1. 171st Araadhanai Music Festival started in Thiruvaiyaru (__________). Thyagaraja is one of Trinities of Carnatic music.
2. As per Govt. Data, India is leading global milk producer globally in past 3 years, with annual growth rate of 5.53% compared with 2.09% globally. India's Milk production was appr0x ____________ tonnes in 2016-17.
3. Assamese and Manipuri language versions of PM’s Official website (www.pmindia.gov.in) have been launched. Now PM INDIA website is available in _________ regional languages - Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
4. Department of Heavy Industries (Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises) allowed Karnataka government to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) under FAME India scheme, at maximum of 60% subsidy.
- FAME (_______________) India was launched in 2015 under National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM) aims at promoting eco-friendly vehicles in the country.
5. First draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in ___________ containing names of 1.9 crore Indians in state has been released, updated after 1951.
6. GAIL commissioned India’s second largest rooftop solar power plant in at Pata (____________), as a 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant at GAIL’s petrochemical complex at, covering area of 65,000 square meters.
- Largest rooftop solar plant in India was commissioned in December 2015 by Tata Power Solar in Amritsar (Punjab) with 12 MWp capacity.
7. ______________ government will implement integrated solar based micro irrigation scheme (ISBMI) in all districts and formed a Committee to chalk out a plan in this regard.
- ISBMI will focus on saving electricity and water, and will also be economical for farmers as they will not be required to install tubewells at their own level instead they just have to pay a nominal amount for water according the crops.
8. Home Ministry declared ______________ as disturbed area for 6 more months (till June 2018) under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act – AFSPA.
- Under AFSPA, armed forces attain several overriding powers including authority to open fire and use force against any person acting against the law.
9. ______________ Govt. launched Saubhagya Yojana, aimed at providing 24*7 electricity to approx 30000 villages across state by December 2018. Under this, above poverty line (APL) families would get electricity connection by paying Rs 500 (Rs 50 each month for 10 months).
10. Minister of Women & Child Development, Maneka Gandhi launched _____________ portal, aimed at providing women citizens with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women.
- e-Samvad portal is also developed which will be inaugurated soon. It will be a platform for NGOs and Civil Societies to interact with Ministry of Women & Child Development.
11. __________ goverment launched a special police force to safeguard tourists, provided with special blue colour head gears.
12. 11 days Dhanu Yatra festival held in Bargarh district of __________.
13. ___________ Govt. launched Chah Bagichar Dhan Puraskar Mela 2017-18, that enables INR 2500 to be credited to accounts of people belonging to tea community, who opened bank accounts during demonetisation.
14. Cabinet Approvals -
- Establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bilaspur (___________) under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
- CCEA Approvals -
- Construction of 2-lane bi-directional Zojila Tunnel on Srinagar-Leh section connecting NH-1A in Jammu and Kashmir, to provide all-weather connectivity to Leh region. It will be Asia’s largest 2-lane bi-directional tunnel (14.150 km long).
- Implementation of Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on 1,380-km Haldia-Varanasi stretch of National Waterway-1 (NW1) on Ganga River, at cost of INR 5,370 crores. It will enable commercial navigation of at least 1500 tonne vessels on the Ganga river.
- Mandatory packaging of foodgrains and sugar in jute material for Jute Year 2017-18 (1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018). It aims at sustaining core demand for jute sector and supporting livelihood of workers and farmers dependent on Jute sector.
- Amendments in Model Concession Agreement (MCA) to make Port Projects more investor-friendly and make investments more attractive in Port Sector. It calls for setting up Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes - Ports (SAROD-PORTS) as d6ispute resolution mechanism, similar to provision available in Highway Sector.
- MOUs Approved -
- With London’s transportation authority Transport for London to improve public transport in India.
- With Italy for co-operation in Renewable Energy.
- With Israel for co-operation in Oil and Gas Sector.
- With Belgium for co-operation in ICT&E.
- With Myanmar on Land Border Crossing, as an enabling arrangement for movement of people across border of both counties.
- Will sign MOU with Sri Lanka for cooperation in traditional systems of medicine and homoeopathy.
15. ____________ government mandated installation of Solar Photovoltaic Power plant in new buildings as per specified norms, aimed at conserving electricity and use it efficiently.
16. Railways will standardize trains in terms of number of coaches so that all trains can run on all routes. Soon, all trains would have ____________ coaches, making them suitable for running on any route.
- Currently, coaches are of two kinds (ICF and LHB) and number of coaches in a train could be 12, 16, 18, 22 or 26, depending on its demand, making it difficult for the railways to substitute one with the other.
17. Reliance Industries commissioned and achieved design throughput of world’s largest refinery off-gas cracker at Jamnagar (___________). Refinery will have a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum along with downstream plants and utilities.
18. _______________ Government launched e-governance policy to help public, government and commercial establishments avail all services through digital medium. It lets government to allocate 0.5 % of annual funds for digital initiatives and further increase it to 3 % in 5 years.
19. Health Ministry launched India’s first digital Online _____________ Tutorial Series designed by Tata Memorial Center, to train doctors for early detection, prevention, palliation, rehabilitation and treatment of various cancers.
20. Hyderabad (___________) became 2nd large city (above 1 crore population) to be declared open defecation free (ODF), after Mumbai.
- Maharashtra government also imposed spot fine of Rs 500 for open defecation, littering, spitting and urinating in public places.
21. Madhya Pradesh government imposed ___________ paisa per litle cess on petrol and diesel, to be used for strengthening road infrastructure across state and laying metro railroad in Bhopal and Indore.
22. Ministries of Railways, ____________________ and Department of Science & Technology signed an MoU for joint funding of Technology Mission for Indian Railways, worth approx 300 Crores INR. Funding percentage is - Railways (30%), Human Resource Development (25%) AND Department of Science & Technology (25%).
23. Nation-wide cleanliness survey Swachh Survekshan launched to evaluate achievements in cleanliness level in Urban areas, Deemed as world’ biggest survey. It will be conducted in over ____________ cities and will run till 10 March 2018.
24. Central Government approved state Logo designed by ______________________ Government, highlighting the “Biswa Bangla” theme with Ashoka Pillars.
25. __________ govt will set up 24X7 ‘Gudiya helpline‘ for reporting crimes against women. Under which, three special crime cells would be set up (one each at Mandi, Shimla and Kangra).
26. India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education increased from 24.5% in 2015-16 to 25.2% in 2016-17, according to All India Higher Education Survey (AIHES) 2016-17. _____________ has highest GER at 46.9%, while Bihar has least with GER of 14.9%.
27. _________________’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport became 5th in India having CAT III B landing system runway, enabling flights to land even when visibility is 50 metres with decision height of 15 meters.
28. ___________ Government will form an education board for non-English medium schools, that will prepare syllabus for non-English medium schools in state.
29. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) approved 5 Namami Gange projects worth Rs ____________ crores in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
30. Residents of Bhanakpur village in Faridabad (_______________) will begin day by singing national anthem daily at 8 am. Panchayat has installed 20 loudspeakers and 22 CCTV cameras for the purpose. This village is first in state and second in India (after Jammikunta Telangana), to introduce this system.
31. _____________ Government inaugurated India’s first National Park for differently abled people in Hyderabad. It has speech therapist, vocational training instructors and physiotherapist for differently-abled children.
32. 3 day annual Flamingo Festival held at Pulicat lake and Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary in Sullurpet mandal (_______________). Somewhere between 9,000 to 12,000 Migratory birds from Siberia visit this place during winter season for breeding.
33. TrackChild and Khoya-Paya portals launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development to track missing and found children. Ministry also provides support for children in trouble through the dedicated toll free number - __________________.
34. _______________ would get its first (and India's 2nd) Film and Television Institute (FTII). First Film and Television Institute of India of India was set up in Pune in 1960.
35. _________________ Govt. launched a common card for rides on public buses and metro, becoming first Indian city to have such common mobility card.
36. ______________ became first state to launch High-Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal, to help in early identification of high-risk pregnant cases and ensure their timely referral to civil hospital. This portal is designed to track every high-risk pregnant woman till 42 days after delivery.
37. Indian Railways will deploy Drone cameras (UAV/NETRA) for various railway activities especially maintenance of tracks, project monitoring and other railway infrastructure, in-line with Railways’ desire to use technology to enhance safety and efficiency in train operations.
- Railways also finalised plan to equip over 8500 stations with Wi-Fi facilities at an estimated cost of INR 700 crores, by March ________________.
- At 1200 stations, Wi-Fi facility will be provided to rail passengers while at about 7300 stations, facility will be available to all (passenger and locals).
38. International Kite Festival held at Sabarmati River Front in Ahmedabad (______________).
39. ________________ Government launched Muhafiz (meaning Guardian in English) scheme, for providing institutionalized socio-economic security to workers in unorganised sector. Registered workers will also be offered Micro Credit facility with a credit limit of INR 10000.
40. Mankidia tribe in _________________ has been denied habitat rights in Similipal Tiger Reserve amid possibilities of tribals being attacked by wild animals (especially tigers). It is notified under historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006.
- Mankidia is one of 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) and depends on making rope with siali fibre that’s richly available in Similipal.
41. ___________ Government banned use of unauthorised loudspeakers at public places, including religious places.
42. __________________ Government banned electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), that are handheld battery-run devices which are used like a conventional cigarette. However the ingredient (in liquid form) may differ.
43. First all-women staff (41 females) railway station in India, Matunga on Central Railway (CR) in _________________, entered Limca Book of Records.
44. Government announced completion of 1st phase of BharatNet project, after laying 254895 km of optical fibre cables (OFC) covering 1,09,926 GPs out of which 1,01,370 GPs are service ready.
- BharatNet project forms backbone for Digital India initiative. It aims to bring high speed broadband to all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats (GPs) through optical fibre by March _________________. It approved in 2011 as National Optical Fibre Netwok.
45. Gujarat topped Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) index released at 3rd meeting of Council for Trade Development and Promotion.
- LEADS Index is about mobility of goods and efficiency of logistics chain, developed by Commerce and Industry Ministry along with Deloitte.
- Gujarat is followed by Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Among UTs, ___________________ topped, followed by Delhi and Chandigarh.
46. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will launch National Programme for Control of Viral _____________________, as a new scheme free treatment of disease from 2018-19. For this, budget of INR 600 crores is marked for 3 years.
47. RS Puram Police station in Coimbatore (_________________________) is named best in India in SMART Police Stations initiative of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). SMART stands for Sensitive and Strict, Modern with mobility, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive and Trained and Techno-savvy.
48. Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Railways has launched ___________________, to make related procedures digital and transparent. New system provides major improvements such as Public access to information, expeditious process completion with defined timelines, round-the-year services, availability of all related information on RDSO Website etc.
49. Supreme Court stayed ____________ HC's order to reduce size of pictorial warnings on packages of tobacco products to 40% of package space from earlier 85%.
50. Cabinet Approvals on 10-01-2018 -
- FDI Policy Changes -
- 100% FDI under automatic route for Single Brand Retail Trading
- 100% FDI under automatic route in Construction Development
- Foreign airlines allowed investing up to 49% under approval route in Air India
- FIIs/FPIs allowed investing in Power Exchanges through primary market
- CCEA Approvals-
- Fixed term of 3 years for Chairperson and Members of National Trust for the Welfare of Person with Autism, Cerebral Plasy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.
- Continuation of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) till term of _____________ Finance Commission (31-03-2020). It will entail total allocation of INR 11850 crores over 3 years, with additional annual allocation of 5 crore for monitoring through independent agency(ies) and for capacity building/training to State/District officials.
- MOUs -
- With Canada for cooperation in Science & Technology.
51. General Events / Conferences (Jan 01 - 10, 2018) -
- 8 day long New Delhi World Book Fair begun in New Delhi, with theme Environment and Climate Change and European union as Guest of Honour country.
- 18th All India Whips’ Conference held at Udaipur (________________). During this, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) proposed rolling out of e-Sansad in Parliament and e-Vidhan in State Legislatures to digitize and make their functioning paperless.
- Annual Conference of DGPs and IGPs held at BSF (Border Security Force) Academy in Tekanpur (Madhya Pradesh). It was attended by PM Narendra Modi.
- 4th International Conference on Dharma-Dhamma held at Rajgir (Bihar), organised by Nalanda University with an aim to provide an opportunity to academics and policy makers from India and abroad to share ideas.
52. India missed December 2017 deadline announced for elimination of _____________ in 2017-18 Budget by Government.
- Elimination is defined as reducing annual incidence of disease to less than 1 case per 10,000 people at sub-district level.
53. ________________ government will digitise administrative and historical records of Rajputana’s princely states (10000 Pages/day), to to protect old and fragile documents.
54. Sub-committee of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) looking into issues of girl’s education has recommended free and compulsory education for girls up to ______________ level across country.
55. To Address Privacy Concerns, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduced a new concept of Virtual ID which Aadhaar-card holder can generate from its website and give for various purposes, wherever Aadhaar number is necessary to provide.
- Virtual would be a random _______________-digit number and a user can generate as many Virtual IDs (Older ones will be cancelled when generating new).
- It will give limited details (like name, address and photograph), which are sufficient for verification by any authorised agency .
- Aadhaar-issuing body will start accepting virtual ID from March 1, 2018 and From June 1, it will be obligatory for all agencies that undertake authentication to accept Virtual ID from their users.
56. An important heritage attraction at National Rail Museum (_____________) - a 108 years old monorail became operational, that was used by Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh. The Museum takes visitors on an exciting journey into Railway history and heritage and depict their contribution to industrial and economic progress of country.
57. Committee of Governors submitted report titled Rajyapal —Vikas Ke Rajdoot: Catalytic Role of Governors as Agents for Change in Society to President Ram Nath Kovind. Committee of Governors was Formed in October 2017 during 48th Conference of Governors in ____________.
58. India's first food testing lab in IITs opened in IIT _____________campus, after National Accreditation Board for Calibration and Testing Laboratories (NABL) approved it for certifying food items based on nutritional value and perform adulteration checks.
59. Railways launched SFOORTI (_____________________________) App for Freight Managers which provides features for monitoring and managing freight business using Geographic Information System (GIS) Views and Dashboard. Features Include -
- Freight Operation Information System Map View provides Layered views of freight trains on Railways, that can help plan traffic flows and optimize freight operations.
- Forecasted Rakes Awaiting Interchange enables Monitoring of all loads, which have been forecasted for the divisional interchange, but the same interchange has not yet reported.
- Stock Specific / Commodity specific Rake Position can be viewed. Loaded and Empty Rakes of specific Rake Types are plotted on Railways network map in Different colours.
- Monitoring of New Origination-Destination Added in Railways.
- Loading Trends for Major Commodities during a period.
- Performance of Freight Trains can be monitored
60. ___________ Govt. launched water ATM project to ensure bacteria-free drinking water in schools, initially in Kolkata.
61. ____________ Railways introduced modern Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Kiosk Machines for fast and easy printing of tickets booked through UTS App, in mumbai.
62. As per a survey by Ixigo, Kozhikode railway station (_____________) is ranked best in terms of cleanliness, while Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) is ranked lowest. Among trains, Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani is rated cleanest train while Karnataka Express is given lowest ratings.
63. GAIL will set up coal to synthesis gas conversion plants in ______________, with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) as technology partner.
- Synthesis gas is expected to be cheaper than domestic gas as its a mixture comprising of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
64. _____________ government allowed prisoners in state's jails to donate organs to their close relatives.
65. Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation signed A MOU with Bihar and Jharkhand state governments for completion of balance works of North Koel reservoir project at an estimated cost of INR 1622 crores.
- North Koel project was started in 1972 but was later halted in 1993. It is situated on North Koel river (a tributary of Sone river), that will provide irrigation to 1,11,521 hectares of land annually in most drought prone areas of Palamu and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand and Aurangabad and Gaya districts in ______________.
- Out of cost of balance works of INR 1622 crores, component of INR 1013 crores shall be borne by central Govt. as a grant from LTIF under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
66. Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) refused captive breeding of _______________ (Tibetan antelope), whose underfur is used for making famous shahtoosh shawls.
67. 12th International Film Festival on Art and Artist began in Bhubaneswar (__________________), organised by Bhubaneswar-based Jatin Das Centre of Art (JDCA).
68. Bhogali Bihu harvest festival, also called as Magh Bihu festival began in ______________.
69. Bikaner camel festival celebrated in ______________ to honour camels.
70. ________________ Health department and Johnson and Johnson signed MoU to train rural midwives and social health activists regarding tuberculosis and maternal and infant mortality.
71. Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas launched month long __________________ 2018 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav, that aims at creating focused attention on fuel conservation through people centric activities and sensitize masses about efficient use of petroleum products.
72. Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests (NCCF) launched India’s internationally benchmarked FMCS (_____________). FMCS enlists measures to be taken for responsible utilisation of natural resources and trade of forest products.
73. ______________ High Court asked all trial courts in state to obtain Aadhaar Cards of accused persons and sureties before issuing release warrant of a prisoner/accused, to curb rampant practice of obtaining bail on the basis of forged revenue papers or by impersonating real surety.
74. _____________ Government signed MoU with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to set up bio-gas and bio-CNG plants in state, to find sustainable solutions to paddy straw burning. Total 400 such plants will become operational in 3-4 years with investment of INR 5000 crores.
75. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDA) introduced face authentication as an additional means of Aadhaar authentication along with fingerprint and iris scan, to enable easy authentication for those who face difficulties in other biometric authentication such as fingerprint and iris scan. It will be available by 1 ____________, 2018.
76. External Affairs Ministry announced that Passports will no longer serve as a valid proof of address as Its last page will not printed from now onwards, that includes Names of father / guardian, and address.
- Additionally, Passport holders with ECR (Emigration Check Required) status would be issued a passport with ____________ passport jacket and those with non-ECR status would continue to get a blue passport. As per Govt., This is meant to identify less educated (under 10th) labourers and prevent them from exploitation abroad.
- Note that Indian passports have a blue cover, diplomatic and official passports have white and red jackets, respectively. Applicants who haven’t cleared 10th standard are given a passport with ECR category.
77. Government decided to end Haj subsidy from this year, as a part of its policy to 'empower minorities without appeasement'.
- Note that despite withdrawal of subsidy, record number of _______________ lakh Muslims would be Haj undertaking pilgrimage this year from India after Saudi Arabia increased India's quota by 5,000.
78. Government sanctioned projects over _____________ crore rupees in North East for better network connectivity, Including uncovered areas in North Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
79. ____________ government signed MoU with Central Govt. to create normalcy in state by means of education reforms, named School Education Transformation Roadmap.
80. NITI Aayog launched first course on Sustainable Urban planning using remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) at IIT Kanpur’s outreach centre in Noida (UP). This is first course under GIAN (_________________) Program of HRD Ministry, that aims to boost quality of higher education through international collaboration.
- Course aims to impart high level remote sensing and GIS skills to allow them managing rapidly changing urban environment, with focus on water related activities.
81. _________________ State Government announced ‘Mukshyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Jojana’ (MMKSJ), under which artists from across the state will get a monthly assistance of Rs 1200, to benefit approx 50000 artists from across state.
- State government also changed eligibility criteria as compared to previous artist assistance scheme, under which only 4000 artists were being given Rs 1000 per month. As per new criteria, any male artist can avail assistance under scheme after attaining the age of 50 years (earlier 60 years), while females have relaxation of 10 years.
82. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated project commencement of ______________ oil refinery at Pachpadra in Barmer district, as first one to be set up in state. It is as a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and state government, with budget of INR 43000 crores and expected to be operational in 4 years.
83. _______________ Government allowed people to forge fraternal ties with trees, under Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules 2017. Purpose is to preserve trees by encouraging people to forge relationship of brotherhood with trees through tradition locally known as Mitini / Mith.
84. West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha opted out of Central Government’s Transformation of Aspirational Districts scheme.
- Aspirational districts refer to selected 115 backward districts that are lagging on specific development parameters. Central Government undertook a major policy initiative for rapid transformation of these districts. With exit of 3 states, total districts under this scheme is now reduced to 102.
- These states objected that criteria for identifying backward districts was fixed without taking respective State Governments into confidence.
- Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ conference was held in ___________ rcently, in which NITI Aayog said it will come out with a ranking of 115 aspirational districts by April 2018.
85. Election Commission announced that State Assembly elections will be held for 3 North East states in Feb 2018 - Meghalaya and Nagaland (Feb 27) and __________ (Feb 18).
86. 10th Global Forum for Food & Agriculture was held in Berlin (_______________) with theme Shaping the future of livestock – sustainably, responsibly, efficiently. India was represented by Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
87. 3rd Science Film Festival of India will held in _____________, titled SCI-FFI.
88. A ________________ publishing house Gulshan Books entered Limca Book of Records for a huge collection of 80,000 books. It is the only bookshop-library on a lake.
89. ___________________ Government signed MoU with NITI Aayog to create an online dashboard for the 115 most backward districts of India, under Transformation of Most Aspirational Districts Scheme.
- Backward districts were selected based on education, health, nutrition, rural road connectivity, rural household electrification, access to potable water, individual toilets, etc.
- Jharkhand has the highest number of the listed backward districts.
- Note that West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha recently opted out of Central Government’s Transformation of Aspirational Districts scheme. Bringing down number of districts to 102 (from 115).
90. ______________ became first state to completely implement door-to-door garbage collection in all urban areas, using measures like solid waste management at landfill sites and processing through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
91. _______________ Government approved 1% reservation for orphans in government jobs and education.
- It is termed as parallel reservation as It will be provided under general category. It means that government does not need to increase its caste reservation quota that has already reached 52%. Out of total jobs available under general category, 1% will be only for orphans.
92. _____________ became first state to unveil Public Cloud Policy that virtually mandates state government departments to shift their data storage onto cloud.
93. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will set up __________________________( CWPF) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to tackle internet-related crimes such as cyber threats, child pornography and online stalking, under MHA’s new Cyber & Information Security (CIS) Division.
94. North Korea and South Korea will march together under a single unified Korean flag at Winter Olympics 2018 in Pyeongchang (_________). They agreed to field a joint women’s ice hockey team after rare peace talks. These are first high-level talks between 2 Koreas in over 2 years.
95. 4th India International Science Festival will be held in Lucknow (_____________) , on dates to be decided later.
96. A MoU was signed between National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and IL&FS Transportation Networks for construction of over 14 km long 2-lane bi-directional Zojila Tunnel in _______________.
- This would be India’s longest road tunnel and longest bi-directional tunnel in Asia. It will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.
- Cost of project is INR 6808 crores and will completed in 7 years.
97. ______________ CM Pema Khandu inaugurated World War II Memorial Museum in Changlang district. It is located adjacent to historic Stilwell Road and is expected to boost tourist inflow especially from Southeast Asian countries.
98. Bengal Global Business Summit 2018 held in _____________ with Japan, Italy, Poland, Germany, Republic of Korea, Czech Republic, Great Britain, France and UAE as Partner countries and theme Bengal Means Business.
99. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah launched Yuva Udghosh programme in Varanasi (______________), focusing on enrolling youths above 17 of age.
100. Central Government approved establishment of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Raichur (Karnataka), as 2nd IIIT in _____________ after one in Dharwad.
101. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated ____________'s First Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) at Karaikal.
102. General Events / Conferences (Jan 11 - 20, 2018) -
- Ministry of Culture organized 7th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat matrix in Karnataka.
- President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated ‘Economic Democracy Conclave at Thane (___________________), organised by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (charitable organisation in domain of training of social-political activists).
- International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) organized by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Delhi.
- 65th Meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) held under Chairmanship of HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in Delhi.
- 3rd geo-political conference Raisina Dialogue held in New Delhi, attended by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and jointly organised by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF). 2018's theme is Managing Disruptive Transitions: Ideas, Institutions and Idiom’.
- Raisina Dialogue is an annual conference held in New Delhi, envisioned as India’s flagship conference of geopolitics and geo-economics.
- Indian and Israeli PM duo also launched I4Fund Call for Proposal, that provisions establishing a 40 million USD Fund by India's Department of Science and Technology and National Innovation Authority of Israel.
- A single day Conclave called Nirman Samvaad, first ever interaction between Railways Ministry and Construction Industry held in Delhi, organized by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL).
- Lalit Kala Akademi’s 59th National Exhibition of Art held in New Delhi, to exhibit brilliance of works of various artists.
- 60th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) held at Pragati Maidan (New Delhi).
- National Conference on Improving Accessibility held in New Delhi. During this, 100 accessible websites for Divyangs have been launched to empower Divyang persons.
103. ____________ auto major Mercedes-Benz unveiled India’s first BS-VI-compliant S Class car produced at its Pune facility.
- Government’s deadline for switching to new BS-VI emission norms is of April 2020.
- BS-VI-compliant S Class can run on BS-IV fuel, which will bring down NOx emissions by 68% and PM by 82% and will lower CO2 burden by 13% and fuel demand by 10%.
104. Government announced names of 9 new cities selected under Smart Cities Mission, with proposed investment of INR 12824 crores. After four rounds of selection, _____________ cities have been selected for Smart Cities Mission so far.
105. Government approved 2018 as National Year of _____________ to boost production of the nutrient-rich _________ and the sunrise agri industry involved in it.
106. __________________ Goverment launched women's safety app named Shakti. It comes with a panic button and would not require internet connectivity.
- Once triggered, app would send a message to nearest police control room and start recording audio and video after 20 seconds.
- GUDDIYA helpline number 1515 and Hoshiyar Singh helpline number 1090 were also launched, to fight crimes against women in state.
107. _________________ Government launched a state-level nutrition scheme for HIV-positive children, which will provide nutritional supplement to boost immunity for concerned children.
108. India’s first automatic Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) will be lcunahed in March 2018 in ________________, under National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project.
- It will provide state’s entire population residing on 480 km length coastline a pre-warning siren in event of occurrence of natural disasters like tsunami or cyclone.
109. Jammu & Kashmir Student Exchange programme ‘Maitreyi Yatra’ held in ________________. It is organized by Ministry of Human Resource development with an objective to acquaint youth of Jammu & Kashmir with culture, language and development of different parts of India.
110. __________________ will host its first international martial arts games event in Srinagar in October 2018, named Asian Martial Arts Games.
111. ______________ Government launched Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat in Dumka district. __________ is first state where beneficiaries are provided stoves along with gas connections., with an investment of 300 crores.
112. _______________ Government framed helipad policy that lays down strict guidelines for helipads, their location and other procedures to be followed. Need for such policy was felt owing to a series of near-mishaps during last year.
113. _________________ government banned sale of tobacco in shops selling Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) items in state, to ensure that youngsters do not get addicted to tobacco products.
114. ____________ government launched Balasaheb Thackeray Shaheed Sanmaan scheme, under which family members of martyrs would be provided jobs with State road Transport Corporation. Apart from jobs, wives of martyrs would also be provided with lifetime free bus passes.
115. Ministry of Civil Aviation awarded 325 air routes under 2nd phase of government’s flagship UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam naagrik) regional connectivity scheme.
- Government announced that 73 underserved airports and helipads will be connected under phase 2 of UDAN Scheme. Interglobe Aviation (parent firm of ____________) was awarded a maximum of 20 proposals, followed by SpiceJet that won 17 proposals.
- Around 40% or 129 of 325 air routes were awarded to newly created category of ‘priority areas’ that include Jammu and Kashmir, Northeastern and hill states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.
- UDAN 2 will provide over 26 lakh seats per annum that will be covered with airfare cap of INR 2500 per hour of flying.
- Funding for UDAN 2 will be INR 617 crores, significantly more than 213 crores in First Phase.
116. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched ________________ to strengthen cybersecurity ecosystem in India, in association with National e-Governance Division (NeGD). It will leverage expertise of the IT industry in cybersecurity and will be operated on principles of awareness, education and enablement.
117. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced to increase number of AMRIT pharmacy stores by 4 times by end of 2018 from existing 111.
- So far, over 50 lakh patients bought discounted drugs (60 to 90% less than market price) from AMRIT (_______________) stores and saved over INR 267 crores.
118. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched Protocol for Star Rating of Garbage-Free Cities in _______________, under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban. It has 7-star rating system for cities, based on multiple cleanliness indicators for solid waste management. City will be given rating of 3 star or above only after it is declared ODF (Open Defecation Free).
119. Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs (MoHUA) launched Liveability index to rate ___________ Indian cities, funded by World Bank.
- It aims to measure quality of life in 99 smart cities, capital cities and those with a population of over one million.
- Index will rank cities based on set of 79 paarmeters related to various aspects.
120. Ministry of Science & Technology announced 4 new schemes to promote young scientists and researchers in country - TARE (__________________), Overseas Visiting Doctoral Fellowship (OVDF), Distinguished Investigator Award (DIA) and AWSAR (Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research). These schemes aim at early recognition and reward to young talent in field of science.
121. Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) launched beneficiary module of RRS (_____________), a monitoring system for Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG). It will facilitate monitoring of SAG and take corrective measures by ensuring faster flow of information, accurate targeting of beneficiaries and reduction of leakages. URL for the portal is 'sag-rrs.nic.in.'
122. _____________ Government launched e-Hospital Management Information System online platform that hosts all clinical parameters of patients and reporting of performance criteria of hospitals. It also enables viewing and downloading individual electronic health records.
123. ______________ government signed agreement with Software Technology Park of India (STPI), to set up an incubator at IIT Bhubaneswar for promoting research, named Centre of Excellence for Virtual & Augmented Reality (VARCoE).
124. President Ram Nath Kovind on recommendation of Election Commission of India (ECI) disqualified 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs from ________________, citing that they held offices of profit.
- In 2016, ECI issued show cause notices to 27 AAP MLAs from Delhi who held offices as parliamentary secretaries.
- Office of Profit is a Term used in Article 102 (1)(A) of Constitution that bars member of Indian Parliament / Legislative Assemblies from holding an office that would give its occupant the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit. It refers to a post under central/state government which yields salaries, perks and other benefits.
125. ____________ Government launched Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojna (MGSVY) for welfare of downtrodden citizen across state, on lines of Antyodaya principles (means rise of the last person) and will be implemented in rural areas.
126. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated several projects in ___________ entailing investment of INR 6517 crores.
127. Road transport ministry Mandated All taxis, buses and public transport vehicles (except three-wheelers and e-rickshaws) to have location tracking device (GPS) and an alert button from _____________ 1, 2018 onwards.
128. Shripad Yesso Naik (Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH) laid foundation stone for Central Research Institute (CRI) in Jaipur (________________________), as 3rd CRI under Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH).
129. _________________ government signed MoU with Clean Authority of Tokyo (Japan), for municipal solid waste incineration facilities.
130. Use and sale of imported __________________ has been banned in National Capital Region (NCR) by environment ministry, to control air pollution. It also ruled that cement plants in NCR should not store pet coke for over 3 months.
131. ______________ Government Inauguraed India-Japan Smart Grid Pilot Project in Panipat. It was also annouced to install 10 lakh smart meters across state, to solve various complications faced by power distribution sector.
132. Home Ministry will set up I4C (_________________) as an apex centre to deal with cyber crimes such as financial frauds, circulation of pornographic and communal contents. I4C will be located in Delhi. It will coordinate with state governments in matters of cyber crimes and will monitor cyber space and social media.
- Information and Broadcasting Ministry will also set up a social media communication (SMC) hub for keeping a tab on trending news in districts and gather feedback on Government’s flagship schemes, with investment of INR 17 crores for setting up 707 SMC hubs.
133. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) launched _________________ Initiative aimed at creating sustainable model for providing adolescent girls and women an access to affordable sanitary products by leveraging Common Service Centres (CSCs). CSCs will provide access to affordable, reliable and modern (eco-friendly) sanitary napkins (menstrual pads) to adolescent girls and women in rural areas.
134. Oxford Dictionaries declared ‘Aadhaar’ as Hindi Word of the Year for 2017, during Jaipur Literature Festival 2018 (_______________).
135. President Ram Nath Kovind launched Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) Programme ear 2018, on eve of National Immunisation Day (NID) observed on __________ January in 2018.
136. 3 Municipal Corporations of Delhi jointly brought out mobile application named __________________, to enhance engagement of citizens in the resolution of grievances and improvement of civic services in city. It aims to empower users by giving them locations of nearby police / metro stations / petrol pumps / toilets / parking / hospitals and other public places.
137. Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) provided quota to people with autism, mental illnesses, intellectual disability and victims of acid attacks in Central government jobs.In direct recruitment, ____________ of vacancies (up from existing 3%) in groups A, B and C will be reserved for people with over 40% specified disability.
138. ________________ Government launched Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) project to promote organic farming, aimed at doubling income of farmers by the 2022. In ZBNF natural farming methods, cost of growing and harvesting plants is zero as no fertilizers and pesticides are added. It requires almost no monetary investment and envisages use of ‘Jeevamrutha’ and ‘Beejamrutha’.
139. Journalists and social activists celebrated 238th anniversary of India’s first newspaper, The Hicky’s Bengal Gazette. James Augustus Hicky is also considered as founder of journalism in India, who started Hicky’s Bengal Gazette in _____________.
140. ________________ government initiated Mission One Click scheme to distribute 30 types of scholarship in schools, through Samagra Education Portal.
141. Sammakka Saaralamma Maha Jathara tribal festival began in Eturunagaram (_____________). Tribal people from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh would participate in this festival.
142. Airports Authority of India (AAI) allocated Rs ____________ crore for upgradation of airports in North East region.
143. As per Airpocalypse II report by environmental Non-governmental organization (NGO) Greenpeace India -
- Airpocalypse II analysed PM10 (inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller) annual averages for 280 cities monitored by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under its national air quality monitoring programme. Highlights of Airpocalypse II -
- 47% of population in India is living in areas where there is no air quality monitoring.
- Out of 63 crore million people living in 280 cities where air quality is monitored by CPCB, 55 crore live in areas exceeding national safe standards for PM10. CPCB has set 60 micrograms per cubic metres PM10 as safe standard.
- Top 5 Polluted Cities
- ___________ - 290
- Faridabad (Haryana) - 272
- Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) - 262
- Patna (Bihar) - 261
- Dehradun, (Uttarakhand) - 238
- Least Polluted Cities
- Hassan (Karnataka) - 26
- Pathanamthitta (Kerala) - 26
- Nongstoin (Meghalaya) - 26
- Darjeeling (West Bengal) - 29
- Tura (Meghalaya) - 30
144. _________________ Assembly will introduce digital budget in its upcoming session, instead of conventional printed booklet. Apart from digital budget, new features to be introduced will be Members Hour (tuesday), a year-long calendar, Best Legislator Award, formation of Pay Commission for MLAs’ salary and fellowships for research work on history of Assembly.
145. ___________ Government released a postage stamp in memory of eminent football player Talimeren Ao.
146. Environment Minister Harshvardhan launched Mihir, a ___________ PetaFlops capacity high-performance computer system in Noida (UP). It will help Meteorological department to predict climate based calamities and issue warnings for fishermen.
147. Government launched 3rd version of its National Procurement Portal, GeM (______________)
- GeM 3.0 will offer several features as standardised and enriched catalogue management, search engine, real time price comparison, template-based Bid and RA creation, demand aggregation, e-EMD, e-PBG, user rating, advanced MIS and analytics and more.
148. It Firm __________ signed MoU with Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation for a grant to create a child-friendly village for improving children’s health, providing education and creating a non-violent environment.
149. ______________ government formed a committee to study scope and definition of horticulture, headed by chief secretary of State Bharat Bhushan Vyas. Study will help in improving and assessing growth of horticulture in state.
150. ______________________ Government proposed a 100 point Performance-linked marking system for 7.5 lakh state government employees. Out of 100 marks, 60 marks will be assigned for performance on objective parameters (speed of completion of task, punctuality, attentiveness), while 40 marks will be given for subjective parameters (quality of file notings, contribution in policy making, articulation of thought).
151. ____________ Government inaugurated Mahesra Bridge at Sonauli-Gorakhpur National highway, that links Gorakhpur and other eastern districts with Nepal.
152. General Events / Conferences (Jan 21 - 31, 2018)
- Raipur Municipal Corporation (Chhattisgarh) organized Kachra Mahotsav 2018 as India’s first Garbage Festival. It aims to increase waste usage awareness.
- Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted International Conference on ‘Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Election Process’ in _________________.
- 21st India International Seafood Show (IISS) held in Margao (Goa). IISS is a biennial meeting point for various stakeholders of marine products sector such as producers, processing machinery manufacturers, processors, and technical experts.
- First Khadi Haat of India launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in New Delhi, to held artisans earn better.
- Axis Bank launched 4th edition of Evolve, its an annual multi-city knowledge series for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers, titled Transform your Family Business into your dream company.
- 19th India International Watch and Clock Fair Samaya Bharati 2018 held in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
- Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted a ‘Day at Sea’ event for children of fishing hamlets at Frazerganj in South 24 Parganas district (West Bengal).
153. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) and Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) signed agreement worth 210 Crores INR for financing shared infrastructure of 2 large Solar Parks in Madhya Pradesh.
- It is under recent _______________ agreement between Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), World Bank & IREDA for creating common infrastructure for ultra-mega solar parks in India to achieve 100 GW solar capacity addition target by 2022.
154. ______________ government approved to provide sanitary napkins at a subsidised rate of Rs 5 to women living in rural areas.
