1 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V The world’s largest government funded health care programme to be announced in the 2018-19 budget for India - ; Ayushman Bharat It aims at benefiting 10 crore poor fami- lies by providing coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The current Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the 2018-19 bud- get of India on 01.02.2018. V Who is handling the portfolio of trans- port in the present Kerala cabinet? ; A.K. Saseendran 2 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V What is the theme of the world wetlands day for the year 2018? ; Wetlands for a sustainable urban fu- ture World Wetlands day - February 2 V Which welfare department in Kerala in- troduced the ‘we care’ project which aims to develop individual beneficiary targeted care and support system? ; Social Justice Department V Which city will host the 2018 Paralympic Winter games? ; PyeongChang (in North Korea) V In which city is the first Khelo India school games held? ; New Delhi The Khelo India School Games opening ceremony was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indira 3 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. The event will highlight the country’s sporting talent and its potential to the world. Anu Kumar of Uttarakhand grabbed the first gold medal of the Khelo India School Games in 1500 metres. V Who has recently been appointed as the ambassador of India to the Republic of Angola? ; Srikumar Menon Capital of Angola - Luanda V Who has recently taken charge as the Di- rector of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)? ; S. Somanath V In which country has George Via been appointed as the president? ; Liberia 4 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Who has won the Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer award for communal harmony in- stituted by the Kozhikode-based Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity? ; K.P. Ramanunni V Name the high performance computer system to be lauched by India to improve India’s weather forecasting. ; Mihir It has been launched by the union min- istry of earth science. V Name the online market platform to be launched by the ministry of Commerce & Industry to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government. ; Government e-Marketplace 3.0 (GeM 3.0) 5 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Name the third Scorpene class subma- rine of India to be launched by the In- dian Navy. ; INS Karanj V The initiative to be launched by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Infor- mation Technology of India to provide adolescent girls and women, an easy ac- cess to affordable sanitary products is ; Stree Swabhiman V In which state in India is the Asia’s larg- est drip irrigation project situated? ; Karnataka The Ramthal project is the largest drip irrigation project in Asia. V Who has recently been appointed as the Director General of Sports Authority of India? ; Neelam Kapoor 6 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Who has been appointed as the Chef-de- Mission for the 21st Commonwealth Games in 2018? ; Vikram Singh Sisodia The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Australia. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) - Narinder Dhruv Batra V The Keralite who has recently been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award for the year 2018 is ; P. Parameswaran (Director of Bharatiya Vichar Kendra) The second highest civilian honour of In- dia - Padma Vibhushan The awards – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are announced on the eve of the Republic Day in every year. 7 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Which South Indian music director has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan for the year 2018? ; Ilaiyaraaja V Name the first yoga instructor of Saudi Arabia who has recently been given the Padma Shri award for the year 2018. ; Nouf Marwaai V Name the tribal woman from Kerala, who has prepared 500 herbal medicines from memory and has helped several 8 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 people to be bitten by snakes and insects, has been awarded the Padma Shri award for the year 2018. ; Lakshmikutty V Which day is observed as the Martyr’s day (Shaheed diwas) in India? ; January 30 The date January 30 was chosen as it marks the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in 1948, by Nathuram Godse. V Which city has hosted the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in 2018? ; New Delhi V Name the expedition for the circumnavi- gation of the globe on INSV Tarini by In- dian Navy’s women naval officers. ; Navika Sagar Parikrama 9 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Who has been awarded India’s highest peacetime military decoration posthu- mously in 2018? ; Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala Ashok Chakra is the highest peacetime military decoration of India. V Who has recently won the Guptan Nair award for the year 2018? ; V.S. Sharma V Who has been awarded the Dr. Sukumar Azhikode Tatwamasi award instituted by Tatwamasi, an online collective of writers? ; M.P. Veerendrakumar V Who has been selected for the Kerala State Akshaya Oorja Award for his life- time contribution for energy conserva- tion for the year 2017? ; R.V.G. Menon 10 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Who was defeated by Roger Federer for his sixth Australian Open Grand Slam tournament? ; Marin Cilic Roger Federer has become the first player to won the most number of men’s Grand Slam singles titles. V Who has recently been selected for the chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)? ; Usha Ananthasubramanian She is the first woman chairman of In- dian Banks’ Association (IBA). V Which country will host the ICC Women's World Twenty20 in 2018? ; West Indies V Who wrote the book ‘Dilli Meri Dilli: Be- fore and After 1998’? ; Sheila Dixit (Former Kerala Governor 11 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 and Delhi CM) V Which is the first metro city in India to have a floating market? ; Kolkata V Which country has joined India to re- lease the first ever set of commemora- tive postage stamps on the theme of an- cient architecture to mark their long term friendly relationship? ; Vietnam Capital of Vietnam- Hanoi V Which day is observed as the World Lep- rosy day? ; January 28 World Leprosy Day is annually observed around the world on the last Sunday of January. National Voters’ day - January 25 National Tourism day - January 25 12 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 National Girl Child day - January 24 V Which day is celebrated as the indepen- dence day or national day of Australia? ; January 26 V Which word has been chosen as the Hindi word for the year 2017? ; Aadhar V Which country is the world’s second largest food producer under Severe Hunger Levels? ; India India ranked 100th position among 119 countries on Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2017 report. V Which day is observed as the Interna- tional Customs day? ; January 26 13 JAN. 24 TO FEB. 2, 2018 V Name the first indigenously developed vaccine from India to be pre-qualified by World Health Organisation (WHO). ; Rotavac The Rotavac vaccine protects against childhood diarrhoea caused by the rotavirus V Where has India’s first national park for differently abled people been inaugu- rated? ; Hyderabad (in Telangana) V Name the first Indian to win an interna- tional medal in skiing. ; Aanchal Thakur (from Himachal Pradesh) V In which state will the second Film and Television Institute of India be set up? ; Arunachal Pradesh India’s first Film and Television Institute was establish ed in Pune..