GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 12, 2017

Notes:
Justice (Retd.) Mukul Mudgal, the Retired judge of Delhi High Court, has been elected as the new Chairman of FIFA Governance committee at the world football governing body’s 67th Congress in Manama. The position of the governance chief fell vacant after Miguel Maduro was fired for his role in blocking Russian World Cup official Vitaly Mutko from retaining his seat on ruling council. Justice Mudgal headed the IPL 2013 spot-fixing probe and also involved in overseeing the conduct of international cricket matches. Prior to this appointment, Justice Mudgal was the deputy chairman of the governance committee.

Notes:
The Indian Army has decided to re-introduce Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) as a “permanent feature” of its campaign against militants after a gap of 15 years. The CASO will be carried out in a major way in militancy-hit areas of Kulgam, Pulwama, Tral, Budgam and Shopian in south Kashmir. The Army had discontinued CASO following stiff opposition from the local population and after 2001 launched CASO only on specific intelligence-based inputs. The security establishment felt that CASO had alienated the local population from the armed forces due to difficulties people faced during such operations. The decision to re-introduce CASO as a major feature of the counter-terror operations comes against the backdrop of anger over the recent killing of young and unarmed Kashmiri Army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz in Shopian by militants.

Notes:
The 14th edition of United Nations International Day of Vesak has started at Colombo in Sri Lanka from May 12-14, 2017 under the theme “Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace”. The events include an International Buddhist Symposium the participation of over 400 delegates from 100 countries. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, is the chief guest for UN Vesak Day. The significance of Vesak lies with the Buddha’s teaching of cessation of suffering and universal peace to all humankind. It is a message to urge followers to do that which is good and to turn away from evil. It is a message of peace and perfect harmony between human beings and nature.

Notes:
The Haryana Government has decided to conduct a survey to provide affordable houses under ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Housing for All’ to the people living in urban areas in the state. The residents of the state living in urban areas as on June 17, 2015, would be eligible to participate in the survey. Only those applicants would be given the benefit of the scheme who would have Aadhar card, a bank account and nobody in his family have any pucca house in any locality. Those who have been benefited under any Central or State Housing Scheme would not be eligible to avail the benefit of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. The people in urban areas belonging to economically weaker sections, low income group and medium income group would be eligible for credit linked subsidy and affordable houses.

Notes:
The United States has approved $75 million high-tech chemical protective clothing for the Indian armed forces that will protect soldiers against biological and chemical warfare. The Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST) consists of 38,034 each: suits, pairs of trousers, pairs of gloves, pairs of boots and NBC bags; 854 aprons; 854 alternative aprons; 9,509 Quick Doff Hoods; and 114,102 M61 filters. The entire package also includes 38,034 M50 general purpose masks.

Notes:
Anil Kumar from India has clinched bronze medal in men’s Greco-Roman 85kg category by defeating Uzbekistan’s Muhammadali Shamsiddinov at the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championship at the KD Jadhav Indoor stadium in New Delhi. Apart from this, Jyoti won the bronze in women’s 75kg category.

Notes:
Karan Singh (59), the Ayurveda and Co-Operative Minister of Himachal Pradesh, has recently passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. He was elected from Banjar assembly constituency in Kullu district in the last assembly elections in 2012. Karan Singh was a scion of the Kullu Royal family and younger brother of BJP stalwart Maheshwar Singh, the former Raja of Kullu.

Notes:
V K Saraswat, the renowned scientist and former Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU). He succeeded former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan, who completed his term on 30th March 2017. Saraswat has been appointed for a term of five years. Currently, he is serving as the Member of NITI Aayog. According to JNU Act, the post of chancellor is a titular post.

Notes:
Vinay Mohan Kwatra, A 1988-batch Foreign Service officer, has been appointed as the next ambassador to France. Kwatra will succeed Mohan Kumar, who is retiring. Apart from having experience of dealing with the UN organisations such as International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO), Kwatra has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US. Currently, he is a joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He has also held the position of joint secretary in-charge of the counter-terrorism division in the MEA.

Notes:
The International Nurse Day (IND) is observed every year on May 12 across the world to mark the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, and also to mark the contribution of nurses towards the society. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has chosen the 2017 theme ‘Nursing: A voice to lead – Achieving the sustainable development goals” to r aise awareness both amongst the nursing profession and the general population and policy makers of what the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are and why they matter.