December 31, 2017 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

Central Government has sanctioned Rs 1250 crore for overall development of inland water transport of Assam. Announcement in this regard was made by Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari at a meeting of the Brahmaputra Board and Water Resources Department at Kaziranga. Out of the total amount, Rs. 32 crore will be utilised for constructing 56 terminals and Rs 60 crore for Ro-Ro service. Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ferry services are designed to carry people and wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or by using a platform.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana from Karnal district. Under this scheme, farmers will be compensated by state government, whenever the market prices of the stipulated produce go below the mentioned prices. Haryana State Government will constitute a separate fund for this purpose. This scheme for compensation will also apply for tomato, onion, potato and cauliflower. In order to avail compensation under this scheme, farmers would have to get themselves registered on Bhavantar Bharpayee website or in the office of Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board.

Odisha police will go digital from January 1, 2018, as routine work in police stations across the state will be computerised under the Criminal Tracking and Networking System (CCTNS). CCTNS project is being implemented under the national e-governance initiative at a cost of Rs. 61 crore. 589 out of 612 police stations across Odisha have been equipped with the necessary hardware and software for the implementation of CCTNS. All routine police station work including registering cases, maintaining of registers, station diaries, case diaries and charge sheets will be done online from January 2018. Whenever required, investigating officers will also be able to access the data through laptops, tabs and smart phones.

Construction work on Jewar Airport in Greater Noida will commence in December 2018, earlier than Uttar Pradesh government’s scheduled plan. On December 30, 2017, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) selected professional services firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to prepare a techno-economic feasibility report(TEFR) for undertaking construction work on Jewar Airport. Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has asked EY to submit TEFR report by April 2018. Based on the report, bids will be invited in July 2018 and foundation stone for the project will be laid in December 2018. On completion, Jewar airport will be India’s biggest airport in terms of area. Under the first phase of the project, construction will be undertaken on 4000 acres of land.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar laid foundation stones for more than 100 projects worth Rs 700 crore in Nalanda district. These projects were launched during the second phase of Nitish Kumar’s state-wide “Vikas Samiksha Yatra” which began on December 28, 2017. During his visit to Chamera village, Mr. Kumar dedicated to the public 132 projects worth Rs 97.63 crore and laid foundation stones for 114 projects worth Rs 698.65 crore. While addressing public meetings, Mr. Kumar highlighted Bihar State Government’s social reform measures like ban on alcohol and campaigns against dowry and child marriage.

China shut down its legal government-sanctioned ivory trade. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then U.S. President Barack Obama took a joint pledge to put an end to ivory trade. As per this decision, China has closed all its licensed ivory carving factories and retailers. China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA) is responsible for implementing the ivory trade ban. SFA along with associations like Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Wildaid, etc. will circulate posters, videos, and articles to educate people on the ban.

Vineet Chowdhary was appointed as chief secretary to the Himachal government. Vineet Chowdhary is a 1982 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre. He replaces Vidya Charan Pharka. Vidya Charan Pharka was appointed as chief secretary on June 1, 2016, superseding six senior IAS officers including Vineet Chowdhary. Vineet Chowdhary had filed a case in the Central Administrative Tribunal. Now, Vidya Charan Pharka has been appointed as principal advisor to the government.

N C Goel was made the new Chief Secretary of Rajasthan. N C Goel is an IAS officer of the 1982 batch. Previously, he was Additional Chief Secretary of Forest and Environment, Tourism, Art and Culture Department, Mines and Petroleum departments. N C Goel is a native of Haryana. He was the CMD of Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, Rajasthan. He was also District Collector and Magistrate of Alwar and Jaisalmer. He replaces Ashok Jain.

M Malakondaiah was appointed Director General of Police (Head of Police Force) in Andhra Pradesh. Dr M Malakondaiah is an IPS officer of the 1985 batch. At present he is the Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. He replaces Nanduri Sambasiva Rao. Malakondaiah will retire on June 30, 2018 from service.

Om Prakash Singh has been appointed the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh. Om Prakash Singh replaces Sulkhan Singh as Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh. Om Prakash Singh joined as Indian Police Service (IPS) officer in 1983. Sulkhan Singh is a 1980 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. His term ended on 31st December 2017.

H-BOTS, a Hyderabad-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning start-up unveiled a prototype of a smart policing robot. The life size prototype is five-foot-seven-inch tall, weighs 43 kg and is made of nylon plastic, which is ten times stronger than regular plastic. It can take complaints, monitor temperature, identify suspects, can record audio and video clips and can assist people at malls, streets, airports and railway stations. It has a multi-touch screen. It can recognise voice and can interact in English. The makers have stated that in the near future, it will also recognise Telugu and Hindi. After some more fine-tuning, H-BOTS is planning to produce 700 such units a year by 2020.

Indian Air Force (IAF) bade farewell to MiG-27 ML, Bahadur fleet at Hasimara Air Force base in Bengal. Russian origin MiG-27 ML, codenamed ‘Bahadur’ in India, was inducted into the IAF fleet in the late 1980s. MiG-27 ML was a dedicated ground attack aircraft capable of delivering a variety of loads (bombs, rockets and guided munitions) in different modes of attack with immense precision. MiG-27 ML fleet played an instrumental role in Kargil and participated in numerous international exercises held in India. 22 Squadron, known as ‘Swifts’ was the last squadron of the IAF flying the MiG-27 MLs.

Two new ant species Tetramorium krishnani and Tetramorium jarawa have been discovered by scientists in the islands of Andaman. The Tetramorium krishnani and Tetramorium jarawa ant species were discovered by scientists of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan. These ant species have been named after late scientist K.S. Krishnan of NCBS, and the Jarawas – indigenous people of Andaman. This research has been published in PeerJ. These new ant species live in leaf litter of the Havelock Island. These species are endemic to Andaman.

Viswanathan Anand has won bronze medal in the World Blitz Chess Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Magnus Carlsen, world champion, won the tournament and bagged the gold medal. Russia’s Sergey Karjakin secured the second spot and won the silver medal. Vishwanathan Anand had won gold, two days back, in the World Rapid Chess Championship.

Eminent educationist M V Pylee died due to age-related problems at a private hospital, in Kochi, Kerala. M V Pylee was 98 years old. He was the third Vice Chancellor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology. He was considered a fore runner in management education in India. He also worked as a visiting professor at several foreign universities. He had received Padma Bhushan award in 2006.