Test : January 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 2" - Current Affairs MCQ

On 3rd January 2019, Manoj Das, an eminent English and Odia Litterateur received the “Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja National Award for Lifetime Achievement” in literature during 53rd Foundation day ceremony organized by the Berhampur University, Odisha. Noted Folk dance Guru Nabaghana Parida was awarded with Dakshin Odisha Loksanakruti Samman during the ceremony. Manoj Sinha has been already honoured with Sahitya Akademi Award, Orissa Sahitya Akademi award, Sarala Award, Sahitya Bharati Award and Padma Shri.

The United Bank of India (UBI) and Srei Equipment Finance have entered into an agreement for financing the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) and agriculture sector. Under the agreement UBI plans to leverage the co-lending model to offer credit at blended interest rate of 11-12 per cent. The Bank will leverage low its low cost loans with Srei Equipment finance to enable purchase of equipment and vehicle in the seamless manner. The Bank is eying around 200 crore business over the period of three months by this agreement.

On 4th January 2019, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu unveiled various welfare scheme for the marginalized and economically backward Brahmins through AP Brahmin Welfare Corporation such as distribution of Cars to the Unemployed Brahmin youths, loans and subsidies. Brahmin youths who had undergone training as drivers were given Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire for the first time. 30 cars were distributed on 4th January to the Brahmin youths. Youth bore 10% of the total on-road cost the diesel run cars. Government has started at least half dozen schemes for Brahmins and around 10000 poor Brahmins have been given loans and subsidies. Andhra Pradesh is the first state of the country which has established a Brahmin Corporation which aims to help poor people of Brahmin families by providing financial assistance for education, coaching, entrepreneurship, skill development and welfare and culture.

From 29 December 2018, the Hopman Cup which is an annual international eight-team indoor hard court tennis tournament was held in Perth, Western Australia. It is a mixed competition in which male and female players are on combined teams and represent their countries. The Event was concluded on 5th January 2019. This year Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic secured a 2-1 victory over Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev to win the Hopman Cup for the second year in a row. It was Switzerland’s fourth title overall, behind only the United States with six. This year’s tournament is the 31st edition of the Hopman Cup and potentially be the final edition of the tournament as it will be replaced by an ATP tournament from next year. In this year’s tournament for the first time in history, Roger Federer and Serena Williams faced each other in a competitive event in which Federer came out victorious alongside Bencic by defeating the pair of Serena Williams and Frances Tiafoe in a mixed doubles round robin match.

On January 3, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 5-day long ‘Indian Science Congress (ISC)-2019’ that will conclude on January 7, 2018, in Jalandhar, Punjab. It is organized by Lovely Professional University, Punjab. The theme of 106th edition of ISC-2019, is: ‘Future India: Science and Technology’.

Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary located in Bhandara district of Maharashtra, appeared in the news recently, as a tiger was found dead in the sanctuary on 30th December 2018. A tourist visiting the sanctuary informed authorities around 8 am about a tiger lying motionless in the Pauni range of the sanctuary. The cause of the tiger’s death is yet to be ascertained. The state has nearly half-a-dozen tiger reserves and prominent among them are Pench, Melghat, Tadoba-Andhari and Sahyadri. There are nearly 165 striped cats inhabiting these reserves.

Dr K Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced at a ceremony organized by St Joseph’s College, Trichy, Tamilnadu which is celebrating its 175 anniversary that the Union Government has allocated 10,900 crore rupees for the development of 40 satellite launch vehicles in the next four years. He also informed that the Chandrayan-2 Mission will be launched within three months and It will land in one of those part of the Moon which is still unexplored. He also said that the human space flight Gaganyaan is planned to be launched by 2022, on the occasion of 75th anniversary of Independence. He also stated that the next year ISRO will be organising the Centenary year celebrations of ISRO founder Dr Vikram Sarabhai in which ISRO will rededicate itself to become a world class organization, capable of addressing the varied socio economic challenges of the nation. He said that Space Technology Incubation Centres will be set up in different parts of the country, including Trichy as a part of the celebrations.

On January 6, 2019, the North Central Railway, (NCR) launched a mobile application the ‘Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile App’ to help navigate the attendees of the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj city from January 15- March 4, 2019. It will also provide information regarding all the ‘Mela special’ trains that will be run during the period. The app will provide a link to the user to buy both unreserved and reserved train tickets. Also, the users will not only get to know their current location, but will also be able to reach to all railway stations, the mela zone, major hotels, bus stations and other facilities within Prayagraj. A photo gallery, containing pictures of previous Kumbh Melas can also be accessed through the app.

On 7th January 2019, Indian Cricket Team skipper, Virat Kohli led the country to a maiden series victory on Australian soil, ending a 71-year wait to script a golden chapter in the game’s history. India won their first-ever Test series in Australia by a margin of 2-1 after play in the fourth and final Test in Sydney was abandoned due to rain and the match was called off as a draw. India Became the First Asian team to win a Test series in Australia. India managed the feat for the first time since they began touring Australia in 1947-48. Besides, Virat Kohli became the first Indian as well as the first Asian captain to win a Test series in Australia. With the win, India reinforced their status as the world’s number one team in Test Cricket and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India which enforced the follow-on during the 4th test, was the first time since 1988 that Australia was asked to follow on at their home. The winning of the 3rd test of the series was India’s 150th in Test cricket making them the 5th team after Australia (384), England (364), Windies (171) and South Africa (162) to reach the milestone. Virat Kohli became the first captain of India to win two Tests in Australia and equals Sourav Ganguly’s record of most overseas Test wins as India captain. Cheteshwar Pujara was adjuged as the man of the match (for 4th test) and player of the series.

On 7th January 2019, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the first advance estimates of National Income at Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices, for the financial year 2018-2019. India’s GDP would grow at 7.2% in 2018-19, showing acceleration from 6.7% growth in 2017-18 because of push from agriculture and manufacturing sectors. It is likely to attain a level of Rs. 139.52 lakh crore. Real GVA (Gross Value Added) is anticipated to grow at 7% in the current fiscal as against 6.5% in 2017-18. It is is anticipated to reach Rs.128.09 lakh crore in 2018-19.

The construction of the world’s largest cricket stadium, which will have a seating capacity of over 1 lakh, at Motera in Ahmedabad is underway. The stadium will be built across 63 acres of land and is being designed by renowned architect firm M/s. Populous. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 700 crore and the construction tender has been given to L&T. The infrastructure inside the stadium include three practice grounds and an indoor cricket academy.

On January 8, 2019, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswam announced the formation of a new district Kallakurichi by bifurcating Villupuram district which is one of the large districts in the State. With this, the state will now have 33 districts. The decision was taken because the previous coverage of the district Villupuram was huge and it was becoming difficult for the administrators to govern the district. The newly formed region is renowned for its rice production.

On January 8, 2019, the Reserve Bank of India constituted a 5-member high-level committee under Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani to suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of digital payments in the country. The panel members include:
• Infosys co-founder Nilekani,
• former RBI deputy governor H R Khan,
• former MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank Kishore Sansi and
• former secretary in ministries of IT and steel Aruna Sharma and
• chief innovation officer, Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad, Sanjay Jain.

The chairman of National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), Shri Pranav R Mehta, has taken over as the president of Global Solar Council (GSC) from January 1, 2019. He is dubbed as the Solar Man of India. He has been conferred with the ‘Visionary Disruptor Award’ by Solar Future Today, which he will be receiving on 15th January, 2019 at the sidelines of World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

On 7th January 2019, NASA’s transiting exoplanet survey satellite (TESS) has discovered a planet named HD21749b orbiting around the star HD 21749, which lies about 53 light years from earth in the faint constellation reticulum. TESS does this work by carving the sky up into overlapping sectors, studying each one for 27 days at a time. Discovery team leader Diana Drogomir, institute of astrophysics and space research said that the planet has a density of water, a thick atmosphere and has an average surface temperature around 300 degrees Fahrenheit. HD 21749b completes one orbit of its host star, which is nearly as bright as our sun, every 36 earth days. It is a “sub Neptune”, around three times bigger than earth and 23 times more massive then earth, which means it’s likely gaseous rather than rocky.

From 9th January 2019, Maharashtra is going to host the second edition of the Khelo India Youth Games which includes completions in 18 different disciplines at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. The event will conclude on 20th January 2019. Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) is a part Khelo India which is the revamped national programme for development of sports in India. Students from colleges and universities are participating in the event for the first time. Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister of State for Youth affairs and sports Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore will attend a virtual touch ceremony at Shree Shiv Chatrapati Sports Complex. More than 6000 Under–17 and Under-21 athletes from all over the India are participating in the games. There are 6 team sports in KIYG and agenda includes Kabaddi and Kho-Kho. Khelo India Youth Games 2018 was held at Delhi.