Top Ten Questions: ’Contributed by ‘Lakshya IAS Study Circle’, SCO 32, Phase 1, Mohali

1. Name the Indian scientist who was born on Jan 1, 1894.
2. Who is the Registrar General of India?
   
3. When was Rajinikanth awarded Padma Vibhushan?
   
4. Who is Ambassador of Vietnam to India?
5. Who is the new Foreign Secetary of India?
   
6. When was the first IIM established in India?.
7. Where is KP Jayaswal Research Institute situated? 
8. Who recently won the Ranji Trophy?
   
9. When were all listed `starred questions’ taken up was during a Session of the Upper House”
   
10. What changes has GoI brought w.r.t. Urea bags?
    

Answers

1. Satyendra Nath Bose
   Born on 1 January 1894, Bose specialised in theoretical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics and providing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate.
   On January 1, 2018 PM Modi addressing the curtain-raiser ceremony of the commemoration of professor Satyendra Nath Bose’s 125th birth anniversary pitched for using vernacular languages in promoting science communication in a “big way” to develop “love of science” in the youth.
   PM said Bose was a “crusader” for teaching of science in vernacular languages and had started a Bengali science magazine.
2. Sailesh
   On January 1, 2018 the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published with the names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore total applicants in Assam recognising them as legal citizens of India.
   Registrar General of India Sailesh shared that the rest of the names are under various stages of verification.
   The entire process would be completed within 2018.
   The application process started in May 2015 and a total of 6.5 crore documents were received from 68.27 lakh families across Assam.
   Assam, which faced influx from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC, first prepared in 1951.
3. 2016
   On December 31, 2017 accusing political parties of “looting” people, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth said he will float a new party that will pursue “spiritual politics” and vowed to contest the next Tamil Nadu Assembly election.
   He said his party, would not contest the upcoming local body elections but would field candidates in all the 234 Assembly constituencies in 2021.
   The winner of several film awards as well as Padma Bhushan (2000) and Padma Vibhushan (2016), Rajinikanth is known for his philanthropic activities and spiritual pursuit. Rajini joins the long list of Tamil actors who have taken to politics. They include iconic MG Ramachandran or MGR, his protégé Jayalalithaa, MGR’s contemporary Sivaji Ganesan, MGR’s wife Janaki and action hero A Vijaykant. And actor Kamal Haasan has said he too will take to politics.
4. Ton Sinh Thanh
   In a first of its kind, a Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Corner with over 500 books in English on various aspects of the country — history, culture, people, religion, heritage, political and socio-economic policies — was opened in the Central Secretariat Library on Dec 29, 2017. Vietnam Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh remarked "When you open a book, you open a new world....”
5. Vijay Keshav Gokhale On January 1, 2018 Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale to be appointed as the next Foreign Secretary, replacing S Jaishankar.
   Gokhale, who served as ambassador to China before his current assignment of Secretary, Economic Relations, has been appointed for a fixed term of two years.
   A 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Gokhale is currently the seniormost diplomat after Jaishankar. He will take charge upon completion of Jaishankar’s tenure on January 28.
6. 1961 at Calcutta and Ahmedabad1
   On December 31, 207 President Ram Nath Kovind has gave assent to the Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017
   The Indian Institute of Management Act, 2017, gives the IIMs powers to award degrees instead of postgraduate diplomas.
   The new law, which was passed in the Lok Sabha in July 2017 and by the Rajya Sabha on December 19, grants statutory powers to the IIMs in their running, including the appointment of directors and faculty members.
7. Patna Museum building
   Recently, a village in Sheikhpura district emerged into news that yielded potsherds, perhaps dating back to 1000 BC. Potsherds are pieces of broken ceramic pot or other earthenware that have archaeological significance.
   The village is about 120 km from the state capital. The archaeologists also found some fragmented sculptures of Buddha, Lord Vishnu and some female deities. 
8. Vidarbha
   On January 1, 2018 Vidarbha scripted a new chapter in the region’s cricket history by winning their maiden Ranji Trophy, comfortably defeating Delhi by nine wickets in the final.
9. 2002
   The last time all listed starred questions were taken up was in 2002 during the 197th Session of the Upper House.
   On Jan 2, 2018, in sharp contrast to the noisy start to the Winter Session, the Rajya Sabha set a record after 15 years by taking up all the 15 listed starred questions during the Question Hour, while 18 members spoke on issues of public importance during the Zero Hour.
10. GoI has introduced 45-kg bag of urea in place of existing 50-kg bag with a view to bringing down the consumption by 10 per cent.
    In the light of increased effectiveness of NCU (neem-coated urea), government vide notification dated September 4, 2017 has decided to introduce 45kg bag of urea in place of existing 50kg bag
    The consumption of neem-coated urea stood at 296.14 lakh tonnes in 2016-17 as against around 306 lakh tonnes each in the previous two years.
    To encourage balanced use of fertilisers, the government has made it mandatory for all the domestic producers of urea to produce 100 per cent as neem-coated urea.
    Urea production was 242.01 lakh tonnes in 2016-17. The gap between supply and demand is being met through imports.
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For more inputs please contact ‘Lakshya IAS Study Circle’ at lakshyaias.chd@gmail.com, 78372-21070, 0172-5020469 

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