Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
The 7th Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS – 2018) will be held in Moscow, Russia from April 4. The 2-day conference will be focused on the defeat of terrorists in Syria. The Indian delegation will be led by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This will be her first visit to Russia in her capacity as the Defence Minister. During her 3-day tour, she will meet her Russian counterpart Army General Sergei Shoigu and other senior leaders. The visit will provide an opportunity to reinforce the traditional warm and friendly relations that exist between the two countries with particular reference to military technical cooperation.

Notes:
M.L. Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Akademies) of Ministry of Culture, has been appointed the protem Chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi. On the recommendation of the Minister of Culture, the President has appointed him with immediate effect. He will continue to hold the office till a regular Chairman is appointed. He succeeded CS Krishna Setty. The new chairman is likely to be appointed within 15 days.

Notes:
Mithali Raj, Indian women’s cricket team captain, has been adjudged ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ at the Telangana Sports Journalists Association annual awards for 2017 in Hyderabad on March 31, 2018. Beside her, Ace shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and P V Sindhu bagged the best senior male and female athletes. Former Indian cricketer V V S Laxman presented ‘best coach of the year’ award to Gopichand, who received this award for the second time in a row. Triple Olympian and former national Hockey player N Mukesh Kumar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award at the event.

Notes:
C V Rajendran (81), the renowned Tamil film director and producer, has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on April 1, 2018. Some of his few memorable films are Kalatta Kalyanam, Sumathi En Sundari and Raja starring Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa and Ponoonjal.

Notes:
The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has set up a high-powered committee to examine the process by which the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts examinations. The panel, headed by former HRD Secretary VS Oberoi, will suggest measures to make the process secure and foolproof through use of technology. The committee will submit a report by May 31 to the Ministry. The move comes following the alleged leak of the Class 10 Mathematics and Class 12 Economics papers. The Ministry recently announced re-examination of the Class 12 Economics paper on April 25. It, however, decided against conducting the Class 10 Maths re-test.

Notes:
The World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) is observed every year on April 2 to recognize and support all children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The day is to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. The 2018 theme is “Empowering women and girls with autism”.

Notes:
Debjani Ghosh, former managing director of Intel South Asia, has been appointed the new President of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). She succeeded R Chandrashekhar. A big propagator of gender diversity and equal representation in corporate India, Ms. Ghosh was the first woman to lead Intel India and Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT). She now gets the rein of Nasscom.

Notes:
India has been ranked 37th out of 125 countries in global startup ecosystem in 2017, according to latest report released by global startup ecosystem map Startupblink. The Startupblink is a global startup ecosystem map with tens of thousands of registered startups, coworking spaces, and accelerators. The list was topped by the United States, followed by the United Kingdom. The rankings, in association with ANSYS Startup Program, are based on many thousands of data points gathered over the last four years on StartupBlink’s global startup map, including data collected by its local representatives in more than 70 chapters around the world. The study targets three primary audiences: entrepreneurs, municipal development offices, and national governments. Entrepreneurs can utilise the rankings to determine if a particular city has the resources needed to support their goals.

Notes:
The 9th India-Japan-US trilateral meeting was held in New Delhi on 4 April 2018 at the Joint Secretary/Director General/Assistant Secretary level. The dialogue was aimed at exploring practical steps to enhance cooperation in the areas of connectivity and infrastructure development, counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, maritime security, maritime domain awareness and Humanitarian Assistance And Disaster Relief (HADR). The trilateral talks were held in accordance with the directions received from the foreign ministers of the three countries, who had met in New York on 18 September 2017 on the margins of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Notes:
Julius Maada Bio has recently taken oath as the new President of Sierra Leone in the capital Freetown on April 4, 2017. Mr Bio is a former soldier who briefly ruled Sierra Leone in 1996. He defeated ruling party candidate Samura Kamara, an economist by training. President Ernest Bai Koroma has stepped down after serving two five-year terms. Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s known for the white-sand beaches lining the Freetown Peninsula.