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Current Affair Capcule February 2018

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Current Affairs – 28 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 28th Feb? National Science Day. It was celebrated to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir CV Raman on 28th February 1928. Theme: “Science and Technology for a sustainable future.” Q2. SRIJAN? ‘SRIJAN’ (Station Rejuvenation through Joint Action) Launched by: Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC). Objective: To redevelop nearly 600 major railway stations in India, This was announced at MyGov portal. It is a best idea competition and All classes of people from railway passengers to architects, urban planners, engineers can submit their ideas. # Last date for submission is 26 March 2018. # Winners will be awarded certificates and good ideas will be considered for implementation in the redevelopment plans for stations. # First round of International Design Competition for Gwalior, Nagpur and Bayappanhalli stations has been finished and second stage will be over by 31.03.2018. Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC): MD & CEO – Mr. S.K. Lohia Q3. Rs 6000 crore fund for disaster-hit states? A committee chaired by Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh has approved a central assistance of around Rs 6000 crore for nine states which suffered from natural calamities during 2017-18. Fund allocation as follows: States affected by floods during 2017-18. Rs 1055.05 crore for Gujarat Rs 420.69 crore for Uttar Pradesh Rs 420.57 crore for Rajasthan Rs 838.85 crore for West Bengal Rs 1711.66 crore for Bihar States affected by cyclone Ockhi and North East Monsoon Rs 169.63 crore for Kerala Rs 133.05 crore for Tamil Nadu State affected by kharif drought Rs 395.91 crore for Chhattisgarh Rs 836.09 crore for Madhya Pradesh Q4. Inclusive Internet Index 2018? India has ranked 47th out of 86 countries on Inclusive Internet Index 2018. India’s rank was 36th rank in 2017. Inclusive Internet Index 2018 – Top 5 countries: 1. Sweden 2. Singapore 3. United States 4. Denmark 5. South Korea Q5. Death penalty for rape? Haryana State Cabinet approved a proposal to bring in legislation for awarding death penalty to those who have found

guilty of raping girls aged 12 years or less. Haryana: Capital – Chandigarh Governor – Kaptan Singh Solanki Chief Minister – Manohar Lal Khattar Q6. Moody’s Investors Service Report? Moody’s Investors Service report has said that India’s GDP is estimated to grow at 7.6% in 2018. Q7. Country’s first Aviation Multi Skill Development Centre? Launched in: Chandigarh Inaugurated by: Union Civil Aviation Minister, P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju The centre has been set up by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Aerospace and Aviation Sector Skill Council of India. In next three years, the centre will train (free of cost) nearly 2300 students in eight aviation job roles. Airports Authority of India (AAI): Chairman – Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra Q8. EPFO online claims mandatory? In order to go paperless Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made it mandatory to file online claims for provident fund (PF) withdrawals above Rs 10 lac. And withdrawals of above Rs 5 lakh under the Employees Pension Scheme 1995 has also been made mandatory. # Central Provident Fund Commissioner – Dr. V P Joy Q9. India’s first defence ‘Quad’ Objective: Union Defence Ministry has started the process to set up India’s first defence industrial ‘Quad’ (quadrilateral corridor)to link Chennai with four other cities of Tamil Nadu (Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli) to promote industries manufacturing weapons and military equipments. Q10. 7th meeting of EPG on Nepal-India relations? Held in: Kathmandu, Nepal EPG: Eminent Persons Group Nepal’s coordinator of EPG Dr Bhekh Bahadur Thapa India’s coordinator of EPG Bhagat Singh Koshiyari EPG’s next meeting will be conducted in New Delhi. Q11. New appointed Group Chief Risk Officer of PNB A K Pradhan has been appointed as the Group Chief Risk Officer of Punjab National Bank (PNB). Earlier he was holding the post of a General Manager. PNB: # MD & CEO – Sunil Mehta #Tagline – ‘The name you can bank upon’ Q12. “marinefishsales” for fishermen? Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has developed a multivendor e-commerce website and mobile app named ‘marinefishsales’ to help fishermen to sell their products and marine catch directly to the customers. Developed under: National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project of CMFRI. Objective: To increase the income of coastal community.



Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI): # Director – Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan #Headquarters – Kochi, Kerala Q13. 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards? Held in: Monaco. Award Awardees Sportsman of the Year award -- Roger Federer (Switzerland; Tennis) Sportswoman of the Year award -- Serena Williams (USA; Tennis) Team of the Year -- Mercedes-Amg Petronas F1 Team (Germany; Motor Racing) Breakthrough of the Year -- Sergio Garcia (Spain; Golf) Comeback of the Year -- Roger Federer (Switzerland; Tennis) Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability -- Marcel Hug (Switzerland; Athletics) Action Sportsperson of the Year -- Armel Le Cleac’h (France; Sailing) Best Sporting Moment of the Year -- Chapecoense (Brazil) Sporting Inspiration -- J. J. Watt (USA) Exceptional Achievement Award -- Francesco Totti (Italy) Lifetime Achievement Award -- Edwin Moses (USA) Q14. Viral Load test for People Living with HIV/AIDS? Launched by: J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. Aim: This initiative will offer free of cost viral load testing for 12 lakh people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment in India at least once a year. Q15. Jharkhand Chief Secretary ? Sudhir Tripathy Replaces: Rajbala Verma Q16. Penny Vincenzi? Penny Vincenzi, is a popular British novelist, passed away. Q17. Ratnavel Pandian passes away? S Ratnavel Pandian, was former Supreme Court judge. Q18. Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi passes away? Kanchi acharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi died after suffering from breathing problems, at a hospital in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu. Jayendra Saraswathi was 82 years old. He was the 69th head of the Kanchi mutt.

Current Affairs – 27 February 2018 Q1. Chilika Lake for Dolphins? Chilika Lake in Odisha has become the single largest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world now. Information Provided by: A Chilika Development Authority (CDA) official, he said that, 155 Irrawaddy dolphins have been identified in the Chilika Lake. Q2. National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC)? Foundation Stone Laid by: Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.

Foundation Stone laid at: IIT Chennai. NTCPWC is set up under the Sagarmala programme of Ministry of Shipping and It will function as a technology arm of the Ministry of Shipping. The cost for setting up NTCPWC is Rs 70.53 crore. This amount is shared by Ministry of Shipping, IWAI and the Major Ports. NTCPWC will offer indigenous software and technology, and will develop technical guidelines and standards and work towards modernization of Indian ports. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI): Chairperson – Nutan Guha-Biswas Headquarters – Noida, Uttar Pradesh Q3. Swajal Yojana in Rajasthan? Launched by: Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Uma Bharti at Village Bhikampura, in Rajasthan. What is Swajal Project: Swajal is a community owned drinking water programme for sustained drinking water supply. 90% of the project cost will be provided by Central Government while remaining 10% of the project cost will be contributed by the local community. Fund of Rs. 54.17 lakh has been allocated for Swajal Project at Bhikampura. Under the Swajal Project, four reservoirs will be constructed in the village and common tap connection will be given to all the households. Q4. Health-cum-life insurance scheme for farmers? Announcement made by: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao He announced health-cum-life insurance scheme of Rs.5 lac for farmers in the state. Entire premium for the insurance will be borne by the Telangana State Government. Rs. 500 crore has been allocated for implementation of this scheme. Telangana: Capital – Hyderabad Governor – E.S.L. Narasimhan Chief Minister – K. Chandrashekar Rao Q5. India-Korea Business Summit 2018 Held in: New Delhi It was the second summit. Theme: “India-Korea: Scaling up the Special Strategic Relationship through Trade and Investments”. Objective: Exploring opportunities in Infrastructure, Information Communication Technology, Power, Smart Cities and Manufacturing sectors. Q6. Currency derivative trade limit increased? Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the exposure limit under the exchange traded currency derivatives (ETCD) for residents and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to USD 100 million across all currency pairs. Earlier this exposure limit set by RBI was USD 15 million for USD-INR contracts and USD 5 million for other currency pairs. As of now, four currency pairs, viz. USD/INR, EUR/INR (Euro), GBP/INR (Great British Pound) and JPY/INR (Japanese Yen) are traded on Indian exchanges.



Increasing exposure limit will help the participants to better manage their risk and will also improve the liquidity in the instrument. Q7. India corner? Union Ministry of External Affairs is planning to set up “India corners” at educational institutes in abroad, which will provide authentic reference material for students who wish to know more about India. Q8. IndusInd Bank and Ripple’s partnership? IndusInd Bank has partnered with Ripple, the blockchain solution provider to facilitate cross border remittances across the world. IndusInd Bank will use the platform for settling payment of its retail remitters, recipients as well as institutional partners across the world. Q9. MoU between CSIR and IORA-RCSTT? Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed a MoU with the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s Regional Center for Science and Technology Transfer (IORA-RCSTT) for designating Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) in Lucknow as the coordinating centre on medicinal plants. Director of CIMAP: Anil Kumar Tripathi Director of IORA-RCSTT: A Sedrpousan IORA is an association of 21 countries and 7 dialogue partners. ‘Medicinal plants’ is one of the 6 areas of cooperation identified by IORA. CIMAP: Located in – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Q10. Catholic Syrian Bank and Celebrus Capital’s partnership? Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd (CSB) has partnered with Celebrus Capital Ltd (Celebrus), to offer online equity trading and demat services to its customers. Catholic Syrian Bank: # Founded in – 1920 # Headquarters – Thrissur, Kerala # Chairman – T.S. Anantharaman IndusInd Bank: Chairman – R. Seshasayee Q11. New DGP of Bihar? KS Dwivedi has been named the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Bihar. He will replace PK Thakur. Q12. UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Pakistan? Mountaineer Samina Baig is appointed the National Goodwill Ambassador for Pakistan. Appointed by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). About Samina Baig: She is the first Pakistani woman who had climbed Mount Everest. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): Headquarters – New York

Q13. ‘igloos’? ISRO plans to build ‘igloos’ on Moon for astronauts Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started work on building igloos (referred to as lunar habitats) on the Moon for astronauts Objective: To help the astronauts to spend more time on the moon. ISRO: Chairman – K. Sivan Q14. CSIR-NIO Goa? CSIR-NIO Goa has announced that it has found High concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, calcium carbonate, unique faunal groups and shallow presence of methane hydrates in Krishna Godavari basin in Bay of Bengal over a water depth of 900 metres to 1,900 metres. Gas hydrates are a potential source of alternate energy. CSIR - Council of Scientific & Industrial Research NIO - National Institute Of Oceanography More in the day: # Kanakalata Mohanty passes away, He was Eminent Odia writer . # Prabodh Panda passes away, he was former MP and State Secretary of West Bengal for Communist Party of India (CPI).

Current Affairs – 26 February 2018 Q1. Australia’s new deputy Prime Minister? Michael McCormack Former Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce resigned as leader of the National party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, following an allegation of extra-marital affair. Q2. ‘Baal Aadhaar’? Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), introduced a ‘Baal Aadhaar’ card for children below the age of five years. ’Baal Aadhaar’ Card will be Blue in Colour. Aadhhar Card is not mandatory for childrentill 5 years of age. However, it is required if the child is attending educational programmes overseas and if he/she wants to avail government scholarships. Q3. Milan 2018? Andaman & Nicobar Command of Indian Navy will be hosting a multinational mega event ‘MILAN 2018’ from 6th – 13th March, 2018 at Port Blair Objective: To foster co-operation through naval exercises and professional interactions. Theme: ‘Friendship Across the Seas’. Participating Countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand. Countries participating for first time: Brunei, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Oman, South Africa, Timor Leste and Vietnam. Q4. ‘Hari Singh Nalwa: Champion of the Khalsaji (1791-1837)’. Author: Dr Vanit Nalwa.



Dr Vanit Nalwa has written this book after 7 years of research, which reveals how Sikh warrior Hari Singh Nalwa got his surname. She said, Hari Singh Nalwa, a Sikh warrior who lived in the 19th century, got his surname after Maharaja Ranjit Singh said “wah mere Raja Nal, wah”. Q5. ‘Run for New India’ A marathon in Surat, Gujarat Flagged off by: Prime Minister Narednra Modi Objective: To create awareness about social causes and call upon youth to resolve to build a New India. Organized by: Surat Nagrik Samiti. Q6. IOA and Edelweiss Group partnership? The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has announced its partnership with Edelweiss Financial Services Limited as sponsor of the Indian team for 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 Asian Games and the 2020 Olympic Games and National Games 2018 and 2019. Q7. TAPI Gas pipeline? Turkmenistan has announced that the construction work has been started on the Afghan section of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India TAPI natural gas pipeline (project amount - $8 billion) that will link energy-rich Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India. The project TAPI has been supported by United States and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh Gas Field is world’s second-biggest gas field. Q8. RISE scheme? RISE- Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) scheme. 23 IITs will get 25 % of govt loans for higher education institutes under this scheme. Announced by, Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley during Union Budget 2018 speech, RISE scheme with a fund allocation of Rs 100000 crore. Under this scheme, all centrally-funded institutes (CFIs) can borrow funds from the corpus over the next four years to expand and build new infrastructure. Out of Rs. 100000 crore, Rs. 25000 crore, will be set aside exclusively for the 23 IITs. Fund Allocation:- Central Universities - Rs 20000 crore. National Institutes of Technology (NITs) - Rs 11300 crore New IIMs - Rs 4500 crore Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) - Rs 5000 crore. Under RISE, all financing will be done through the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA). Q9. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s visit to India India – Canada signed six important agreement A MoU between India’s Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Natural Resources of Canada for co-operation in the fields of science, technology and innovation. # A joint declaration of intent between the India’s Ministry of Electronics And Information Technology and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada

on cooperation in the field of Information Communications Technology and Electronics. # Cooperation in higher education. # Agreement for cooperation in sports. # MoU between India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights. # India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Department of Natural Resources of Canada exchanged terms of reference for the India-Canada Ministerial Energy Dialogue. Also Agreement were signed between India and Canada’s (IDRC) International Development Research Centre for global and local developmental challenges. Canada: Capital – Ottawa Q10. Winter Olympics 2018? XXIII Olympic Winter Games was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Motto: “Passion.Connected”. Official mascots: Soohorang, a white tiger, and Bandabi, an Asiatic black bear. More than 2900 athletes from 92 countries took part in PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018. Special Moments:- Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla wins first Olympic gold medal as Dutch sweep speed skating. First Gold Medal at PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 was won by Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. Charlotte Kalla won the Gold for 15-kilometer cross-country skiing. All medals in the ladies’ 3000m speed skating were won by Netherlands team. Korean ‘Iron Man’ Kim wins historic Olympic skeleton gold South Korea’s Yun Sung-bin made history by winning Gold in Skeleton racing and becomes Asia’s first Olympic skeleton champion. Norway’s Bjorgen becomes most successful Winter Olympian Norwegian female cross-country skier, Marit Bjorgen won a medal in all five of the events she has competed in. US wins Ice Hockey Gold at Winter Olympics 2018. This was US Women’s Ice Hockey team’s first gold medal in 20 years. PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 Medal Table – Top 5 Countries: 1. Norway Gold- 14 Silver- 14 Bronze- 11 Total- 39 2. Germany Gold- 14 Silver- 10 Bronze- 7 Total- 31 3. Canada Gold- 11 Silver- 8 Bronze- 10 Total- 29 4. United States Gold- 9 Silver- 8 Bronze- 6 Total- 23 Netherlands Gold- 8 Silver- 6 Bronze- 6 Total- 20 Q11. Rahul Mahajan? Rahul Mahajan has been appointed as new Editor-in-Chief of Rajya Sabha Television Rajya Sabha chairman: M Venkaiah Naidu approved his appointment.



Q12. 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM)? Held in: Nadi, Fiji Theme: “Sustainability and Resilience: Can Education Deliver?”. First Commonwealth education conference was held in Oxford, UK in 1959. Objective: Education Ministers of Commonwealth nations meet and discuss solutions to issues and challenges in education sector. India’s representative Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development. Q13. 21st National Conference on e-Governance Held in: Hyderabad, Telangana Organized by: the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), jointly with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology along with Telangana Government. Inaugurated by: Y.S. Chowdary, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences. Theme: ‘Technology for accelerating Development’. Q14. Airtel and ‘Seamless Alliance’ Bharti Airtel has announced that it has joined ‘Seamless Alliance’, to bring high-speed and uninterrupted in-flight data connectivity to mobile customers. Once the platform will go Live, Airtel’s 370 million mobile customers will be able to enjoy uninterrupted access to high-speed data services even while they are in-flight. Along with Bharti Airtel, OneWeb, Airbus, Delta and Sprint are the other founding members of this alliance. More in the day: 1. China has been elected as the Vice President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 2. India’s Vikas Krishan won a gold medal for the best boxer of the tournament honour at the 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. 3. Sajeev Krishnan- New Additional Director of Dhanlaxmi Bank.

Current Affairs – 25 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 24 Feb.? Central Excise Day Central Board of Excise and Customs: # Chairman – Mrs. Vanaja N. Sarna Q2. 1st Indian to win medal at Gymnastics World Cup? Aruna Budda Reddy becomes 1st Indian to win individual medal at Gymnastics World Cup Location: Melbourne, Australia. She won a bronze medal. A total of 16 countries are taking part in the Gymnastics World Cup in Melbourne. Q3. New plant species discovered in West Bengal? Indian scientists have discovered a new plant species in West Bengal and have named it “Drypetes kalamii” after former President Dr. Abdul Kalam.

The new species were discovered in Jaldapara and Buxa National Parks in West Bengal. # Drypetes kalamii is a small shrub. It grows up to a length of 1 metre. It is discovered by the scientists of Botanical Survey of India. Scientists have declared this plant species as “Critically Endangered”. Q4. BioAsia 2018? Edition: 15th Held in: Hyderabad Theme: “RIGHT TIME, RIGHT NOW”. BioAsia is a bio-business convention in Asia for Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and healthcare which brings together all the national as well as international stakeholders of Pharma and Life Sciences sector. International Partners: Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa Partner states: Gujarat, Assam and Rajasthan. Q5. Amma 2 Wheeler Scheme? It is scheme to provide subsidised 2 Wheeler for working women in Tamil Nadu. Launched by: PM Narendra Modi Launched in: Tamil Nadu. This scheme was launched to mark 70th birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa , the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Every year, one lakh working women in Tamil Nadu will be given 50% of the cost of a two- wheeler or a grant of Rs. 25000. Tamil Nadu: # Capital – Chennai # Governor – Banwarilal Purohit # Chief Minister – K Palaniswami Q6. Rustom-2 drone or TAPAS-BH-201? Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carries out test flight of indigenous Rustom-2 drone which is a medium altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle. Test Location: Chalakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka It can continuously fly for 24 hours. # Chairman – S Christopher Q7. Groovz Jazz festival in Riyadh? Saudi Arabia conducted the Groovz Jazz Festival, its first ever jazz festival, at the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel, in Riyadh Organized by: Time Entertainment Q8. Austrian Open International Challenge (badminton)? Winner: India’s Parupalli Kashyap. Location: Vienna, Austria. Parupalli Kashyap defeated Malaysia’s June Wei Cheam. Badminton World Federation (BWF): # President – Poul-Erik Høyer # Headquarters – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Q9. ‘Doing Business’ ranking? Union Commerce and Industry Ministry has appointed four institutes: 1. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) 2. Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) 3. National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR)



4. Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) to interact with stakeholders and suggest measures to push up India’s ranking in ease of doing business index. Work distribution: ICAI will ascertain views on ‘taxes’ parameter. ICSI and IIFT will look into ‘starting a business’ and ‘trading across borders’ parameters. NICMAR will get feedback on ‘dealing with construction permits’. ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Index: # Prepared by: World Bank (since 2003) # India’s Rank in latest Ranking: 100 out of 190 countries Q10. Anti-Dumping Duty on Ceramicware from China? Anti-Dumping Duty: A protectionist tariff imposed by domestic government on below-cost foreign imports, to protect domestic producers is referred to as anti-dumping duty. To protect domestic producers, India has imposed anti-dumping duty on import of ceramic tableware and kitchenware from China Anti-dumping duty of USD 1.04 per kg for a period of five years starting from June 2017 has been imposed. More in the day: # Veteran Actress Sridevi passes away. # RSS founder member Bhanu Shashtri passes away. # French international banking group BNP Paribas has announced that it is acquiring the Luxembourg-based wealth management and insurance business of ABN Amro. # Tamil Nadu State Government has entered in to an agreement with Microsoft to improve the integration of technology in teaching and learning across the state. Microsoft will adopt seven schools and will train their teachers and students in inculcating skills such as critical thinking, app development, creative coding & gaming, robotics and entrepreneurship. # From April 1, 2018, SBI’s UK operations will operate as SBI’s subsidiary under the name of State Bank of India UK Limited. SBI has 12 retail branches in UK, out of which, 7 are located in London. # Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has signed a MoU with Andhra Pradesh State Government to invest Rs 3730 crore in the state. (1) Supply of 10000 electric cars and 4000 chargers to various departments of Andhra Pradesh through Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (NREDCAP). (2) Supply of approximately 17 lakh smart energy meters to two power distribution companies in Andhra Pradesh.

Current Affairs – 24 February 2018 Q1. Youth Festival? Edition: 7th Held in: Central Park, New Delhi. Theme: ‘Let Love Live’ Organised by: Sahitya Kala Parishad and the Department of Art, Culture and Languages, Delhi Government. Q2. Vodafone Odeon Theatre Festival? Edition: 15th Starts in: Kolkata, West Bengal.

This festival is conducted to provide a platform for theatre artists to display their talent. Q3. ‘Lamitye’? Indo-Seychelles joint Army exercise. Edition: 8th Held in: Seychelles. ’Lamiye’ means friendship in Creole (local dialect). Seychelles: # Capital – Victoria # Currency – Seychellois rupee # President – Danny Faure Q4. Ambassador of India to Pluri national State of Bolivia. Subbarayudu He is currently the Ambassador of India to Lima. Bolivia: # President – Evo Morales # Vice President – Álvaro García Linera Q5. Neelabh Mishra passes away. He was Senior journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of National Herald newspaper. Q6. 4G LTE telecom system? Launched by: Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha It is India’s first locally developed 4G/LTE telecom system. This system has been designed and developed by VNL Ltd. Q7. India International Textiles Expo. Inaugurated by: Sri Lankan Minister of Special Assignments, Dr. Sarath Amunugama. Organised in: Colombo, Sri Lanka Organised by: Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) with the support of Union Ministry of Textiles & Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Q8. Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav? Begins in: Madhya Pradesh Organized by: Ministry of Culture under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat matrix. A literary meet named ‘Samvaad’, will be held with writers and poets from Manipur, Nagaland and other North Eastern States. Q9. Global Business Summit? Edition: 4th Theme: ‘New Economy, New Rules’ This year’s Summit was presented by Yes Bank and Economic Times It is flagship initiative of the Times Group. Q10. Development schemes for Daman & Diu? Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched development schemes worth Rs 1000 crore for Daman and Diu. Services launched by PM Narendra Modi: # Pawan Hans helicopter service between Diu and Daman. # Ahmedabad-Diu flight service under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik–let the common citizen of the country fly), Regional Air Connectivity scheme. # Also inaugurated anganwadis and schools constructed under corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.



Q11. SCPUL? State Council for Promotion of Urdu Language. A set up of Jammu & Kashmir Government Fund allocated for this council is 2 crore Jammu & Kashmir: # Capital – Srinagar (Summer), Jammu (Winter) # Governor – Narinder Nath Vohra # Chief Minister – Mehbooba Mufti # J&K State Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu. Q12. Partnership Summit of the CII? Inaugurated by: Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu Partnership Summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) took place in Visakahpatnam. # This summit is jointly organised by the Andhra Pradesh State Government, the CII, and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Q13. IT infrastructure for National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS)? Nandan Nilekani will assist the government in developing IT infrastructure for National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS). # Covering 40% of the India’s population, National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) aims to offer medical cover for up to Rs 5 lakh to more than 10 crore poor families. # Nandan Nilekani is the former Chairman of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and he is also a member of the GST return simplification committee. # Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated for NHPS in the Union Budget. # As per the funding arrangement, the Central government will contribute 60% fund, and the remaining will be provided by the corresponding states. And 90 % fund, in case of special category states.

More in the Day: # Bharti Airtel and information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider Huawei have successfully conducted India’s first 5G network trial under a test setup at Airtel’s network experience centre in Manesar, Gurgaon. # Siemens India has commissioned a Medium-Voltage (MV) training lab at INS Valsura, Gujarat, for the Indian Navy. It has been inaugurated by Admiral Sunil Lamba, the Chief of the Naval Staff. Objective of forming this lab is to train, manage and operate modern equipment of Indian Navy without going to the field. # National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India has retained its ‘A’ status of accreditation with Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for the fourth consecutive term. NHRC, India: # Chairman – H. L. Dattu (Former Chief Justice of India) # Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed all banks to integrate SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication System platform) with their core banking solutions (CBS) by April 30, 2018.

Current Affairs – 23 February 2018

Q1. ‘Rhino Day’? Assam will celebrate 22nd September as ‘Rhino Day’ Aim: to create awareness on protection of the one-horned rhinoceros of Assam. Announced by: Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam Chief Minister) It was also decided to set up a Special Battalion to safeguard wild animals in Manas National Park. Some of the National Parks in Assam: # Kaziranga National Park # Dibru-Saikhowa National Park Q2. Suresh Seth passes away. He was former Indore mayor and Senior Congress leader. He was also called as the ‘Lion of Indore’ or ‘Sher-e-Indore’. Q3. ‘Dhanush’? Indian Navy successfully test-fired nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Dhanush’ from a naval warship positioned in the Bay of Bengal. Dhanush is the naval version of the ‘Prithvi’ short-range ballistic missile. Strike range of 350 km and can hit land-based as well as sea-based targets. Q4. Resignation of Barnaby Joyce? Due to an allegation of extra-marital affair with his former media secretary Vikki Campion, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce announced that, he will resign as leader of the National party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. Q5. Kunwar Bai passes away? She was 106-year-old Swachch Bharat brand ambassador from Chattisgarh. Kunwarbai was the woman who sold her goats for Rs 22,000 to built a toilet at her home. Q6. Federal Bank & Equirus Capital?



Kochi-based Federal Bank acquires 26% stake in Equirus Capital Federal Bank: # Headquarters – Kochi, Kerala # MD & CEO – Shyam Srinivasan #Tagline – ‘Your Perfect Banking Partner’ Q7. ‘Aadi Mahotsava’? It is a tribal festival which is organized by Assam, and began at Gandhi Mandir Indoor stadium, in Guwahati. Inaugurated by: Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam Chief Minister) ‘Aadi Mahotsava’ celebrates the art and culture of tribal communities. Q8. “Global T20 Canada”? Cricket Canada’s ICC-approved T20 league “Global T20 Canada” It is conceptualised, designed, developed and managed by Mercuri Group with Cricket Canada. Cricket Canada: # President – Mr Ranjit Saini. Q9. Khajuraho dance festival? Organised in: Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Inaugurated by: Anandiben Patel (Governor, Madhya Pradesh) This time it was 44th Khajuraho dance festival. Organised by: Culture department of the Madhya Pradesh government. Q10. MoU between India-Germany? A MoU between Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), India and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of Germany Government was signed for “Implementation Agreement in Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities in India” # Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Urban Development – Hardeep Singh Puri # Secretary (Housing and Urban Affairs) – Durga Shanker Mishra Q11. 15th BioAsia Summit? Telangana At the inaugural speech of this summit Telangana Industry Minister K. T. Rama Rao said that, the Telangana government aims to double the valuation of its life sciences ecosystem to $100 billion in 10 years. Current value: $50 billion. Telangana has more than 800 companies, which contributes more than 35% to the national pharmaceutical production of India. Telangana is also considered the vaccine hub of India and the world. It produces nearly 33 % of global vaccines dosages. Also, at this event Genome Valley Excellence Award was presented to Professor Michael N. Hall from Biozentrum University of Basel, Switzerland for discovery of nutrient-activated TOR (Target of Rapamycin) proteins and their function in the metabolic control of cell growth. Q12. First sale of electoral bonds? First sale of electoral bonds will start from March 1, 2018 for a period of 10 days at some of the selected branches of State Bank of India (SBI). Announced by: Union Finance Ministry.

# This scheme will serve as an alternative to cash donations and is thereby an attempt to make political funding more transparent. # The bonds will be available in multiples of Rs.1000, Rs. 10000, Rs. 10 lakh, Rs. 1 crore. # These bonds will be valid for 15 days from the date of issue. # These bond’s will be a bearer instrument. # Only registered political parties, which have secured not less than 1% of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly of the state, will be eligible to receive donation through electoral bonds. More in the day: # Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan inaugurates a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle test loop facility at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. It is the first of its kind project in India. # Director – Anurag Kumar. # One 97 communications, the parent company of Paytm, has created Paytm Life Insurance Corporation Ltd. and Paytm General Insurance Corporation Ltd.. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. # MoU has been signed between Mahindra Aerospace and Canada’s Viking Air, to form a strategic alliance for making smaller aircraft to support regional air connectivity in India. This MoU was signed during the ongoing India visit of Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. # Central Government has set up an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on medicinal and aromatic plants for the north-east (NE) to suggest actionable measures to generate more livelihood opportunities in the North East region of India.

Current Affairs – 22 February 2018 Q1. Defence Industrial Corridor in Bundelkhand? Announcement made by: PM Narendra Modi, in the ‘Investors Meet’ at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow Fund allotted: Rs 20,000 crore # Bundelkhand is a region located between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh # It will generate employment opportunities for 2,50,000 people. # This corridor will connect Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Chitrakoot. Q2. 1st Indian state to clear business and investment projects digitally? Uttar Pradesh Also: ‘Nivesh Mitra’ is turning out to be a helpful digital platform which will serve as a single-window clearance system. UP State Government has brought 20 departments under the ‘Nivesh Mitra’ and application for 70 clearances can be made through this platform. Nivesh Mitra had replaced Udyog Bandhu. Uttar Pradesh: # Capital – Lucknow # Governor – Ram Naik # Chief Minister – Yogi Adityanath



Q3. 1st Indian woman to fly fighter aircraft solo? Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi Avani Chaturvedi achieved this feat by flying a MiG-21 “Bison, from the Jamnagar base of Indian Air Force # there are 3 women who have undergone fighter pilot training in the Indian Air Force 1. Avani Chaturvedi 2. Bhawana Kanth 3. Mohana Singh Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) – Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa Q4. “Atlantic sixgill shark”? New shark species discovered in Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic sixgill shark named – Hexanchus vitulus. Existing species of shark is — Hexanchus nakamurai. The findings have been published in the journal Marine Biodiversity. Q5. 5th Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship? Indian “A” team won gold at the 5th Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship which was held in Gold Coast, Australia. Team was headed by Kiran Nadar. The team members were Keyzad Anklesari, B. Satyanarayana, Rajeshwar Tewari, Jaggy Shivdasani and Sunit Chokshi. India won Gold by defeating Australia. Q6. India, revised tax treaty with Kenya? Indian government had revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Kenya. Objective: # To enhance transparency in tax matters, # Control tax evasion # Elimination of double taxation # It will also improve the flow of investment, technology and services between India and Kenya. # Reduction in withholding tax rate:- :: on dividend and interest — 10 % from 15 %. :: rate on royalties, and fees for management, professional, technical services has been decreased to 10 % from 20 % and 17.5 % respectively. Q7. Night trial of Prithvi-II missile? India successfully conducted a night trial of Prithvi-II, an indigenously developed nuclear capable missile, from a Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha. # Prithvi-II is a surface-to-surface missile with a strike range of 350km. It has the ability to carry 500 to 1,000 kg of warheads. # Chairman DRDO & Secretary Department of Defence R&D – Dr S Christopher Q8. EPFO lowers interest rate? Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) declared that the rate of interest on employees’ provident fund for 2017-18 will be 8.55 per cent, which is 0.10% less then compared to last years 8.65%. Q9. India ranks in global Corruption Perceptions Index? India has ranked 81st out of 180 countries in the global Corruption Perceptions Index 2017.

Report released by Transparency International. Top 5 – Least Corrupt Countries New Zealand Denmark Finland Norway Switzerland Q10. Parivartan scheme? Launched in: Haryana Launched by: Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana Chief Minister) 10 Issues to be addresses under ‘Partivartan’ Scheme: facilitation of financing, improving health services, making agriculture profitable and sustainable, implementing Swachh Bharat, engaging the youth, decongesting market areas, checking air pollution, effective policing, ensuring availability of identity-related services and ensuring road order and conduct. Haryana: # Capital – Chandigarh # Governor – Kaptan Singh Solanki Q11. Gandhi Nagar railway station? Jaipur’s Gandhi Nagar railway station became India’s first major railway station to be completely managed by women personnel. Also: Sanitary napkin vending machine has been installed at the station. Note: (Matunga railway station in Mumbai is also completely managed by women personnel but it is not a major station). Q12. YH Malegam committee? Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an expert committee under the chairmanship of YH Malegam to look into the issues related to classification of bad loans, rising incidents of frauds and effectiveness of audits. About Cmmittee and members:- # Y H Malegam is a former member of the Central Board of Directors of RBI. Bharat Doshi – Member of Central Board of RBI S Raman – Former Chairman and MD of Canara Bank Nandkumar Saravade – Chief Executive Officer of Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT) A K Misra – Executive Director of RBI will be the Member-Secretary of the committee. Q13. BAFTA Awards 2018, 71st British Academy Film Awards ceremony. Held in: London, United Kingdom. Best Film — Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best Leading Actress — Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best Leading Actor — Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour Best Director — The Shape Of Water – Guillermo Del Toro Best Film Not in the English Language — The Handmaiden – Park Chan-wook and Syd Lim Best Animated Film — Coco – Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson Best Short Animation — Poles Apart – Paloma Baeza and Ser En Low



BAFTA Fellowship — Ridley Scott Q14. Special package for Arunachal Pradesh? Announced by: Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister. Central Government has sanctioned a special package to strengthen security in 3 eastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh: Tirap, Changlang and Longding. This fund will be used for creation of new posts, purchasing of vehicles and equipment for police. And also for construction of 20 police stations in the three districts. More in the day: # MS Anantharaman passed away, he was a renowned Violinist. Kalyan Singh Chouhan passes away, he was MLA from BJP in Rajasthan. # Israeli Ambassador to India, Mr Daniel Carmon has said that North East region (NER) first regional Centre for Agriculture with Israeli expertise will be inaugurated in Mizoram on March 7, 2018. Setup cost will be 8-10 crore. # India has contributed $ 1 million for the rehabilitation works in Tonga, after the devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Gita.

Current Affairs – 21 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 21st Feb.? International Mother Language Day. First celebrated in year 2000. Theme: Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO): Director-General of the UNESCO – Audrey Azoulay Headquarters – Paris, France Q2. Virat Kohli First Indian to cross 900 points in ICC ODI player rankings. He is just behind Sir Vivian Richards who had 935 points (1985), Zaheer Abbas – 931 points (1983), Greg Chappell – 921 points (1981), David Gower – 919 points (1983), Dean Jones – 918 points (1991) and Javed Miandad – 910 points (1987). Q3. New Executive Directors’ appointed for Canara Bank and Vijaya Bank? Debashish Mukherjee – Canara Bank (currently the general manager of United Bank of India) Murali Ramaswami — Vijaya Bank (general manager of Vijaya Bank) Q4. Palace Queen Hamsafar Express Train? Flags off at: Mysuru railway station, Karnataka, by PM Narendra Modi. This train will run between Mysuru in Karnataka to Udaipur in Rajasthan. And will cover a total distance of 2000 km. This project costs Rs 220 crore. Q5. Swajal project? It is a community owned drinking water programme.

Launched by: Uma Bharati (Union Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister) Launched in: Uttarkashi. Also launched Gangotri Swachh Iconic Place project. And also announced ‘Bagori Ganga Gram’ project for Uttarakhand’s Bagori village, which has been declared open defecation free (ODF). Uttarakhand: # Capital – Dehradun # Chief Minister – Trivendra Singh Rawat # Governor – Krishan Kant Paul Q6. Vaccination Card mandatory for School Admission? New Health Policy by Kerala government. This new health policy is presented by Health Minister KK Shylaja. Q7. Web Application Attacks? As per a report from content delivery network services Akamai Technologies, India has ranked 7th on the list of targeted countries for Web Application Attacks (WAA). Reports title: “Akamai State of the Internet Security Q4 2017”. Q8. SARAS? SARAS is an indigenous light transport aircraft of India, which has successfully finished its second test flight. SARAS is designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR): # Director General – Dr Girish Sahni # Chairman – PM Narendra Modi Q9. Coach factory at Latur, Maharashtra. Union Ministry of Railways and Maharashtra State Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a rail coach factory at Latur, Maharashtra. Q10. Investors’ Summit 2018? Started in: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Inaugurated by: PM Narendra Modi. Aim: Showcasing business and investment potential across the state. Major Investment Commitments announced: # Adani Group — Rs. 35000 crore — Over next five years, in various sectors # Aditya Birla Group — Rs. 25000 crore — Over next five years, in various sectors # Reliance Industries — Rs. 10000 crore — Over next three years, through Jio Q11. Regional conference of southern states on water resources ? Held in: Telangana, Hyderabad. Organised by: Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Minister: Arjun Ram Meghwal. Q12. 6 new features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) platform?



Launched by: Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh Objective: to offer competitive price to farmers for their products by means of online competitive bidding process. e-NAM Mobile App which is now multilingual. Direct Gate Entry from e-NAM Mobile App. Farmers can see the progress of their lot that is traded. Real time bidding progress of price. During trade, assaying certificate can be viewed through the app. Online payment by trader can also be done from the app. SMS alert for farmers Also new website has been launched with e-learning module. Provides live status of markets of e-NAM based on gate entry, information on latest events, dynamic training calendar etc. e-Learning module also available in Hindi language. And Grievance Redressal Management System by which Mandi Secretary can raise technology issues linked to portal/ software and its operation. Q13. Institutions of Eminence (IoE)? The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a 4 member Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) to perform appraisal of applications in order to shortlist 20 Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, N Gopalaswami is the chairperson of the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC). The other three members are: 1.Tarun Khanna, a Jorge Paulo Lemman Professor at Harvard Business School 2.Pritam Singh, former director of IIM, Lucknow 3.Renu Khator, Chancellor of University of Houston System More in the day: # Lokendra Singh, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) MLA, passed away in a road accident, in Uttar Pradesh. He was an MLA from Bijnor’s Noorpur in Uttar Pradesh. His car collided with a truck in Sitapur, while he was travelling to attend the ‘Investors Meet’ in Lucknow. # Dr. BK Goyal passes away, he was a renowned cardiologist. # Kunhiraman Panoor passes away, he was a Malayalam writer. # UP’s Khadi and Village Industries Board has signed a MOU with Amazon India for online selling of Khadi products. # Capital First has announced that the regulator National Housing Bank (NHB) has approved its merger with IDFC Bank Capital First has 2 subsidiaries which are — Capital Home Finance and Capital First Securities Limited. # A Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has allowed private companies to mine the coal for commercial use, and this decision will end the monopoly of state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL). # To protect the savings of the investors, Union Cabinet has approval to introduce Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 and Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018 in Parliament. # Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 – Main objective — to tackle the menace of illicit deposit taking activities across India by plugging the existing regulatory gaps and implement strict administrative measures.

# Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018 – Main objective — to facilitate orderly growth of the Chit Funds sector and remove challenges being faced by the Chit Funds industry.

Current Affairs – 20 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 20th Feb.? World Day of Social Justice. Theme: Workers on the Move: the Quest for Social Justice. Q2. ‘Mission Buniyaad’? Launched by: Delhi government. Aim: To improve learning levels of students attending primary classes in the state government and municipal schools. Announced by: Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia. Focus on students of Class 3 to Class 8. Students will be divided in 3 different groups based on the assessment: Students who perform up to mark will be placed in ‘Ujjawal’ group. Students who score medium-level marks will be placed in ‘Utkarsh’ group And students who are behind their peers will be placed in ‘Udyam’ group. Q3. Christian Coleman – new world record? Christian Coleman breaks 20-year-old 60m sprint indoor world record at at the US Indoor National Championships in Albuquerque. Christian Coleman is a sprinter and represents the US. Previous world record in 60 metre sprint was 6.39 seconds and the new record is 6.34 seconds. Q4. Agni-II missile? India successfully test-fired medium range nuclear capable Agni-II Missile from Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha. About Agni-II missile: # Strike range: 2,000 km. It is an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). # The tests was conducted by Army’s strategic forces command (SFC). # Payload capacity: 1,000 kg up to a distance of 2,000km. Q5. World Environment Day 2018? India is going to host World Environment Day 2018. (on June 5, 2018) Announcement made by: Union Minister of Environment, Dr. Harsh Vardhan And the theme will be: ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. Q6. Mandarin? Pakistan has approved Mandarin as one of its three official languages. Declared by: Pakistan’s Senate This move has been made to improve ties between Pakistan and China. Pakistan: # President – Mamnoon Hussain # Prime Minister – Shahid Khaqan Abbasi



Q7. Arrow-3. Israel successfully tests Arrow-3, an advanced missile defence system, having the ability to defend against ballistic missile threats outside the atmosphere. Q8. “Garuda Shakti”? Joint Military Exercise — India, Indonesia Begins in: Bandung (the capital of West Java province of Indonesia) Edition: 6th Objective: to strengthen relations between the two Armies of India and Indonesia and to enhance their ability to undertake joint tactical level operations. Indonesia: # Capital – Jakarta # Currency – Indonesian rupiah # President – Joko Widodo Q9. “Cobra Gold 2018” An international military exercise, is held in Thailand Edition: 37th Participating Countries: Thailand, United States of America, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and Singapore. Objective: To improve regional security, maritime security and interoperability between participating countries. Q10. ‘International R&D Conclave’ Inaugurated by: R.K. Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy. Inaugurated in: New Delhi. Organised by: Central Electricity Authority (CEA). More in the day: # US India Business Council (USIBC), a business advocacy organisation has announced the formation of an India Advisory Council to enhance bilateral strategic and economic partnership between India and US. # UK-India joint research projects on ‘Water Quality Research’ and ‘Energy Demand Reduction in Built Environment’ were launched, NITI Aayog member Dr V K Saraswat, Department of Science and Technology Secretary Ashutosh Sharma and Research Councils UK- India Director Daniel Shah.


Q1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar? He has become the first Indian bowler to take a “5-wicket” in all three formats in international cricket Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI): # President – C K Khanna # CEO – Rahul Johri Q2. Antyodaya Aahaar Yojana? Haryana State Government launched four canteens under Antyodaya Aahaar Yojana which will serve healthy, nutritious and hygienic food to poor and needy people of the state. Launched by: Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana Chief Minister) at Faridabad, Gurugram, Hisar, and Yamunanagar. Haryana: # Capital – Chandigarh # Governor – Kaptan Singh Solanki

# Chief Minister – Manohar Lal Khattar Q3. “Asmita Yojana” for rural women? Maharashtra government will launch subsidised sanitary pads to girl student and women in rural areas on March 8 (International Women’s Day). More info.:- Zilla Parishad schools will get a sanitary napkin packet at Rs 5 while rural women can avail it at a subsidised rate of Rs 24 and Rs 29. Q4. International educational institution for minorities? Rajasthan, Alwar city. Announced by: Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Rajasthan: # Capital – Jaipur # Governor – Kalyan Singh # Chief Minister – Vasundhra Raje Q5. Hyperloop between Mumbai and Pune? Maharashtra government has signed a deal with Virgin Group to built a Hyperloop between Mumbai and Pune What is a hyperloop:- It comprises a sealed tube through which a pod may travel free of air resistance or friction conveying people or objects at high speed. As per 6 years timeline, India may be the first market for Hyperloop One even before Middle East, where Hyperloop One is considering rolling out its service. A person can travel from Mumbai to Pune (approximate distance – 150 km) in 14-25 minutes through Hybperloop. Q6. WCIT & ILF? WCIT: World Congress on Information Technology ILF: Nasscom India Leadership Forum Edition: 22nd of WCIT and 26th of ILF Held in: Hyderabad, at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Inaugurated by: Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a video conference. The WCIT is held for the first time in India. Theme: “Amplify Digital – Disrupt The Core”. Q7. Carbon tax – 2019? Announcement made by Singapore Government: that it would impose a carbon tax from 2019 to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. Singapore: # Capital – Singapore (city-state) # Prime Minister – Lee Hsien Loong Q8. Robots for cleaning manholes? Announcement made by: Kerala government, that it will soon employ robots to clean sewer holes, instead of involving humans. Developed by: Genrobotics. Name of this robot service: ‘Bandicoot’. Q9. Rotterdam Open title? Winner: Roger Federer Beats: Grigor Dimitrov Played at : Netherlands. Q10. New Commandant of Indian Naval Academy? Vice-Admiral R B Pandit .



He took charge as the Commandant of Indian Naval Academy (INA) at Ezhimala in Kannur district, Kerala. He has succeeded Vice Admiral S V Bhokare. # Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) – Admiral Sunil Lanba Q11. “AstroSat-2”? ISRO is planning to launch India’s 2nd space observatory “AstroSat-2” India’s first space observatory was AstroSat-1 which was launched on 28th September 2015 and has a life span of five years. Currently, only US, Japan, Russia, Europe and India have their own space observatories. ISRO: Chairman – K. Sivan More in the day:- # Announcement by Saudi Arabia government that women can start their own businesses without their guardian’s consent (generally the guardian is a male relative that is — husband, father or brother of the woman) # Crown Prince – Mohammed bin Salman. # Global Digital Health Partnership Summit took place at Australia. # Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda addressed the Summit, and spoke on the topic: Making Digital Health Services a Priority in Healthcare Reform # Amazon has becomes first foreign ecommerce firm to start its own food retailing business in India from Pune. Amazon Chairman, President and CEO – Jeff Bezos.

Current Affairs – 18 February 2018 Q1. National Banana Festival 2018? Held at: Vellayani Devi Temple grounds at Kalliyoor, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Inaugurated by: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. Organised by: Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) jointly with Kalliyoor panchayat, National Centre for Banana. Q2. Tropical cyclone Kelvin? Hits north coast of Western Australia. Speed: 150 km per hour.

Q3. Amazon: 3rd most valuable company? Amazon became the third most valuable company in the world, with market capitalisation of $702.5 billion. Amazon: # Headquarters – Washington, US #Chairman, President and CEO – Jeff Bezos Q4. Brand Ambassador of Pakistan Cricket Board. Shoaib Akhtar More Info.: He was the first bowler to cross the 100 mph mark. About Pakistan Cricket Board: # Chairman – Najam Sethi. Q5. Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis championship? Winner: Jordan Thompson From: Australia. In men’s singles ATP world rankings, Jordan Thompson currently ranks 101st. Q6. Geotaging of 10 lakh livestock farmer houses? Decision by: Kerala government Objective: to compile a comprehensive digital repository of the information of animal husbandry and dairying in Kerala and integrate the data using the Geographical Information System (GIS). Kerala: # Capital – Thiruvananthapuram # Chief Minister – Pinari Vijayan # Governor – P. Sathasivam Q7. Tezpur University’s New Vice Chancellor? Prof Vinod Kumar Jain He is Former JNU professor. His term will be for 5 years. Q8.Hassan Rouhani’s Indian visit? Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran,was on a three-day visit to India where he held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime



Minister Narendra Modi and signed a leasing agreement for giving operational control of Shahid Beheshti port to India for a period of 18 months. Shahid Beheshti port is the phase one of the Chabahar port, located on Iran’s east coast. More in the day: # Former MLA and Padma Shri awardee Ram Swarup Sharma passes away. # Fiji has signed a declaration of partnership with India’s Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for assistance in tackling climate change effects and achieving environmental sustainability. Fiji: # Capital – Suva # Currency – Fijian dollar # Prime Minister – Frank Bainimarama. # Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been recognized as one of the world’s best employers by the Top Employer Institute for the third consecutive year. # MD & CEO – Rajesh Gopinathan. # Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board is working towards setting up 3 Terminal Mart for agricultural products in the state in order to give a boost to agricultural market. Marts will be at Silchar, Jorhat and Guwahati.

Current Affairs – 17 February 2018 Q1. Roger Federer? He has become the oldest player in the world to hold no. 1 rank in the ATP world rankings. Q2. The Kepler Mission? BY this mission discovery of nearly 100 new exoplanets (planets outside solar system) has been confirmed based on data from the second mission of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope or K2 released in 2014. Q3. ‘malacidin’? It is a new type of antibiotic discovered in soil capable of killing drug-resistant bacteria. For now, malacidin has been found to be effective only against Methicillin Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. Q4. T20 Mumbai League’s Brand Ambassador? Sachin Tendulkar Q5. Munich Security Conference? Held in: Germany Edition: 54th Important topics of Discussions were: North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and the Syrian civil war. Q6. “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”? National Conference Held in: New Delhi Organized by: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. Objective: To build a consensus and arrive at actionable points on measures to be taken for shaping and sharpening Central Government’s vision on Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022. Q7. Tropical Cyclone Gita?

Occurred in South Pacific island nation of Tonga, (Tongatapu group of islands). Tonga: # Monarch – Tupou VI # Prime Minister – Akilisi Pohiva Q8. CPA Conference? Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated the 6th Conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) of India Region in Patna, Bihar. Subjects for discussion: ‘Parliament’s role in the development agenda’ and ‘Legislature and Judiciary’. Q8. West Bengal State Government announces sale of West Bengal Stock (Securities) for Rs 2000 Crore to Meet Expenses of Developmental Projects West Bengal: # Capital – Kolkata # Governor – Keshari Nath Tripathi # Chief Minister – Mamata Banerjee Q9. MoU between Botanical Survey of India and Natural History Museum, UK. Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Natural History Museum (NHM), United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of genetic/taxonomic studies, research and training, conservation in India, including species and habitat conservation assessments. Botanical Survey of India: Headquarters – Kolkata, West Bengal More in the day: # Virat Kohli has created a world record by becoming the first batsman ever to score 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series. # India’s second lunar mission Chandrayan-2 will be launched in April. # PNB Housing Finance Ltd. has tied up with International Finance Corporation (IFC) to raise fund of $800 million for green and affordable housing in India. # National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), permits WhatsApp BHIM UPI beta launch with limited user base of 1 million and low per transaction limit. # In terms of maternal mortality rate (MMR), Assam is at the bottom of the list among all Indian States. MMR figure in Assam is 300 against the national average of 167. MMR: Annual number of female deaths per 100000 live births from any cause related to pregnancy.

Current Affairs – 16 February 2018 Q1. New President of South Africa? Cyril Ramaphosa Replaces: Jacob Zuma Q2. Ethiopia Prime Minister? Hailemariam Desalegn He had recently resigned from his position unexpectedly. Q3. Milkbasket? ‘Startup of the Year’ 2017



Event: 7th Small Business Awards, in New Delhi. Q4. New Governor of Bank of Japan? Haruhiko Kuroda, he is reappointed for second term. Q5. 2017’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year? Sanjiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv. Q6. Madhya Pradesh’s first butterfly park? Opened at Gopalpur in Raisen district. Madhya Pradesh: Capital – Bhopal Governor – Anandiben Patel Chief Minister – Shivraj Singh Chouhan Q7. Next Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)? Archaeologist Arvind Jamkhedkar. He will succeed Prof. K. Sudershan Rao. Q8. ‘train the trainers’ programme? Launched by: Former Indian Badminton player Pullela Gopichand. Objective: Is to develop the skills of PE teachers so that they can impart the right techniques to children aspiring to make a career in sports. Q9. World Sustainable Development Summit? Inaugurated by: PM Narendra Modi Inaugurated in: New Delhi Organized by: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Theme: ‘Partnerships for a Resilient Planet’. Q10. India’s first artificial intelligence centre? Maharashtra Declaration done during Magnetic Maharashtra Summit by CM Devendra Fadnavis. More in the Day: 1. Raghbir Singh Khandpur (former Director General of the Centre for Electronics Design and Technology and the Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala) will be awarded for his contribution to science and for transforming the Science City in Kapurthala, Punjab. 2. PhonePe (Parent Organisation – Flipkart) has entered into a partnership with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to deploy its Point of Sale (POS) device at IOCL retail outlets. 3. Because of millions of dollars of unpaid dues Venezuela and Libya have been suspended from voting in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. 4. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended Romania’s drug-testing laboratory for 6 months. Reason: the laboratory was not up to the required standards. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA): # President – Craig Reedie # Headquarters – Montreal, Canada

Current Affairs – 15 February 2018 Q1. Cristiano Ronaldo? First player in Champions League history to score 100 goals for one club. Club: Real Madrid He is followed by Lionel Messi with 97 goals for Barcelona club. Q2. 23rd Senior Women’s National Football Championship title? Winner: Tamil Nadu Played at: the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha. AIFF (All India Football Federation): # President – Praful M Patel Q3. Nepal’s next Prime Minister? KP Sharma Oli. Party: CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist–Leninist) Q4. Award at World Government Summit? Umang App: Best M-Government Service award Aadhar: Best Emerging Technology award Event held in: Dubai. India got the ‘Guest of Honour’ country status in the World Government Summit. Q5. Ruud Lubbers passed away? Longest-serving Dutch Prime Minister. Was PM of Netherlands. Q6. ‘PricePoint’? India’s first-ever platform for transparent pricing in real estate. Launched by: Zippserv For: Bengaluru Zippserv: # Co-founder and CEO – Sudeep Anandapuram # Co-founder and COO – Debashish Hota Q7. India’s first Radio Festival? Held in: Delhi Organised by: International Association of Women in Radio and Television along with UNESCO. Q8. Odisha government will sponsor the Indian National Hockey? Announcement made by: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, for thr next 5 years. Odisha hosted the Hockey World League in November 2017 and it is also the sponsor for the upcoming Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2018. Q9. SCO summit 2018? Will be hosted by: China’s Qingdao city. (expected to be held in june 2018) Q10. International conference ‘Agricon 2018’? Inaugurated by: President Ram Nath Kovind. At: Chandrashekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology (CSAUT), Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.



Q11. ‘Paschim Lehar’? It is a tri-service maritime exercise (ships, submarines and fighter aircrafts), held off India’s Western Coast. Objective: to build interoperability among Indian Navy, Air Force and Army. Q12. Residents of Bhalupani village in Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh gets electricity connection for the first time after the district administration installed solar panels for every family. Village population: 150 people. District collector: Avinash Kumar Sharan Chhattisgarh: # Capital – Raipur # Governor – Balram Das Tandon # Chief Minister – Raman Singh Q13. “selfeSavings” digital savings account? Initiative by: Equitas Small Finance Bank. Q14. ‘Military Balance 2018’? Report by: International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) India, fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017.( $52.5 billion) Q15. ‘India Pharma & India Medical Device 2018’: Affordable and Quality Healthcare. India’s biggest global pharma conference. Started in: Bengaluru, Karnataka. Organized by: Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). Theme: ‘Driving NextGen Pharmaceuticals’. Inaugurated by: Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers — Ananthkumar Q16. Hampi? Centre has decided to develop Karnataka’s pride Hampi (click to view) as iconic tourism site. This announcement was made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2018 speech. Hampi Monuments: Located in Hosapete taluk of Ballari district of Karnataka. There are 57 monuments which were constructed between 1336 AD to 1565 AD during Vijayanagar Rule. It was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). More in the day: 1. Jacob Zuma has resigned from his position as South Africa’s President.

Current Affairs – 14 February 2018 Q1. 8th Senior National Women’s Hockey Championship title? Winner: Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB). Place: the Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi. Won over: Madhya Pradesh Q2. India’s rank in the World in Terms of Forest Area?

According to: India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017. India’s rank – 10th Announced by: Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. Q3. First Hindu minority woman lawmaker from Pakistan Krishna Kumari She is a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Q4. New Ambassador of India to Brazil? Ashok Das. Q5. Oman port Duqm? On the official visit of Mr. Narendra Modi to Oman he has secured access to the Port of Duqm in Oman for military use and logistical support. Oman: # Capital – Muscat # Currency – Omani rial. Q6. India, Bangladesh ‘Friendship Gate’? Inaugurated by: Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad Aim: to have a Wagah-like beating retreat ceremony for India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh. ‘Friendship Gate’ has been constructed near Shillong on border with Bangladesh. Meghalaya: # Capital – Shillong # Governor – Ganga Prasad # CM – Mukul Sangam Q7. Theatre Olympics? Host: India (for the first time) Edition: 8th Inaugurated by: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Theme: “Flag of Friendship”. Q8. “Progress”? Russian unmanned Cargo Ship. Launched to: International Space Station Launched from: Russian space complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It carries 2.7 metric tons of food, fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station. Q9. Ibrahim prize for African Leadership? Awarded to: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf She is former Liberian president & (first elected female head of state in Africa) also she is the first female leader to receive this award. The award consists of $5 million, which will be paid over 10 years, and $200,000 every year for the rest of the recipient’s life. Q10. ‘Modicare’? National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) is also known as ‘Modicare’ Announcement made by Mamata Banerjee (CM West Bengal) that, West Bengal has opted out of National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) ‘Modicare’ and has becomes first state to opt this scheme. Q11. Amendments in Small Savings Act?



Government of India has proposed merger of Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873. Also, Government has proposed ‘Government Savings Promotion Act’. Objective: To make implementation easier for the depositors and Acts for understanding the provision of various small saving schemes. Q12. Punjab Government in News? Punjab State Government has issued notification to attach Super Straw Management System, using the combine harvester machines for harvesting the rice crop. Aim: to reduce Air Pollution Punjab State Government has formed a six-member revenue commission to revisit the existing land Acts to make them relevant with the changed land use situation. Head: Justice (Retd) SS Saron of Punjab and Haryana high court. Objective: to streamline the existing laws, procedures and processes relating to land administration. More in the day: 1. South Africa declares drought a ‘national disaster’: this drought that began two years ago was triggered by El Nino (a complex phenomenon, developing in Pacific region, that causes global changes in temperature and rainfall). South Africa: # Capital – Pretoria (Executive), Bloemfontein (Judicial), Cape Town (Legislative) # President – Jacob Zuma # Currency – South African rand 2. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), has won a tender to supply 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh for 15 years. Indian, Chinese armies celebrate Chinese spring festival in Ladakh, and on this occasion both the armies held a Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) in Chushul sector of Ladakh region. 3. Assam has become the fourth state to issue the “Right of Way” (RoW) guidelines for telecom service providers. These guidelines will regulate the establishment of underground and overground telecom infrastructure in Assam.

Current Affairs – 13 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 13th Feb.? World Radio Day Aim:- To spread awareness among public about the importance of radio and to promote the use of radio in various sectors. Theme: Radio and Sports. UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Director-General – Audrey Azoulay Headquarters – Paris, France Q2. World’s first robot ski competition? Held in: South Korea, near PyeongChang at Welli Hilli ski resort. Name: “The Edge of Robot: Ski Robot Challenge”

International Ski Federation: # Headquarters – Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland # President – Gian-Franco Kasper Q3. New President of Sahitya Akademi? Chandrashekhara Kambar. He is a Kannada writer. Q4. ‘most ethical company’ award? Winner: Tata Steel has Award given by Ethisphere Institute. Q5. 6th World Government Summit (WGS-2018)? Held in: Dubai Edition: 6th. Approx. 4000 participants from 140 countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech on the theme: ‘Technology for development’. Q6. Bans on sale of loose cigarettes? State: Bihar. Notice issued by: Bihar’s health department’s special secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh. Bihar has become the 12th state in India to ban the sale of loose cigarettes. Q7. ‘Darwin Week’? Began in: Kolkata. It is observed by the India March for Science Organising Committee, Kolkata and Breakthrough Science Society, West Bengal Chapter. Q8. Radio Umang? India’s first online radio station. Theme: Love, peace and happiness. Creative Director of Radio Umang: Vidhi Maheshwari. Q9. Tanzania has withdrawn from the UN refugee programme. Announcement made by Tanzanian President John Magufuli Reasons for the withdrawal: Security issues and lack of funds. More in the day:- 1. Bank of Baroda has announced that it will shut down its operation in South Africa with effect from March 31, 2018. BOB is operating in South Africa since past 21 years. 2. All villages will be linked by roads by 2019 under ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna’. Announcement by Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Ram Kripal Yadav. 3. First ‘Raj Kapoor Award for Excellence in Cinema’: it will be awarded to filmmaker Ramesh Sippy. 4. Report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW): Chandrababu Naidu richest Chief Minister in India. 5. Citi Bank, India has announced that its customers will not be allowed to purchase cryptocurrencies using its credit and debit cards. India-Russia Agriculture Business Summit took place in New Delhi, and was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.



# Minister of Agriculture – Radha Mohan Singh Ministers of State for Agriculture – Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Parsottambhai Rupala and Krishna Raj.

Current Affairs – 12 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 12 Feb.? National Productivity Day. Occasion: 60th Anniversary of the National Productivity Council. And this year is celebrated as Diamond Jubilee Year. Theme: Industry 4.0 Leapfrog Opportunity for India. Q2. 13th edition of National Chess ‘A’ Championship for Blind? Winner: Kishan Gangolli (5th consecutive time) Organised by: the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB). Q3. Gevora? It the world’s tallest hotel, opens in Dubai Height: 356 meters, with 75-storey Built by: Majid Al Attar. Q4. “Dada-Dadi Park” ? Will be set up Jharkhand’s every city, for senior citizens. Announced by: CM Raghubar Das Q5. First International Solar Alliance Summit? To be held in: New Delhi, 11 March. Aim: To make solar energy affordable, develop solar grids and solar credit mechanism. International Solar Alliance (ISA): # Interim Director General – Mr. Upendra Tripathy # Secretariat – Gurugram, Haryana Q6. “Mere Sapno Ka Bharat” book on best interviews of Atal Bihari Vajpayee? Launched by: Rajnath Singh Q7. Three new species of “eel” found in Bay of Bengal? (1) Gymnothorax pseudotile (2) Gymnothorax visakhaensis (3) Enchelycore propinqua Anil Mohapatra (scientist) contributed a major part to these discoveries. Description of these eel species was published in the Zootaxa journal. Q8. Australia’s Allan Border Medal? Stevan Smith wins the medal for 2nd time. Q9. 4th Nepal Buildcon and Wood International Expo 2018 held in Kathmandu Inaugurated by: Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa and the guest of honour for the event was Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Sibgh Puri. More than 80 Indian companies participated in the expo. Q10. World’s first autonomous pods for tests? Unveiled in: Dubai Launched by: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in collaboration with Next Future Transportation.

Q11. 12th International Conference on corporate social responsibility? Held in: Bengaluru. Organised by: Institute Of Directors (IOD). Inaugurated by: T. M. Vijay Bhaskar, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka. Also, during the course of the event, Golden Peacock Award 2017 were presented. Institute of Directors (IOD): # Headquarters – London # Institute of Directors (India), established in – 1990 Q12. Water Resources Research, India ranks second in global phosphorus pollution by human activity. Data shows about 1.5 teragrams of phosphorus (one teragram is equal to one billion kilograms) was dumped into the freshwater systems every year. Q13. PM Narendra Modi visits 3 Nation (Palestine, UAE and Oman) Visit to Palestine:- He travelled from New Delhi to Jordanian capital Amman and took a chopper ride to reach the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Narendra Modi became first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Palestine. Mr. Narendra Modi was conferred the ‘Grand Collar of the State of Palestine’ by Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas. Grand Collar is Palestine’s Highest order given to foreign dignitaries India, Palestine signed six agreements in different areas MoU for:- Setting up of India-Palestine Super-specialty hospital at Beit Sahour in Bethelhem Governorate. Construction of India-Palestine Centre for Empowering women Setting up of a new National Printing Press at Ramallah Construction of school in Muthalth Al Shuhada Village Construction of school in Tamoon village in Tubas Governorate Providing assistance for construction of additional floor to Jawahar Lal Nehru for Boys at Abu Dees India to invest $50 mn to boost capacity building in Palestine Visit to UAE:- He was received by the UAE Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Abu Dhabi. Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated a project for the construction of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi. It will be a Swaminarayan temple which will be run and maintained by Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha. India, UAE sign five agreements in different areas:- MoU between the Consortium of Indian oil companies and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was signed for the acquisition of a 10% participating interest in the Abu Dhabi’s offshore Lower Zakum Concession. MoU for cooperation in the field of manpower aimed to institutionalise the collaborative administration of contractual employment of Indian workers in the Gulf country. MoU for technical cooperation in railways to facilitate development of joint projects, knowledge sharing, joint research and technology transfer.



MoU between Bombay Stock Exchange and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange aimed at enhancing cooperation between both the countries in financial services industry. MoU between the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and DP World to establish multi-modal logistics park and hub in Jammu comprising warehouses and specialised storage solutions. PM Modi, UAE Crown Prince agree to initiate joint development projects for third countries. Besides, both the countries have expressed desire to work together in the spirit of South-South cooperation in sub- Saharan Africa, particularly through capacity-building, grants and loans, joint projects aimed at supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and collaboration in trade and technology. India, UAE to hold first joint naval drill in Gulf Visit to Oman:- PM Modi landed in Muscat, the capital of Oman. Meets : Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said al Said MoU on legal and judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters. Cooperation in the field of health Cooperation in the field of tourism Cooperation and peaceful uses of outer space Cooperation between Foreign Service Institute, Ministry of External Affairs, India and Oman’s Diplomatic Institute. Academic and scholarly cooperation between National Defence College, Sultanate of Oman and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Mr. Narendra Modi visits Shiva temple located in the Matrah area & Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat. Q14. ‘Vikas Sathaye’? An Indian-born engineer, along with three other people won the scientific and engineering award, at the Oscars 2018 Scientific and Technical Awards in Beverly Hills, United States, for aerial camera mount. Team of 4: Vikas Sathaye, Brad Hurndell, John Coyle and Shane Buckham. Q15. ‘Clean Air Campaign’ Launched for: New Delhi. Launched by: Delhi government and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

Current Affairs – 11 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 11th Feb.? International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Objective: to gain access and participation for women and girls in science. Aims: to work towards gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. UN Women: # Executive Director – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka # Headquarters – New York City, New York, U.S. Q2. Ocean 7 Challenge? Rohan More, a Pune-based swimmer, has become the world’s youngest (32 yr.) and first Asian swimmer to complete the Ocean 7 Challenge. He is the ninth swimmer to do this.

Q3. Sharmila Nicollet ? First Indian golfer to qualify for China Ladies PGA Tour Age: 26 years. Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI): President – Mrs. Kavita Singh Secretary General – Ms. Champika N. Sayal Q4. World’s wealthiest cities ranking? Report by: New World Wealth 1st rank: New York, Mumbai ranks 12th New York, wealth — 3 Trillion London, wealth — 2.7 Trillion Tokyo, wealth — 2.5 Trillion San Francisco Bay Area, US — 2.3 Trillion Beijing, China — 2.2 Trillion Shanghai, China — 2 Trillion Los Angeles, US — 1.4 Trillion Hong Kong — 1.3 Trillion Sydney, Australia — 1 Trillion Singapore — 1 Trillion Chicago, US — 988 billion Mumbai, India — 950 billion Toronto, Canada — 944 billion Frankfurt, Germany — 912 billion Paris, France — 860 billion Q5. Spoken Sanskrit centre? Inaugurated by: Rajnath Singh (Union Home Minister). Course introduced by: Gujarat University. Course duration: six-month. This course will teach people how to speak Sanskrit. Q6. National Deworming Day? 10 February and 10 August every year. Launched by: J P Nadda Objective: to treat intestinal worm infections in all children aged 1- 19 years. Q7. Asma Jehangir passes away She was known as Pakistan’s iron lady. Q8. ‘Voluntary Safety Reporting’? Launched by: Indian Railways It is a website for its railway employees to anonymously report internal safety issues and hazards. Indian Railways: # Chairman – Ashwani Lohani Union Minister of Railways – Piyush Goyal Q9. India and UAE signs first concessional agreement in oil sector. This concessional agreement between Indian oil companies and ADNOC is for 40 years from 2018 to 2057 and the participation fees is $600 million. Q10. Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) It is an additional instrument for liquidity management proposed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Union Budget 2018. More in the day:



1. ‘Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS)’ inaugurated at INS Garuda, a naval air station in Kochi, Kerala. IAAMS comprises of Transmissometer, Radar Vertical Wind Profiler, Ceilometer and Automatic Weather Observation System which automatically records relevant weather parameters. 2. Union Defence Ministry has sanctioned Rs 1487 cr to Indian Army to fortify its bases in Jammu and Kashmir, North East.


Q1. Book: ‘Even When There Is A Doctor’ Author: Dr Yashwant Amdekar, Dr Rajesh Chokhani and Krishnan Sivaramakrishnan. Launched by: Sachin Tendulkar and his wife. It is a book on child health care. Q2. 23rd Olympic Winter Games started at Pyeongchang in South Korea. 23rd Olympic Winter Games begin: The opening ceremony was named “Peace in Motion”. Q3. New Brand Ambassador of Muthoot Group? Amitabh Bachchan Muthoot Group: # Chairman – M.G. George Muthoot #MD – George Alexander Muthoot #Head Office – Ernakulam, Kerala Q4. Golden Peacock Award 2017? Awarded to: Reliance Industries Ltd. :: For corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Q5. International Conference on Unani Medicine? Inaugurated by: Dr. Jitendra Singh (Minister of State (IC) for Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region) Organised by: Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), under the Ministry of AYUSH Theme: “Integration of Unani System of Medicine in main stream healthcare”. Unani Day: 11th February, to mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan (Indian Unani physician/researcher). Q6. “Swachh Bharat Sanitation Park” ? Inaugurated in: New Delhi. Inaugurated by: Uma Bharti (Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation) Objective: to create awareness on various safe technological options related to Sanitation. Q7. UK Mathletics Hall of Fame? Sohini Roy Chowdhury (Indian origin girl) Age: 8 years About UK’s Mathletics Hall of Fame: It is a mathematics-based competitive online platform. It engages primary school students. Q8. Brand ambassador of All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB)? Grand Master Vidit Gujrathi

All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB): # Objective – to promote chess among the visually impaired all over India. # Headquarters – Mumbai Q9. Construction of 1.86 lakh more houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme? After this approval, total number of affordable houses sanctioned: 39.25 lakhs. Max. No. Of houses sanctioned to Haryana: 53290 houses. Tamil Nadu: 40623 houses Karnataka 32656 houses. Q10. New private banking head of HDFC Bank? Rakesh Singh HDFC Bank: Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra MD – Aditya Puri Tagline – ‘We Undertand Your World’ More in the day: 1. Paisabazaar.com partners with Microsoft to drive an ‘industry first’ technology innovation on its platform. 2. People who died:- # Bevan Congdon, associated with Cricket, team New Zealand. # Chandrasekhar Rath, Odia litterateur. 3. New Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) — Philipose George Pynumootil. 4. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will start Digital Payments in Post Offices by April 2018.

Current Affairs – 09 February 2018 Q1. New brand ambassador of ‘POWER’ (a Bata’s sport wear brand)? Smriti Mandhana (Indian cricketer) Q2. New Chief Justice of Kerala? Justice Antony Dominic On 9th February 2018, Antony Dominic, Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, took charge as the Chief Justice of Kerala. Kerala’s Governor: P. Sadasivam. Q3. First cryptocurrency rich list? Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has topped this list, (crypto net worth of $7.5-8 billion) Released by: Forbes Q4. NPCI’s new non-executive chairman? Biswamohan Mahapatra Term: 2 years Replaces: B Sambamurthy NPCI: National Payments Corporation of India Q5. First independent female director at ICC? PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi Q6. Ambassador of India to Timor-Leste? Pradeep Kumar Rawat



He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of 1990 batch. Current position Ambassador of India to Jakarta. Timor-Leste: Capital: Dili Q7. Janadriyah festival? It is the national heritage and cultural festival of Saudi Arabia. Inaugurated by: Sushma Swaraj (Union External Affairs Minister) and Salman bin Abdulaziz (Saudi King) At: Saudi Arabia at Riyadh # India was accorded the ‘Guest of Honour’ status. # The Indian Pavilion was based on the theme “Saudi ka Dost Bharat”. Saudi Arabia: Capital – Riyadh Currency – Saudi riyal King – Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Q8. New Chief Justice of Manipur High Court? Justice Abhilasha Kumari. Manipur Governor: Najma Heptulla. Q9. Saudi Arabia temporarily bans import of birds, eggs, chickens from India? Reason: Due to the report about avian flu. (a form of bird flu) Q10. PlastIndia 2018? International plastics exhibition Held in: Gandhinagar, Gujarat Edition: 10th edition of international plastics exhibition, started in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Inaugurated by: Vijay Rupani (CM Gujarat) Q11. Third Global Procurement Summit? Held in: New Delhi Inaugurated by: Pon Radhakrishnan (Union Minister of State for Finance & Shipping) Theme: ‘New Frontiers faced in the Transformation process of Procurement Today’. Q12. 88th Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsav? Held at: Shravanabelagola in Hassan district, Karnataka Inaugurated by: President Ram Nath Kovind, unveiling an idol of Bahubali. More info: this event takes place once in 12 years. Karnataka Governor: Vajubha Vala Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Q13. Grassroot Informatics- VIVID 2018? Held in: New Delhi Organised by: National Informatics Centre (NIC). Inaugurated by: Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Objective: It would serve as an extensive platform for knowledge sharing among 240 NIC District of India. Theme: “Cyber Security and Innovation”. Q14. Jarrod Bannister was associated with which sports? Javelin throw, Australia.

Q15. ASH TRACK Mobile App? Launched by: R.K Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy It is a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application called ASH TRACK. Objective: To improve ash management.

Current Affairs – 08 February 2018 Q1. Jhulan Goswami? India’s Jhulan Goswami became the first female cricketer in the world to score 200 ODI (One Day International) wickets. This record was made at the second ODI against South Africa in the ICC Women’s Championship at Kimberley, South Africa. Information: The first male cricketer to get 200 ODI wickets was India’s Kapil Dev. Q2. Bangladesh elects………………… as president for second consecutive term? Abdul Hamid Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh KM Nurul Huda. Q3. Global IP Index? International Intellectual Property (IP) index, released by the US Chambers of Commerce. US tops the list and India ranks 44 out of 50. United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC): # President and CEO – Thomas J. Donohue Q4. 1st rail zone with 100% LED lighting at stations? South Central Railway (SCR) Q5. “Pay as You Use”? (satellite based electronic toll collection system) Launched by: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). A Project on Delhi — Mumbai national highway to analyse the feasibility of “Pay as you use” tolling system in India. # Chairman NHAI – Deepak Kumar. Q6. MOGO? Launched by: IndusInd Bank, its new Sonic Identity – MOGO, a musical logo, as a part of branding initiatives taken by the bank. IndusInd Bank: # Chairman – R.Seshasayee # CEO – Romesh Sobti Q7. New MD & CEO of SBI Card? Hardayal Prasad Replaced: Vijay Jasuja. Vijay Jasuja retired on 31st January 2018. Hardayal Prasad’s appointment as MD and CEO came to effect from 1st February 2018. Hardayal Prasad joined State Bank of India in 1983 as a Probationary Officer. # SBI Chairman – Rajnish Kumar # Headquarters – Mumbai Q8. New Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air)? Rear Admiral Mukul Asthana Current Position: Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air). Q9. TIMES Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking’s (Asia)?



Indian Institute of Science (IISc) ranked 29th IIT, Bombay ranked 44th. More in the Day: 1. Madavoor Vasudevan Nair — Kathakali maestro passes away. He died while he was performing on stage, at Agasthyacodu Mahadeva Temple, Anchal, in Kerala. 2. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has formed Raksha Mantri’s Advisory Committee under Vinay Sheel Oberoi on Ministry of Defence (MoD) Capital Projects (RMCOMP) to monitor and expedite capital acquisition projects for modernisation of armed forces. 3. Prince Charles (Britain) has launched $ 10 mn Development Impact Bond (DIB) with an objective to help improve education for over 200000 children in India. 4. Kangir Jamoh, former president of BJP Arunachal Pradesh unit, passed away.

Current Affairs – 07 February 2018 Q1. Prithvi-11? Recently test fired successfully from the Odisha coast. Prithvi-11 is an indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface missile. Strike range of 350 km. Q2. ‘Empzilla’ ? ‘Empzilla’:- is a chat based job search mobile app, launched in India. Objective: employers and job searchers can easily carry out a conversation. # Chairman – Akash Attray. Q3. Comprehensive fintech policy? Maharashtra became the first State in India to adopt a comprehensive fintech (Financial Technology) policy for fostering an environment for fintech startups. Aim: to position Maharashtra among the five best global fintech hubs in the coming years and for this very purpose Maharashtra State Government will provide the infrastructure and financial support to facilitate 300 start-ups over next three years. Maharashtra: # Capital–Mumbai # CM–Devendra Fadnavis # Governor – Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao Q4. Rhodendron Park? Foundation stone laid by: Pema Khandu (CM Arunachal Pradesh) Place: Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Area: 1.15 hectares. Approx. 30 species of rhododendrons will be planted in the park and conserved. Q5. Farmers’ welfare department? ‘Haryana Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran’

Will be established in: Haryana Announced by: CM Manohar Lal Khattar Objective: To make agriculture remunerative by enhancing productivity and thereby mitigate the distress of farm households and landless workers. Haryana: # Capital – Chandigarh # Governor – Kaptan Singh Solanki # CM – Manohar Lal Khattar Q6. “pollution metre” app? Introduced by: Madhya Pradesh government Objective: it is a mobile application to spread awareness against pollution in the western part of Madhya Pradesh. Q7. 5th South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference? Held in: New Delhi Inaugurated by: Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. Objective: To serve as a platform for Heads of Public Procurement and other key stakeholders in the eight South Asian countries to meet and learn from one another and interact with experts in the field of public procurement. Theme: “Public Procurement and Service Delivery”. South Asia Region Public Procurement Network (SARPPN) is sponsored by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank. Q8. Sixth bi- monthly Monetary Policy: Policy Repo Rate 6.00% Reverse Repo Rate 5.75% Bank Rate 6.25% Marginal Standing Facility Rate 6.25% Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.00% Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 19.50% Q9. ‘Falcon Heavy’, world’s most powerful rocket? Launched by: SpaceX This rocket has been sent towards Mars from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Q10. ‘Internet Saathi’ programme? In: Tamil Nadu (rural areas) Objective: to promote IT adoption among TN rural women Google India and Tata Trusts have extended their “Internet Saathi” programme to 4,000 villages in six districts of Tamil Nadu. The ‘Internet Saathi’ was started as a pilot programme in Rajasthan in July 2015. More in the Day: 1. Dubai International Airport: world’s busiest international airport in terms of passenger traffic. (4th time) 2. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has developed the first flight of Hawk-i with indigenous Real Time Operating System (RTOS). 3. Under Union Budget 2018, Central Government has allocated Rs 5252 cr for different railway projects in Odisha.



4. Google and NCERT has signed an agreement to integrate ‘Digital Citizenship and Safety’ course in information and communication technology curriculum. 5. Sudha Karmarkar passes away: she was Pioneer of Children’s Theatre. 6. Reserve Bank of India has announced for setting up ombudsman for addressing customer grievances in the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).

Current Affairs – 06 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 6th Feb? International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Q2. First-ever Pelican Bird Festival-2018? Held at: Atapaka Bird Sanctuary on Kolleru Lake, in Andhra Pradesh. Organised by: Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Krishna district administration. # Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Tourism, Telugu Language and Culture – Bhuma Akhila Priya Q3. #SecurityCheckKiya campaign? Launched by: Google Objective: To create awareness about Internet safety and to protect young and first-time web users from account hijacking, safeguard Android devices from malicious mobile applications and secure their personal data. # Google CEO – Sundar Pichai # Parent Organisation – Alphabet Inc. Q4. Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR)? Indian Golfer Shubhankar becomes World No. 72. He is now the highest-ranked Indian in the world. Previous rank: 193. Five Indian Golfers in OWGR top-200: Shubhankar Sharma — 72 Anirban Lahiri — 76 Gaganjeet Bhullar — 155 Shiv Kapur — 192 Ajeetesh Sandhu – 199 Q5. Agni-I ballistic missile? India successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed Agni-I ballistic missile from a test range off at Abdul Kalam Island in Balasore, Odisha. Information: 1. Previous strike range: 700 km, Now 900 km Also capable to carry nuclear payload up to 1000 kg. Q6. New executive chairman of Murugappa Group? Mr. M.M. Murugappan Replaces: A Vellayan Q7. Report by Business Monitor International (BMI)? India’s fiscal deficit in financial year 2018-19 is expected to come in at 3.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Q8. River taxi service? Assam State Government and Ola signed (MoU) to start an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati. River Taxi refers to: machine-operated boats which are faster and safer than conventional boats. Route: Lachit Ghat and Machkhowa in Guwahati to North Guwahati across the river. Q9. 16th chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System? Jerome H. Powell Replaces: Janet Yellen. (first woman chairman of Federal Reserve in its 100-year history) Federal Reserve System: # Central bank of the United States # Vice Chair for Supervision – Randal K. Quarles # Headquarters: Washington, D.C Q10. Nepalese tea? Nepalese tea has received its own brand logo in the international market after 154-year long cultivation. The trademark has an image of mountains with “Nepal Tea: Quality from the Himalayas” written below it. 3rd International Tea Festival in Nepal will be in March. Nepal: # Capital – Kathmandu # Currency – Nepalese Rupee # Prime Minister – Sher Bahadur Deuba Q11. London will host new World Cup Event? Athletics event. Announced by: British Athletics Host: London will Participating countries: Britain, the United States, Poland, China, Germany, France, Jamaica and South Africa. International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF): # Headquarters – Monaco # President – Sebastian Coe More in the day: 1. Capgemini will buy LiquidHub for 400 million euros. 2. Ministry of Railways signed a (MoU) with Ministry of Ayush to scale up Ayush services in Railway’s Zonal hospitals.

Current Affairs – 05 February 2018 Q1. Odisha State New Election Commissioner? Naba Kumar Nayak Replaces: Rabi Narayan Senapati Election Commission of India: # Chief Election Commissioner – Om Prakash Rawat # Election Commissioners – Sunil Arora, Ashok Lavasa Q2. DASTAK campaign? Launched by: Yogi Adityanath (UP Chief Minister) in association with UNICEF. Tagline: “Darwaja khatkhatao, AES aur JE ko bhagao”. About ‘DASTAK’: It is a door to door campaign to eradicate Acute Encephalitis (AE) Syndrome and Japanese Encephalitis (JES) disease from UP.



UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund # Headquarters: New York, US # Current Executive Director: Henrietta Fore Q3. World’s busiest single-runway airport? Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport, Mumbai. It created a new world record by handling 980 arrivals and take-offs in 24 hours. It is currently handling 45.2 million passengers on an average per day. Q4. First state to have Transgender Welfare Board? Maharashtra Aim: to look after education, employment, housing, and health schemes for transgenders and also to protect their Constitutional and human rights. Q5. New Cyprus President ? Nicos Anastasiades Political party: Democratic Rally. Country: Cyprus Capital: Nicosia Currency: Euro Q6. ‘Hisaab Kitaab’ Author: Actress Anjana Sukhani About book: It is a book on household budgeting. Q7. 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018? Winner: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Final match played in: Ranchi, Jharkhand Match between: CRPF team v/s Kerala Hockey Q8. Research report by Mercom Capital? India has achieved 20 GW of installed solar capacity. Within: 8 Years. Information: Under National Solar Mission this target was set for 2022. Now Revised Target is, Installed Solar Power Capacity of 100 GW by 2022 Q9. India Open 2018 (Badminton)? Women’s singles: Winner: Beiwen Zhang (America). Runner up: India’s PV Sindhu Men’s singles: Winner: China’s Shi Yuqi Runner up: Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen Men’s doubles: Winner: Indonesia’s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Runner up: Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen Women’s doubles: Winner: Indonesia’s Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu. Runner up: Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai Mixed Doubles: Winner: Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen.

Runner up: Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti. More in the Day: 1. Maratha Light Infantry Regiment of the Indian Army completes 250 years of its raising. 2. General David L Goldfein, chief of staff of the US Air Force, flew Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Current Affairs – 04 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 4th Feb? World Cancer Day Aim: To spread awareness about cancer, its prevention, detection, and treatment. And also to reduce illness and death due to cancer by 2020. Theme: ‘We Can. I can.’ Q2. Maybank Championship? Golf Championship. Won by: Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma Played at: Saujana Golf and Country Club, in Malaysia. International Golf Federation (IGF): # Headquarters – Lausanne, Switzerland # President – Peter Dawson Q3. V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award? Awarded to: Shyam Benegal (film maker) at Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Shorts & Animation Films – MIFF 2018. Award presented by: C Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra. Q4. First International Kala Mela (Art Festival)? Inaugurated by: M. Venkaiah Naidu Place: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi. Organised by: Lalit Kala Akademi, India’s premier institution for the promotion of Art and Culture. Objective: To facilitate direct interaction between artists and the experts of the art forms. Q5. 2018 Kala Ghoda Arts festival ? Organised in: Mumbai Edition: 20th. Theme: ‘Hara Ghoda’ (Green Horse) Objective: Maintaining and preserving the heritage and art district of South Mumbai. Q6. Approval for new wildlife sanctuary by Maharashtra govt.? Place: Ghodazari in Chandrapur district. The new wildlife sanctuary will include 159 sq km of Brahmapuri forest. Q7. Pollution Control Project in River Sal? Approved by: Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (Centre Government), under National River Conservation Plan.



Aim: To control the pollution of River Sal at Navelin, Goa. Estimated cost Rs. 61.74 crore. Q8. New chief justice of Bangladesh? Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain. 22nd chief justice of the Supreme Court in Dhaka. Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid. More info: Chief Justice of India – Justice Dipak Misra Q9. ‘Exam Warriors’? Book, written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — to inspire youth and help them face difficult situations like examinations Released by: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Q10. ‘Demetrios Galanos and His Legacy’ ? An International Conference begins in New Delhi. Inaugurated at: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). Who was ‘Demetrios Galanos’ He was a Greek scholar who came to India to study in the nineteenth century. For 40 years he lived in Varanasi. He compiled a Sanskrit-English-Greek lexicon of about 9000 words. He also translated the Bhagvad Gita into Greek. Q11. ‘Green Good Deeds’ campaign? Launched by: Environment Ministry. Purpose: to sensitise students about climate change and global warming. More in the Day: 1. PAN card mandatory for transactions over Rs. 2.5 lakh. Announcement made in Union Budget 2018.

Current Affairs – 03 February 2018 Q1. Butterfly Park? Inaugurated in: Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. It will be UP’s first ever butterfly park in Kanpur. More than 100 species of flowers and more than 50 species of butterflies have already been spotted in this park. State: Uttar Pradesh: # Capital – Lucknow # Governor – Ram Naik # Chief Minister – Yogi Adityanath Q2. U-19 Cricket World Cup? India won the U-19 Cricket World Cup at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, in New Zealand. Defeated: Australia Indian Captain: Prithvi Shaw. Man of the Match: Manjot Kalra. Earlier India had won the U19 World Cup in 2000, 2008 and 2012 this is 4th time i.e. 2018. International Cricket Council (ICC): # Chairman – Shashank Manohar # President – Zaheer Abbas # Headquarters – Dubai, United Arab Emirates Q3. New vice-chancellor of BHU? B A Chopade

BHU: Banaras Hindu University. Currently working as: Vice-chancellor of Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. Q4. KUSUM scheme? Full form: Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan Total fund allotted by Govt.: Rs 140000-crore Kisan announced in Union Budget 2018. Aim: To promote use of solar energy for pumps and encourage use of barren land for setting up decentralised solar power plants. Q5. Global Investors Summit 2018? Global Investors Summit 2018 – ‘Advantage Assam’ Inaugurated in: Guwahati, Assam Inaugurated by: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in Aim: to showcase manufacturing opportunities in Assam and related geostrategic advantages to foreign and domestic investors. Organised by: Assam State Government in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Q6. ‘Zhangheng 1’? China launches first seismo-electromagnetic satellite to study earthquake precursors. Launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gobi Desert China National Space Administration (CNSA): # Headquarters – Haidian District, Beijing Q7. CriSidEx? India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises ( MSEs). Developed by: CRISIL, SIDBI Launched by: Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley. Full form of CRISIL: Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited. It is a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services. Q8. International Young Chef Olympiad 2018? Malaysia’s Lai Jia Yi won International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) in Kolkata. Edition: 4th Second Position: Surya Sekhar Roy Choudhury. Award presented by Chefs Sanjeev Kapoor & David Foskett. Q9. Jal Marg Project on Ganga? Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has signed a project agreement with World Bank for Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). Fund raised $800 million. Aim: Enhancing navigation on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) from Varanasi to Haldia. Q10. India’s largest Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW)? Launched in: Hyderabad’s Neknampur Lake Inaugurated on: World Wetlands Day (February 2). Size of the FTW is 3,000 sq. ft.



Purpose: These plants absorb excess nitrates and oxygen present in the water and reduce the content of these chemicals. It is said that, this method is very cheap compared to sewage treatment plants. Q11. Twin Tower Trade Centre? Guwahati, Assam. Assam State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) for setting up a twin tower trade centre in Guwahati. Estimated cost: Rs. 1950 crore. # State: Assam # Capital – Dispur # Governor – Jagdish Mukhi # Chief Minister – Sarbananda Sonowal Q12. Agreement for Fata, Balochistan? Government of China, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Government of Pakistan have signed a agreement to provide assistance to help the people of Fata and Balochistan region in Pakistan. Assistance of: $4 million. Q13. Three-parent babies through mitochondrial donation? Country: UK Aim: to prevent passing of incurable genetic diseases from mothers to babies. Permitted by: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

Current Affairs – 02 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 2 February? World Wetlands Day Theme: “Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future”. Why….? On the same day in 1971, the Convention on Wetlands was adopted in Ramsar, Iran. What is Convention on Wetlands? It is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Q2. SpiceJet India Open International Boxing tournament? Held at: Thyagraj Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. 1. M C Mary Kom defeated Filipino Josie Gabuco in 48kg category and won the gold medal. 2. Pinki Rani defeated Jargalan Ochirbat in (48-51 kg) category and won gold medal. 3. Pwilao Basumatary (India) defeated Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee in women’s 64 kg category and won gold medal. 4. Shiva Thapa won a bronze medal in the 60 kg category. 5. India’s Lovlina Borgohain defeated India’s Pooja in the women’s (69kg) category and won gold. 6. L Sarita Devi lost to Finland’s Mira Potkenon in the women’s 60kg category and won a silver medal. 7. Sanjeet defeated Uzbekistan’s Sanjar Tursunov in the men’s 91kg category and won a gold medal. 8. Manish Kaushik won gold medal in the 60 kg category for men. AIBA (International Boxing Association): # Headquarters – Lausanne, Switzerland # President – Dr Wu Ching-kuo

Q3. Interceptor boat V-410? V-410 – is an interceptor boat, built for the Indian Coast Guard Launched in: Mangaluru, Karnataka Launched by: Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited (BDIL). Information: V-410 is the sixth in the series of 15 interceptors for which BDIL had been given a contract. Q4. Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings? Saurav Ghosal with 14th rank became the highest ranked Indian in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings. Dipika Pallikal – 20th Harinder Pal Sandhu – 49th Professional Squash Association (PSA): # President – Ali Farag (Men), Jenny Duncalf (Women) # Headquarter – Leeds, England, United Kingdom Q5. New Director General of NSG (National Security Guard)? Sudeep Lakhtakia Replaces: S P Singh Currently working as Special DG in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters. Q6. Times Power Woman 2017 award? Shabnam Asthana Award presented by: Dilip Kamble (Minister of State for Social Justice and Special Assistance in the Government of Maharashtra) Awards were presented to the women of Pune, with power, supremacy, command and control were awarded. Q7. Nobel Prize Series India 2018? Begins in: Panaji,Goa. Inaugurated by: Goa CM Manohar Parrikar Organised by: Department of Bio-Technology under Union Ministry of Science and Technology, Goa State Government and Nobel Media, Sweden. Theme: ‘Science Impacts Life’. Edition: 2nd (first edition held in Gujarat in January 2017) Q8. New tunnel at Sela pass in Arunachal Pradesh? Announcement done in Budget Session by Mr. Arun Jaitley Sela pass: located at an elevation of 13700 ft between Tawang and West Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Q9. World’s longest zip line? Opened in Ras Al Khaimah, the smallest state of United Arab Emirates Lenght: 2.83 kilometres. It allows people to jump from the peak of Jebel Jais, UAE’s highest mountain. Also It has created a Guinness World Record for world’s longest zip line. Country: UAE Capital – Abu Dhabi Currency – UAE dirham President – Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Q10. New Ambassador of India to Romania? Thanglura Darlong



Currently working as the CLO (Chief Liaison Officer) in the South Asian University in New Delhi. About Romania: Capital: Bucharest Currency: Romanian leu Q11. Surajkund crafts mela? 32nd Surajkund International Crafts Mela began on 2nd February in Surajkund, Haryana. Inaugurated by: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. UP is the theme state for the first time. Benefit: This will provides a platform for the artists and craftsmen from across the world to showcase their countries’ rich diversity, cuisine and traditions. More in the Day: 1. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union budget 2018-19—Details in Static GK Section. 2. Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt takes charge as the 47th Corps Commander of Chinar Corps. 3. John Hennessy was appointed as Chairman of Alphabet’s Board. He succeeds Eric Schmidt. 4. India joins Ashgabat agreement. It is a Multimodal transport agreement for setting up of an international transport and transit (of goods) corridor, linking Central Asia with the Persian Gulf.

Current Affairs – 01 February 2018 Q1. Day observed on 01 Feb.? 41st Foundation Day of Indian Coast Guard (ICG). Indian Coast Guard (ICG)’s 41st Foundation Day: Established in: 1978. # Headquarters – New Delhi # Director General – Rajendra Singh Q2. 7th India Energy Congress? Held in: New Delhi Theme: ‘Energy 4.0: Energy Transition Towards 2030’ Highlights of 7th India Energy Congress: Organised by: Union Ministries of Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy, Petroleum & Natural Gas, External Affairs and Department of Atomic Energy. Q3. Ban on sale of Endosulfan? In Punjab: Capt. Amarinder Singh approved a ban on the sale of Endosulfan and 19 other insecticides. Punjab CM: Capt. Amarinder Singh Capital – Chandigarh Governor – V P Singh Badnore Q4. Indian Railways? 1. India will get its 1st high-speed electric locomotive in March 2018 Maximum speed: 120 kmph It will be launched in March 2018 when French President Emmanuel Macron’s will be on Indian visit. This high-speed electric locomotive has been produced in collaboration with Alstom. 2. New Coach Factory.

Will be set up by the Indian Railways in Latur district, Maharashtra. Purpose: This coach factory will produce Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) for sub-urban trains and coaches for metro trains. Q5. First poor country to provide eye care for all? Country name: Rwanda Total population: 12 million. Rwanda government has partnered with Vision for a Nation (VFAN), a charity organization, to train 3,000 eye care nurses in 502 local health centres. The most common eye problem is short sightedness. Country: Rwanda Capital: Kigali Currency: Rwandan franc Q6. Sahitya Akademi’s Bhasha Samman award? Giver to: Shesh Anand Madhukar (Magahi writer). Bhasha Samman award recognizes the languages that are equally spoken in different parts of India. President of Sahitya Akademi: Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari Q7. Who was Kalamandalam Geethanandan? Kalamandalam Geethanandan, famous Ottanthullal artist (dance form), died while he was performing at a temple in Irinjalakkuda, Kerala. Q8. ‘Bulletin’ app? Launched by: Google “Bulletin” is an free app, allows anyone to submit stories related to their local communities. Google: # Headquarters – California, U.S. # CEO – Sundar Pichai Q9. Chef-de-Mission for CWG? Vikram Singh Sisodia Indian Olympic Association (IOA) named Vikram Singh Sisodia as the Chef-de-Mission for Commonwealth Games (CWG) that will be held in Gold Coast, Australia. Current position: Joint secretary of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), also president of Chhattisgarh State Tennis Association. IOA: # Headquarters – New Delhi # President – Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra Q10. New Vice Chairman of USISPF Board? Shantanu Narayen Current position: CEO of Adobe Full form of USISPF: US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum Shantanu Narayen – Vice Chairman of (USISPF) Board: US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF): # President – Dr. Mukesh Aghi # Managing Director – Nivedita Mehra Q11. India’s GDP acc. to CSO? India’s GDP has fallen 7.1% in 2016-17 Last year’s GDP 8.2% — 2015-16 Full form of CSO: Central Statistics Office Q12. ‘Smart OPD’?



India’s first integrated mobility platform. Launched by: Health-tech startup mCURA. Objective: Reduces waiting time in counters and provides e-prescriptions. Q13. New Director General (DG) of Sports Authority of India (SAI). Neelam Kapoor — first time an IIS officer has been appointed as DG of SAI. Usually this post is given to an IAS. Current position: Principal Director General of the Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP). More in Day: 1. Rs. 370 crore has been allotted by Home Ministry to Border Security Force (BSF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to strengthen border infrastructure. 2. Rs 1500 crore has been sanctioned by Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh (Centre Government) for organic farming in Uttarakhand Uttarakhand Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat. # Capital – Dehradun # Governor – Krishan Kant Paul

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