January 7, 2018 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar released All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report 2016-2017. All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) was launched by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in the year 2010-11 to build an authentic database to assess the true status of higher education in India. Objective of AISHE is to identify and map all the institutions of higher learning across India and to collect the data from all such institutions on various aspects of higher education. AISHE 2016-2017 includes detailed information on 864 universities and 40026 colleges. Among all states, Tamil Nadu topped in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education. Tamil Nadu recorded 46.9% GER.

Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitendra Singh announced that Central Government will set up second Film and Television Institute of Indian (FTII) in Arunachal Pradesh. This announcement was made by Mr. Singh while addressing ‘Indian Entertainment Industry: Global Leader in Making’ conference organised by Bharat Niti and South India Film Chamber of Commerce in Itanagar. Objective behind setting up FTII in Arunachal Pradesh is to tap the potential of India’s North Eastern region. FTII in Arunachal Pradesh would be second such institute in the country. The first Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is located in Pune.

Indian Railways has finalised a plan to equip nearly 8500 railway stations across India (including those in rural and remote areas) with Wi-Fi facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 700 crore. At 1200 railway stations, Wi-Fi facility will be provided to rail passengers while at about 7300 stations (in rural and remote areas) the facility will be available not only to passenger but also to local people. Such Railway stations will have kiosks with Wi-Fi, offering services like digital banking, issuing government certificates, including birth and death certificates, Aadhaar generation and filing taxes and paying bills. Target is to provide Wi-FI facility at 600 stations by March 2018, and to cover all 8500 stations by March 2019. It is to be noted that under Central Government’s Digital India initiative, Indian Railways has already commissioned Wi-Fi services at 216 major stations, providing internet access to nearly 7 million rail passengers.

Central Government has sanctioned the construction of 14460 individual and community bunkers at a cost of Rs 415.73 crore for people living along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in Jammu & Kashmir. Bunkers along the LoC and IB in Jammu & Kashmir would offer protection to border resident facing Pakistani shelling. 7162 underground bunkers would be constructed along the IB in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, while 7298 bunkers would be constructed along the LoC in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch. Out of the total 14460 bunkers sanctioned, 13029 will be individual bunkers and 1431 will be community bunkers. Size of individual bunkers will be 160 square feet and would accommodate eight people. Size of Community bunkers will be 800 square feet and would accommodate 40 people.

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government has announced to launch ‘Muhafiz’ scheme, a major welfare initiative for providing institutionalized socio-economic security to workers in the unorganised sector of the state. ’Muhafiz’ means ‘Guardian’ in English. Under this scheme, 3 lakh workers registered with Jammu and Kashmir Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (JKBOCWWB), will be provided accidental, life and disability insurance cover. The premium for the same will be borne by JKBOCWWB. The registered workers will also be offered Micro Credit facility with a credit limit of Rs 10000. Counter guarantee for the same will be deposited by the JKBOCWWB with the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank. Under ‘Muhafiz’ scheme, JKBOCWWB will also provide educational scholarships to the wards of the registered workers.

Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) for increasing the berthing capacity of naval ships in Kochi. Under the MoU, Cochin Port Trust has leased 228 metres of berths at Mattancherry Wharf to Indian Navy for a period of five years. Approximate cost for this lease is Rs. 10 crore per annum. Availability of expanded berthing space will enable greater operational flexibility to Indian Naval ships based in Kochi. The MoU has been entered into by keeping into consideration the scheduled fleet expansion of Indian Navy in near future

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated and laid foundation stones of around 750 projects, worth more than Rs 500 crore, in Begusarai and Khagaria districts. These projects were launched during Nitish Kumar’s state-wide “Vikas Samiksha Yatra” which began on December 28, 2017. Early on January 6, 2018, Nitish Kumar flagged off 294 projects worth Rs 236 crore at Gauchhari Kataha village in Khagaria. Later, he flagged off another 462 projects totalling around Rs 321 crore at Barbigghi village in Begusarai.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has launched nearly 249 skill development centres throughout Assam. These skill development centres aim to improve skilled manpower in Assam. These centres provide vocational training to the youth of Assam and help them to be financially independent. These centres were launched at a programme held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. The programme was organized by Department of Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship. Around 18,000 youngsters from Assam will be trained through these centres. Assam government has also planned to establish foreign language learning centres to help the youth avail foreign job opportunities.

The International Kite Festival started at Sabarmati River Front in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The International Kite Festival was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. Gujarat Governor O. P. Kohli was also present at the occasion. Nearly 149 foreign kite fliers from 44 countries are taking part in this festival. From India, around 96 kite fliers from 18 states and 290 kite fliers from Gujarat participate in this kite festival. This International Kite Festival is to be held at small towns like Dakor, Gandhidham, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Aravali, Dwarka, Amreli, Palanpur, Pavagadh, Valsad and Saputara also.

Haryana has become the first State in India to launch High Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal which helps in early identification of high-risk pregnant cases, ensures timely referral of such cases to the civil hospitals for further management and delivery by specialists. High Risk Pregnancy Policy has been implemented across Haryana since November 2017 for identifying 100 per cent name-based high-risk pregnancy cases up to grassroots level, and ensuring their delivery by specialists at civil hospitals. As morbidity and mortality is quite high in high risk pregnant cases, HRP initiative will lead to a decline in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Still Birth Incidence. The High Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal will track every high risk pregnant woman till 42 days after delivery, in order to provide adequate treatment.

‘TrackChild’ and ‘Khoya-Paya’ web portals have been launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development to track missing and found children. The ‘TrackChild’ web portal has been launched in joint association with stakeholders like Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Railways, State Governments, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc. The ‘Khoya-Paya’ has been developed as a citizen corner on the ‘TrackChild’ portal. Apart from these portals the Ministry of Women and Child Development also provides support for children in trouble through the dedicated toll free number – 1098. Also, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been created to trace missing children. It has been distributed to all the states and union territories.

Julia Goerges won the WTA Auckland Open Tennis title, in Auckland, New Zealand. Germany’s Julia Goerges defeated Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the finals of the WTA Auckland Open Tennis. Julia Goerges won the Auckland singles title. Julia Goerges has won the Auckland singles title for the first time. This was her ninth attempt to win the title.

Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic won the Hopman Cup title for Switzerland, in Perth, Australia. Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic won the deciding Fast4 mixed doubles 4-3 (3), 4-2 against Germany and won the Hopman Cup title for Switzerland. This is the third Hopman Cup title for Switzerland. Sw itzerland had won the Hopman Cup in 2001 previously. It was won by Roger Federer and Martina Hingis.

Philippe Coutinho has moved from Liverpool to Barcelona team for 160 million Euros ($192 million) making this the second most expensive transfer in the world soccer history. Team Liverpool sold Brazilian football player Philippe Coutinho to Team Barcelona for 160 million Euros ($192 million). World’s most expensive transfer is Brazilian football player Neymar’s transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain team in 2017.

Union Minister of State ( I/C)Youth Affairs and Sports Col Rajyavardhan Rathore launched Vibrant Khelo India logo at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Three-stroke Khelo India logo has been designed by Ogilvy India. The logo design has been crowd sourced. It bears the colours of the national flag. The inaugural Khelo India School Games under the revamped Khelo India Programme will begin on January 31, 2018. Khelo India School Games is being held in collaboration with the School Games Federation of India and National Sports Federation. This event will serve as an avenue for identification of budding sporting talents in specific sports disciplines.

Jerry Van Dyke, comedian and actor died at his home in Arkansas, US. Jerry Van Dyke was 86 years old. His health was in a bad state after he met with a car accident two years back. He is a famous comedian. He performed at military bases and in television programs. His first show was “The Dick Van Dyke Show”.

Tatsuro Toyoda, former president of Toyota died due to pneumonia at 88 years. Tatsuro Toyoda joined Toyota in 1953. Toyota was founded by Tatsuro Toyoda’s father Kiichiro Toyoda. In 1984 he took charge as the president of a new firm ventured by Toyota and General Motors. He was president of Toyota from 1992 to 1995.

American astronaut John Young died due to complications from pneumonia in Houston, US. John Young flew the first space shuttle mission and walked on the moon. He was 87 years old. He became the first human to fly in space six times. He flew the first manned Gemini mission in 1965. He became the first person to orbit the Moon alone for Apollo 10 in 1969.