February 4, 2018 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

Maharashtra State Government has approved Ghodazari in Chandrapur district as a new wildlife sanctuary in the state. This decision was taken at the 13th meeting of the Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife, held on January 31, 2018. The meeting was chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.The new wildlife sanctuary will include 159 sq km of Brahmapuri forest. This decision will not only help in conserving the forest but will also benefit nearly 40 villages in the region on account of consequential increase of tourism related activities.

International Conference on ‘Demetrios Galanos and His Legacy’ was inaugurated at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in New Delhi on February 3, 2018. Demetrios Galanos was a Greek scholar who came to India to study in the nineteenth century. He stayed in India for 47 years (for 40 years he lived in the city of Varanasi). During the course of his stay, Demetrios Galanos compiled a Sanskrit-English-Greek lexicon of about 9000 words. He also translated the Bhagvad Gita into Greek. 8-day International Conference on ‘Demetrios Galanos and His Legacy’ is being held in Delhi as well as Varanasi. It has been organised by IGNCA. IGNCA’s ‘Bharat Vidya Prayojana’ project, under which, attempts are being made to reconceive Indology from Bharat perspective is the principle host of this conference.

On February 3, 2018, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan appealed to the teaching community to join the ‘Green Good Deeds’ campaign. This campaign has been launched by Environment Ministry to sensitise students about climate change and global warming. ’Green Good Deeds’ campaign is based on the premise that it is the moral responsibility of current generation to restore and return the clean and green environment to the next generation. A mobile application – ‘Dr Harsh Vardhan’ has also been launched to reach out to people across India and provide information about ‘Green Good Deeds’ campaign.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is an annual multicultural festival held in the Kala Ghoda area of South Mumbai. Kala Ghoda Arts festival 2018, which is the 20th edition of this festival, began on February 3, 2018. This year’s theme is ‘Hara Ghoda’ (Green Horse) focusing on sustainability and environment-friendliness. Art enthusiasts can witness an amalgamation of contemporary art illustrations, dance, theatre, music, literature and food during the course of this 9-day art festival. This festival is organised by Kala Ghoda Association, which was formed in 1998 with an objective of maintaining and preserving the heritage and art district of South Mumbai.

On February 4, 2018, Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the First International Kala Mela (Art Festival) at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi. This festival has been organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, India’s premier institution for the promotion of Art and Culture. During the course of this festival (4th – 18th February, 2018), around 800 artists will showcase their art works. Main objective of this festival is to facilitate direct interaction between artists and the experts of the art forms and also to raise awareness about the art. National and International experts will conduct various art workshops and activities including Visual Art Film Festival, Best from waste workshop, Musical performances, Violin making workshop, live performance and Dance Dramas during the festival.

Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has sanctioned a new project to control pollution in River Sal at Navelim town in Goa. This project has been sanctioned under National River Conservation Plan. It envisages construction of 32 kms of sewers and sewage treatment plant of 3 million litres per day (MLD). Estimated cost for this project is Rs. 61.74 crore, which will be shared by Centre and State in 60:40 ratio. Post completion (by January 2021), this project will not only will help in reduction of pollution load in the river and improve its water quality, but will also improve environment and sanitation in the town.

On February 1, 2018, India contributed an additional $1 million to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund earmarked for South-South cooperation. This latest contribution of India is aimed at intensifying its partnerships with other developing countries. India-UN Development Partnership Fund was launched in June 2017 for supporting sustainable development projects in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. India has pledged a multi-year contribution of $100 million to this fund, out of which, it has already provided $6 million so far.

As announced in Union Budget 2018, providing Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be mandatory for any entity entering into a financial transaction of Rs 2.5 lakh or more with effect from April 1, 2018. As per Finance Bill 2018, through which the Budget is passed, Permanent Account Number (PAN) would be used as Unique Entity Number for non-individuals. Thus, every non-individual entity shall be required to apply to the Assessing Officer for allotment of PAN.It has also been proposed that managing director, director, CEO, partner , founder or any person competent to act on behalf of such entities shall also apply to the Assessing Officer for allotment of PAN. Objective behind bringing in this provision is to widen the tax base.

Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has been appointed as Chief Justice of Bangladesh. Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid administered Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain’s oath as the 22nd chief justice of the Supreme Court in Dhaka. The previous Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned in November 2017. Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah was appointed as the acting chief justice. Syed Mahmud Hossain was born on 31 December 1954. He started practicing as a lawyer in 1981.

On 3rd February 2018, film maker Shyam Benegal was awarded the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Shorts & Animation Films – MIFF 2018. The V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Shyam Benegal by C Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra, at the MIFF 2018 Valedictory Function at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. The award consisted of a Trophy, a shawl, citation and cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs. The award recognizes Shyam Benegal’s contribution to the documentary movements in India. He has made 28 feature films and 41 documentaries. ‘Satyajit Ray’ and ‘Nehru’ are some of his award winning films. He has also received Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Japan successfully launched a mini-rocket that sent a microsatellite into orbit. The No. 5 vehicle of the SS-520 series took off from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. The rocket is 10 m long. It weighs 2.6 tons. It is claimed to be the smallest satellite-carrying rocket in the world. The rocket successfully put a microsatellite into its desired orbit. The microsatellite has a weight of 3 kg. This microsatellite was developed by the University of Tokyo. The microsatellite would collect images of the Earth’s surface. This is the first time the SS-520 series rocket has successfully put a microsatellite into orbit.

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma won the Maybank Championship, at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, in Malaysia. Shubhankar Sharma holed 10 birdies and finished 10-under-par 62 in the finals. He won the Maybank Championship. He was awarded USD 500,000. Jorge Campillo finished in the second position. Pablo Larrazabal and Ryan Fox finished in the third position.

Hukum Singh, a BJP MP from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, died at JP Hospital, in Noida. Hukum Singh was 79 years old. He was suffering from breathing difficulties. He is survived by five daughters. Hukum Singh started his law practice in 1969. He entered politics around 1974. His followers fondly called him ‘Babu Sahab’. He was member of the Uttar Pradesh state assembly for 7 times.

On 4th February 2018, World Cancer Day was observed all over the world. World Cancer Day is observed every year on 4th February. The World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in the idea of supporting the goals of World Cancer Declaration that was written in 2008. World Cancer Day aims to spread awareness about cancer, its prevention, detection, and treatment. Its main aim is to reduce illness and death due to cancer by 2020. The theme for World Cancer Day for 2016-2018 period is: ‘We Can. I can.’ On the World Cancer Day people are expected to contribute towards reducing the impact of cancer worldwide.

On 3rd February 2018, ‘Exam Warriors’, a book written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was launched. The book ‘Exam Warriors’ was released by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present during the release. This book has been published by Penguin India. It consists of 208 pages. This book has been written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in order to inspire youth and help them face difficult situations like examinations, with fresh and new energy.