Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2017

Notes:
Vanaja N. Sarna, a 1980 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS), has been appointed the new chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). She succeeded Najib Shah. The CBEC is the apex body for framing policy and administrative issues related to indirect tax, and central excise duty. It works under finance ministry, which comprises of a chairperson and a maximum of six members.

Notes:
The high-level committee headed by Arvind Panagariya has been set up to examine the working of the regulatory bodies viz. Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and Central Council of Homoeopathy(CCH) and their governing legislations viz. Indian Medicine Central Council (IMCC) Act 1970 and Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act 1973 respectively, for suggesting suitable reforms. Panagariya is the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog. The AYUSH systems of medicine are regulated by two statutory regulatory bodies viz. CCIM and CCH. These regulatory bodies regulate education and practice of AYUSH systems of medicine through its subordinate regulations and also maintain central registers of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy.

Notes:
Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu from India has won the 2017 Women’s singles India Super Series tournament by defeating reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the final by 21-19, 21-16 at Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi. Beside this, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark clinched the men’s singles title of the tournament by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou in straight games.

Notes:
Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Men’s Singles Miami Open Tennis Tournament by defeating Rafael Nadal in the final by 6-3 6-4 in the final at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, United States. Apart from this, Johanna Konta from Great Britain has won the 2017 Miami Open – Women’s Singles title by defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final by 6–4, 6–3.

Notes:
The Ntangki National Park is a wildlife park located in Peren district of Nagaland. Among the creatures that inhabit the park are the rare hoolock gibbon, golden langur, hornbill, palm civets, black stork, tiger, white-breasted kingfisher, monitor lizard, python and sloth bear. The name “Ntangki” is derived from the Zeme dialect of the Zeliangrong tribe.

Notes:
Kishori Amonkar (84), the renowned Hindustani classical vocalist, has recently passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She was considered one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and is an innovator of the Jaipur gharana. Amonkar received a plethora of awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 1987 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2002.

Notes:
Japan has officially recognized bitcoin and digital currencies as legal money with effect from April 1, 2017, which will help the integration of digital currency into the legacy banking system through regulation. Thus, as per new law’s implementation, Bitcoin exchanges will also come under additional regulatory scrutiny. The recognition of cryptocurrency as a legal tender also means the applicability of regulations governing banks and financial institutions to crypto-currency exchange platforms. They will be required to comply with strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, along with annual audits. Other requirements include meeting the stated capital and cyber security requirements to ensure consumer protection.

Notes:
Ajey Jhankar (57), the noted author and filmmaker, has recently passed away. He was well-known for his novels such as Sarkarnama and Drohpar. The hollywood movie ‘Singularity’ by filmmakar Roland Joffe was based on Jhankar’s novel ‘Drohparv’. He was the co-screenwriter for the film. Jhankar was known for his marketing venture ‘Market Missionaries.

Notes:
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli has been honoured as the Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for 2016. Apart from this, Kohli has already been declared Wisden India Almanack’s Cricketer of the Year for the second time in its 2017 edition. In 2016, Kohli amassed 1215 Test runs at an average of 75.93, 10 ODI appearances fetched him 739 runs at 92.37, while he scored 641 T20 International runs at 106.83. Apart from him, Ellyse Perry from Australia has been named for Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World for 2016. The Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World is an annual cricket award selected by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

Notes:
Ikutaro Kakehashi (87), the Roland founder and digital music pioneer, has passed away on April 1, 2017 in Japan. The Japanese engineer was best known for founding Roland Corporation in 1972 as well as his roles in the development of Roland drum machines and the MIDI standard. He invented a series of drum machines and synthesisers such as the TR-808, TR-909 and TB-303 that have been used by some of music’s biggest names since the mid-1970s, from Prince to Kanye West, New Order to Dr Dre.