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

On February 3, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Global Investors Summit 2018 – ‘Advantage Assam’ in Guwahati. The two-day Global Investor Summit 2018, aims to showcase manufacturing opportunities in Assam and related geostrategic advantages to foreign and domestic investors. The Summit is expected to position Assam as India’s Expressway to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Besides, the Summit will also highlight Assam’s core competencies in different sectors viz. agriculture and food processing, bamboo, organic farming, handloom, textile and handicrafts. It has been organised by the Assam State Government in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).Over 4500 delegates including representatives from 16 countries will attend this two-day event.

Maharashtra State Government launched four schemes aimed at promoting entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied sectors among the economically backward segments of the state. One of the scheme is about extending loan along with interest subsidy while second scheme is for promoting group farming. Third scheme is for group projects related to agro-industries and small and medium scale entrepreneurs while fourth scheme relates to skill development training in agriculture under which, training will be imparted to 2.5 lakh youths across rural Maharashtra. Beneficiaries of all the above stated schemes would be in 18 – 41 years age group.

On February 2, 2018, Power and Renewable Energy Minister, R K Singh stated that, government will implement a Rs 140000-crore Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme as announced in Union Budget 2018. KUSUM is aimed at promoting use of solar energy for pumps and encourage use of barren land for setting up decentralised solar power plants. This scheme will not only lead to increase in farmers’ income by giving them option to sell additional power to the grid but will also reduce their dependence on diesel pumps. The scheme envisages setting up 10000-mw solar plants on barren lands and incentivising discoms to buy the produced electricity, solarising existing pumps of 7250-mw and government tube wells of 8250-mw capacity and distributing 17.5 lakh solar pumps. A central financial assistance of Rs. 48000 crore (in phased manner) has been announced for this project in Union Budget 2018. The balance will be raised by the states.

On 2nd February 2018, the Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) on Neknampur Lake was inaugurated in Hyderabad. The Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) on Neknampur Lake was inaugurated on World Wetlands Day (February 2). The size of the FTW is 3,000 sq. ft. It has been formed by the joint efforts of Dhruvansh, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, the Ranga Reddy district administration and other organisations. It has been named the largest FTW in India by the India Book of Records. It has been developed based on soil-less hydroponics technique. The FTW is planted with cleaning agents like vetivers, canna, cattalis, bulrush, citronella, hibiscus, fountain grass, flowering herbs, tulsi and ashvagandha.

Assam State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) for setting up a twin tower trade centre in Guwahati. Estimated cost of construction of Twin Tower Trade Centre is Rs. 1950 crore. Construction will commence in July 2018 and will be completed within a period of 60 months. Green technologies will be used in various phases of construction. The building design & structure would reflect rich natural heritage and culture of Assam.

Uttar Pradesh State Government inaugurated state’s first ever butterfly park in Kanpur. Estimated cost for constructing this butterfly park is Rs. 1 crore. In order to attract butterflies, 100 species of flowers have been planted in the park. So far, more than 50 species of butterflies have already been spotted in this park. The Butterfly Park in Kanpur will open for public by March 2018. Butterfly parks are pollution-free spaces which do not have chemicals/pesticides and play an important role in conserving endangered butterfly species.

UK has permitted doctors to create three-parent babies through mitochondrial donation, in a move to prevent passing of incurable genetic diseases from mothers to babies. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has permitted to apply the procedures to two women in Newcastle, England. This will utilize mitochondrial donation therapy for those women, who are sure that their children would inherit a neurodegenerative disorder. Mitochondrial DNA will be obtained from a donor “mother”. So that, the genetic conditions will not be passed on to the baby from the original mother. This will be the first three-parent baby in the UK. The procedures will be supervised by Mary Herbert, professor of reproductive biology.

New Manchester-India Partnership (MIP) aimed at connecting Indian companies with Northern regions of England was launched in London, UK on February 1, 2018. Manchester is referred to as the Northern Powerhouse in Britain. This partnership is aimed at advancing trade, investment, science and innovation ties between India and Britain. MIP was launched by Jim O’Neill, the economist who coined the phrase BRICS. It is a public-private initiative between India and Manchester and is supported by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In order to carry out work related with the partnership, teams comprising permanent full time members will be stationed in Manchester, Delhi and Bengaluru.

Government of China, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Government of Pakistan have signed a USD 4 million agreement to provide assistance to help the people of Fata and Balochistan region in Pakistan. In recent times, several reports have emerged highlighting growing atrocities of Pakistan Government on the indigenous people of Balochistan and deteriorating human rights situation as a result of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). $4 mn assistance procured through China-UNDP-Pakistan agreement will be used to support the people in these regions by restoring their livelihood and helping them in rebuilding their lives. The assistance will be provided over a period of four months.

Under the Union Budget 2018, India’s annual financial allocation to Nepal (through Union Ministry of External Affairs) for 2018-19 has nearly doubled to Rs. 650 crore. Every year, Union Budget allocates a specific amount to Ministry of External Affairs for India’s ‘development and diplomatic engagement’. In Union Budget 2018, External Affairs Ministry has been allocated a total Rs. 15011 crore. This marks a marginal increase of Rs. 1321 crore as compared to previous year’s allocation. This year’s allocation to Nepal (Rs. 650 crore) is the third consecutive and the largest increase. In 2016-17, Nepal received Rs. 332.72 crore and for 2017-18 it received Rs. 375 crore. With Rs. 2650 crore, Bhutan continues to be largest recipient of External Affairs Ministry’s allocation.

On February 3, 2018, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx , India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises ( MSEs). This index has been developed jointly by CRISIL & Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). It is based on 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 to 200, wherein 0 is ‘extremely negative’ while 200 is ‘extremely positive’. By closely following the index readings, one can get a heads-up about potential challenges in future and changes in production cycle of the entire sector.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that, out of the two defence industrial production corridors that was mentioned in the Union Budget 2018, the first defence industrial corridor will link Chennai and Bengaluru. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that, two defence industrial production corridors will be developed by the government, when he presented the Union Budget 2018. The first defence industrial corridor will link Chennai and Bengaluru and it will pass through Coimbatore and various other industrial regions. Nirmala Sitharaman said that, announcement regarding the second defence industrial corridor will be made soon. Arun Jaitley said that, an industry-friendly military production policy will be developed to promote the domestic defence industry.

Malaysia’s Lai Jia Yi won the 4th edition of International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) in Kolkata. Indian student chef Surya Sekhar Roy Choudhury secured the second position. Lai Jia Yi was awarded the YCO 2018 Trophy along with a cash prize of USD 10,000. The trophy and cash prize were presented by Chefs Sanjeev Kapoor, David Foskett, and founder and chief mentor of IndiSmart Group and IIHM – Suborno Bose. Sanjeev Kapoor was the principal judge of the YCO 2018. Kevin McCafferty from Scotland and Henry Lee from Hong Kong both won the third position. This event was executed by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM). It was held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata for 6 days. Chefs from 43 countries took part in the contest.

The Department of Defence Production formed a task force lead by N Chandrasekaran to study the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in national security perspective. N Chandarsekaran is the chairman of Tata Sons. The task force consists of 17 members. National Cyber Security Coordinator Gulshan Rai, representatives from Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Airforce, chairman and managing director of Bharat Electronics Ltd, representatives from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Atomic Energy Commission and defence ministry are a part of the task force. Also, it comprises of representatives from Indian Institute of Science-Bengaluru, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai and IIT Chennai.

B A Chopade has been appointed as the vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry. B A Chopade is currently the vice-chancellor of Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. BHU Registrar Neeraj Tripathi had been holding the additional charge of BHU vice-chancellor since October 2017. Previous BHU vice-chencellor Girish Chandra Tripathi left on leave two months before his term ended. This created chaos in BHU campus in September 2017.

China successfully launched ‘Zhangheng 1’, its first seismo-electromagnetic satellite to study seismic precursors. A Long March-2D rocket was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gobi Desert. It carried the China Seismo- Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) of 730 kg into a sun-synchronous orbit at a height of 500 km. Zhangheng 1 will let scientists monitor the electromagnetic field, ionospheric plasma and high-energy particles for five years. It is named Zhang Heng after a scholar of the East Han Dynasty, who initiated earthquake studies and invented the first seismoscope. Zhangheng 1 will record electromagnetic data of earthquakes above 6 magnitude in China and earthquakes more than 7 magnitude throughout the world.

On 3rd February 2018, India won the U-19 Cricket World Cup at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, in New Zealand. India defeated Australia in the final by eight wickets. The team was led by Prithvi Shaw. Man of the Match was conferred on Manjot Kalra. This is the fourth U-19 World Cup title for India. Earlier India had won the U19 World Cup in 2000, 2008 and 2012.

On 30th January 2018, actor Louis Zorich passed away at his residence in New York City, US. Louis Zorich was 93 years old. He was well-known for the TV show show “Mad About You”. He has acted in movies like Coogan’s Bluff, Popi, Cold Turkey, Fiddler on the Roof, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He was nominated for Tony award in 1969.