January 3, 2018 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

The new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) will be set up at cost of Rs.1351 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The new AIIMS in Bilaspur will consist of a hospital with a capacity of 750 beds, trauma center facilities, Medical college with an intake of 100 MBBS students per year and Nursing college with an intake of 60 B.Sc. (Nursing) students per year. It will also have 20 Speciality/Super-Speciality Departments including 15 Operation theatres and AYUSH department with 30 beds. Under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), AIIMS on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi have been established in Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Raipur, Jodhpur, Rishikesh and Patna.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was passed in the Rajya Sabha by voice vote. This bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in August, 2017. The bill seeks to increase NABARD’s authorised capital to Rs 30000 crore from the current level of Rs. 5000 crore. Besides, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) 0.4 percent equity in NABARD will be transferred to Central Government. Consequentially, 100 percent equity of NABARD will now be with government.

Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar directed the state irrigation department to implement the integrated solar-based micro irrigation scheme in all districts of Haryana. Mr. Khattar has constituted a committee headed by Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) chairman to form a strategy to execute this scheme. Currently, solar-based micro irrigation scheme is being implemented on pilot basis across 13 districts of Haryana at a cost of Rs 24.65 crore. This scheme will save electricity and water and will thereby prove to be economical for farmers

Haryana tourism department announced that Uttar Pradesh is the theme state for the 32nd Surajkund International Crafts Mela, to be held at Surajkund, Faridabad,from 2nd to 15th February 2018. All Indian states and around 24 countries are expected to participate in the Surajkund International Crafts Mela. Haryana tourism minister Ram Bilas Sharma said that, the fair is organized by Haryana Tourism and Surajkund Fair Authority in collaboration with Union ministries of tourism, textiles, culture and external affairs. It projects Indian handicrafts, handloom, cultural heritage and prosperity of India at global level. The theme state for Surajkund International Crafts Mela 2018 is Uttar Pradesh. Also, eminent folk artists and cultural groups of national and international repute will conduct programmes at the fair.

Tamil Nadu Government launched an e-governance policy to help public, government and commercial establishments avail all services through digital medium. The e-Governance policy 2017 booklet was released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswamy. It was received by Tamil Nadu IT Minister M Manikandan. The e-Governance policy contains guidelines for developing IT infrastructure for the digital initiatives of the government. This policy lets the government allocate 0.5 % of the total funds in a financial year for digital initiatives and further increase it to 3 % in the next five years.

The Haryana government has mandated installation of Solar Photovoltaic Power plant in new buildings as per specified norms. This has been done in a move to conserve electricity and use it efficiently. Haryana New and Renewable Energy Department notified that the sectors of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation should follow the norms.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched ‘Chah Bagichar Dhan Puraskar Mela 2017-18’ at a function held at Sarbananda Singha auditorium in Tinsukia, Assam. During the launch Sarbananda Sonowal distributed cheques to beneficiaries. Under this scheme people belonging to tea community who opened bank accounts during demonetisation will be credited Rs 2500 in their accounts. In the demonetisation period, 6,58,250 tea community members opened bank accounts. Assam government will spend Rs. 182 crore for giving financial incentives to all the account holders. In the next phase, another 2500 rupees will be credited to accounts which are continuously operated for 6 months from now.

The Dhanu Yatra festival held in Bargarh district of Odisha came to an end. The Dhanu Yatra festival was held for 11 days. It began on 23 December 2017. This festival is based on Krishna Leela and Mathura Vijay. Bargarh was made to look like Mathura, which is the birthplace and homeland of Lord Krishna. River Jeera was made to resemble river Yamuna. Amapali region was transformed into Gopapura. Various artists from different parts of India performed in the festival. Sureswar Satpathy is the Chairman of Dhanu Jatra organising committee. He said that, this festival started in 1947-48 to celebrate India’s Independence and to mark the victory of good over evil.

Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru, Poland and the Netherlands joined the United Nations Security Council as non-permanent members. Ambassadors of the 6 countries placed their flag among flags of the UN Security Council’s 9 other members. The council has 15 members in total. Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States have permanent seats in the council. On 31st December 2017, Egypt, Italy, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay left the United Nations Security Council.

The central bank of Pakistan approved the usage of Chinese currency, Yuan, for bilateral trade with China. This decision has been taken one day after US President Donald Trump announced stopping of all aid to Islamabad. This also indicates the growing bond between Pakistan and China. Now Pakistan and China might replace US dollar for transactions in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. Pakistan clarified that the Pakistani rupee will be continued for domestic usage.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley outlined the basic contours of the electoral bonds scheme including their denominations, eligibility and validity. The electoral bonds scheme was announced during the 2017-18 Union Budget speech of Mr. Jaitley. This scheme will serve as an alternative to cash donations and is thereby an attempt to make political funding more transparent. Rather than giving cash donations, donors can buy electoral bonds from specified branches of State Bank of India (SBI) for 10 days each in months of January, April, July and October. he bonds will be available in Rs.1000, Rs. 10000, Rs. 10 lakh, Rs. 1 crore denominations. These bonds would be valid for 15 days.

Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) operationalised its first desktop ATM at Kasibugga in Mandi Bazar in Warangal, Telangana. The mini-ATM has been installed within the branch premises and will facilitate customers to withdraw small amounts. The regular bank account holders too can withdraw money from this desktop ATM and conduct other banking activities. The desktop ATM has low power requirements and is designed to work in harsh climatic conditions. It is specifically meant for rural customer who typically have small cash needs. APGVB has laid out plans to install 100 such desktop ATMs in different busy branches. 60 of them will be in Telangana State and 40 in AP branches.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) announced that, it has commissioned and achieved design throughput of the world’s largest refinery off the gas cracker at Jamnagar. Reliance Industries Ltd stated that, this refinery will have a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum along with downstream plants and utilities. It said that, the facility uses off-gases from two refineries of RIL at Jamnagar as feedstock. This will enable sustainable cost reduction.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has won “Samudra Manthan-Caring Organisation of the Year” award. “Samudra Manthan-Caring Organisation of the Year” award was organised by Bhandarkar Shipping. Bhandarkar Shipping is an important publication of the maritime industry. The objective of this award is to create healthy competition in the maritime sector. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is India’s number one container port in terms of volume and efficiency. The Shipping corporation of India, MSC Crewing and DP world were among the finalists for the award.

Rajinder Khanna was appointed the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA). Rajinder Khanna is a former chief of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing). He has been appointed as the Deputy NSA on re-employment and contractual basis. He is currently Officer on Special Duty (Neighbourhood Studies) in the National Security Council Secretariat. The purpose of Neighbourhood Studies is to prepare policy papers of neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Emami Group announced actor Salman Khan as the brand ambassador for its edible oil brands. Salman Khan will work with Amitabh Bachchan in promoting Emami’s edible oil brands. Emami Healthy & Tasty, Himani Best Choice and Rasoi are Emami’s edible oil brands. Other actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Shahid Kapoor and Sania Mirza promote Emami products.

The central government appointed AB Mathur as interlocutor on its behalf to hold talks with the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). AB Mathur is an IPS officer of the 1975 batch. He is the former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Earlier he worked with the Intelligence Bureau (IB). ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) functions in Assam. It fights for sovereign Assam

R Margabandu, former Rajya Sabha member passed away. R Margabandu was 83 years old. He was an advocate by profession. He represented Tamil Nadu in Rajya Sabha from July 1995 to July 2001. He lead AIADMK party in Rajya Sabha.