Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
From April 1, the petrol pumps in New Delhi started supplying ultra-clean Bharat Stage (BS) VI grade fuel (both petrol and diesel) with an aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region. With this move, New Delhi has become the India’s first city to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to BS-VI (equivalent to fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norms). The major difference in standards between the existing BS-IV and the new BS-VI auto fuel norms is the presence of sulphur. The newly introduced fuel is estimated to reduce the amount of sulphur released by 80%, from 50 parts per million to 10 ppm. As per the analysts, the emission of Nox (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars is also expected to reduce by nearly 70% and 25% from cars with petrol engines. Other cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad along with 13 major cities, including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, will also switch over to cleaner BS-VI grade fuel from January 2019. However, BS- VI fuel will be rolled out in rest of the country by April 2020.

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:
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 West Bengal government has rolled out a new scheme ‘Rupashree’ from April 1, 2018 in order to provide marriage assistance to girls coming from economically weaker families with a budgetary allocation of Rs 1500 crore. The scheme proposes to extend one-time financial assistance worth Rs 25,000 to the family of the girl whose annual income is up to Rs 1.5 lakh. Under the scheme, the woman will have to submit the application before marriage to the Local Bodies or Block Development Officer (BDO) office. The State Government will deposit Rs 25,000 to the beneficiary of the said scheme before his marriage to his bank account.

Notes:
Asia’ s largest startup ecosystem congregation “Huddle Kerala” will be held at Kovalam near the Kerala capital ‘Thiruvananthapuram’ from April 6 and 7, 2018 to provide a platform for start-ups to pitch their products and interact with a wide array of technology and industry leaders from around the world. The main focus of Huddle Kerala will be on the emerging sectors like blockchain, cryptocurrency, internet of things (IoT), gaming and e-sports, cyber security, digital entertainment, augmented reality, virtual reality, e-governance and mobile governance among other latest technologies. The initiative, organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IAMAI Startup Foundation, is to have participation from 2,000 delegates, including start-up entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders and academicians, with 40 speakers in 30 sessions.

Notes:
S. Madhavan (85), the veteran Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader, has passed away at Singampunari village in Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu on April 3, 2018. He had served in the cabinets headed by late C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi.

Notes:
Steven Bochco (74), the noted television producer and writer, has passed away in Los Angeles, California on April 1, 2018. He was known for creating the groundbreaking police drama ‘Hill Street Blues’.

Notes:
India is emerged as the 3rd most vulnerable country in terms of risk of cyber threats, such as malware, spam and ransomware, in 2017, as per latest report by security solutions provider ‘Symantec’. The list is topped by U.S., followed by China. The global threat ranking is based on 8 metrics: malware, spam, phishing, bots, network attacks, web attacks, ransomware and cryptominers. According to Internet Security Threat Report, India continues to be 2nd most impacted by spam and bots, 3rd most impacted by network attacks, and 4th most impacted by ransomware. The report also pointed out that with the threat landscape becoming more diverse, attackers are working harder to discover new avenues of attack and cover their tracks while doing so.

Notes:
The National Maritime Day (NMD) is celebrated every year in India on 5th April since 1964 to commemorate the maiden voyage of the first Indian –owned ship “SS Loyalty” sailed from Bombay to London on 5th April 1919. This was a crucial step for Indian shipping history when sea routes were controlled by the British. The theme of the 55th edition of the NMD 2018 is ‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’. The United Nations’ World Maritime Day (WMD) is observed every year on September 29 to highlight the importance of shipping safety, maritime security and the marine environment.

Notes:
The World Health Day (WHD) is observed every year on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding of World Health Organization (WHO) and to spread awareness about health and well being. As this year (2018) is WHO’s 70th Anniversary year too, the organization has appealed the world leaders to live up to the pledges they made and agreed to in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015 and for taking concrete actions to progress towards Health For All. The 2018 theme “Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere” is an indication that nations around the world are aspiring to provide higher accessibility of healthcare to their citizens.