GK & Current Affairs Quiz: March 04-05, 2018

Notes:
India’s shooter Manu Bhaker from Haryana won the gold medal in 10 metre Air Pistol Women event at the 2018 ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico on March 4. She shot 237.5 points to bag top honour at the ongoing event. Meanwhile, in the men’s 10-metre Air Rifle event, Ravi Kumar won a Bronze, which was his first World Cup medal. India has so far bagged 4 medals – two gold and two bronze at the event. A total of 404 athletes from 50 National Olympic Committees are participating in the in the 12-day competition, which will have 15 medal events including three mixed team events. India has fielded a 33-member squad.

Notes:
The 19th edition of FICCI Frames has inaugurated by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smiriti Irani in Mumbai, Maharashtra on March 5, 2018. The 3-day global convention covering the entire gamut of Media and Entertainment Industry will attract not only the industry stakeholders from across the world but also the government policy makers from India and abroad. The event will have more than 35 knowledge sessions by experts besides having over 200 high profile speakers from across the world. This year a first edition of Content Market has been added with over 70 buyers for a curated slate of new Indian Films. A special screening facility has also been set up to introduce festival programmers and key buyers to selected new Indian films. It is attended by nearly 2000 Indian and 800 foreign delegates encompassing the entire universe of media and entertainment.

Notes:
Frances McDormand has won the best actress award at the 90th Academy Awards 2018 for her performance as a grieving mother in movie “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, at the award ceremony held at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 5. It is the second time McDormand has picked up the best actress statuette, following a 1996 win for her performance in Fargo. Beside her, Gary Oldman won the Oscar for the Best actor for portraying the role of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the period drama in movie ‘Darkest Hour’. Allison Janney took home the coveted Best Supporting Actress award for ‘I, Tonya’, while Sam Rockwell won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Notes:
The Odisha government has launched a programme “Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas (Our Village, our development)” to reach out to the people in rural areas and involve themselves in the developmental activities. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has flagged off mobile video vans for ‘Ama Gaon Ama Vikas’ programme that will move across the State to highlight various welfare schemes at villages in the state. Through these Wi-Fi enabled latest technology video wall vans, people can directly send their grievances to the Chief Minister’s Office at the Secretariat in Bhubaneswar. This initiative will help people in solving their grievances instantly.

Notes:
Prafulla Das (91), the renowned litterateur, has passed at Rajkanika in Kendrapara district of Odisha on March 3, 2018. He was a recipient of the prestigious “Sarala Award” for his achievement in the literary field. ‘Banhimana’, the biography of freedom fighter Malati Chaudhury, brought him the Sarala Award in 2014. Das had written a number of books on the history of India’s freedom struggle and the role of Odisha.

Notes:
The Punjab Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with e-Governance Foundation (e-Gov) of Nandan Nilekani regarding the managing of electronic governance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) throughout Punjab. With this, a total of 67 services would be provided online within a span of one year under 12 modules — that are property tax, water and sewerage management, complaints and grievance, licensing, fire service, verification, birth and death, ULB web portal, mobile application, state and ULB dashboards, payroll and financial accounting.

Notes:
For the first time, India has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign partners — Russia & Bangladesh — for civil nuclear cooperation. The MoU will be helpful for cooperation in construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna, Bangladesh. This will be first ever nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. It was signed in Moscow by deputy director general of Rosatom (Russia’s Alex civil nuclear body) Nikolay Spassky, ambassador of Bangladesh in Russia SM Saiful Hoque and Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran. The Rooppur project is the first initiative under an Indo-Russian deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries. This will also be the first time Indian companies will be able to participate in a nuclear power project abroad. India is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and hence cannot participate directly in construction of atomic power reactors. The Nuclear Power Cooperation of India Limited (NPCIL) will play a key role in building a nuclear power plant on foreign soil with the proposed supply of equipment and material for the power station being built by Russia in Bangladesh.

Notes:
Viswanathan Anand, the five-time world champion, has won the 11thTal Memorial Chess tournament (rapid section) 2018 with a score of 6.0/9 in Moscow on March 4. The win came after an easy final round draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel. . The trophy adds to Anand’s world rapid title won in Riyadh over two months ago. The Tal Memorial Rapid is a 10-player single round-robin taking place in the Museum of Russian Impressionism in Moscow. The ten top players were competing for a $130,000 prize fund, with $25,000 for 1st place.

Notes:
Vinod Kumar Omprakash has clinched bronze in men’s 70kg freestyle at the 2018 Asian Wrestling Championships at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Also, defending champion Bajrang Punia won bronze in men’s 65kg freestyle on March 3. Earlier, in the tournament, Navjot Kaur scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the senior continental championship as she clinched the yellow metal in the 65kg freestyle category. Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik won a bronze in the 62kg freestyle category. With this, the medal haul includes one Gold, one Silver and six Bronze medals.

Notes:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the noted an Indian cricketer, has become a brand ambassador of gaming platform Dream11 on March 5, 2018. Dhoni, who had led the country to a famous triumph in the inaugural World T20 Championship in 2007, would be the new face of the gaming platform’s multi-channel marketing campaigns and brand engagement activities. Dhoni captained the Indian team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. Currently the gaming platform has a user base of 2 crore sports fans playing “fantasy cricket, football, kabaddi and NBA.