expo is to project Karnataka globally and attract tourist footfall, with emphasis on promoting the state’s adventure and wildlife, business travel, pilgrimage, UNESCO world heritage sites, festivals of Karnataka, etc. The event would provide impetus to inbound travel and tourism and enhance the marketing efforts of Karnataka Tourism to promote destinations in the State.

Notes:
Turkey’s endangered ‘bird language’ has entered the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is an unusual and very efficient whistle language used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey. UNESCO has accepted the “bird language” of Black Sea villagers as an endangered part of world heritage in need of urgent protection. Around 10,000 people, mostly in the district of Canakci in Giresun province, still use the highly-developed and high pitch system of whistling to communicate in the rugged terrain where most of the times they cannot see each other. This form of communication which dates to some 500 years ago, during the Ottoman Empire, was widespread across the Black Sea regions, but 50 years ago it suffered the impact of the progression of technology and nowadays the ever rapid growing of cellular mobile systems has put this cultural heritage under serious threat.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended the annual conference of DGPs and IGPs at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh on January 7, 2018. Over 250 top police officers from all over the country are taking part in the three-day conference. The 2-day Director Generals of Police (DGPs) Conference is an annual event in which top police officers from all over the country share and discussed security-related issues. Holding the Annual DGP Conference outside the national capital, is in line with Prime Minister’s vision that such conferences should be held across the country, and not just confined to Delhi. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had addressed the conference in Guwahati in 2014, Dhordo, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat in 2015 and National Police Academy, Hyderabad in 2016.

Notes:
The Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 has started at Kathmandu in Nepal on January 5, 2018. President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the exhibition. The basic objective of Expo is to unleash massive hydro power potential of Nepal and bring all stakeholders under one roof. According to experts Nepal has approximately 40,000 MW of economically feasible hydro power potential and so far it has developed just around 600 MW. The delegates from various countries including India, China, Austria, Czech Republic and Norway are participating in the expo. Seminars, discussions and competitions for engineering students will also be organised during three day event.

Notes:
Iceland has become the first country in the world to enforce equal pay for women and men. The new law, which came into force on 1st January 2018, stated that companies and government agencies employing at least 25 people will have to obtain government certification of their equal-pay policies. Companies will face fines if they can’t prove that men and women are receiving the same salary for the same job. The new legislation was supported by Iceland’s centre-right government, as well as the opposition, in a parliament where nearly 50% of all members are women.

Notes:
The Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is the world’s largest leather research institute in terms of research papers and patents. The CLRI was founded on 24 April 1948 as a constituent laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Notes:
Actor Sterling K Brown has created history by becoming the first African-American to win Golden Globe for best actor in a drama television series for his role as Randall Pearson on NBC’s breakout hit “This Is Us”. He won the award at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards (AGGA-2018) at Beverly Hills in California on January 8, 2018. Elizabeth Moss has won the Golden Globe trophy in Best Drama Actress TV category for her performance in “The Handmaids Tale”. Actor Nicole Kidman won the award for the Best Actress in a Limited Series at the event for her work on “Big Little Lies” and took the opportunity to speak out against abuse.