Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
John Isner, an American professional tennis player, has won the 2018 men’s singles Miami Open tennis tournament. In the title clash, the 14th seeded American defeated fourth-placed German Alexander Zverev, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 to win his first ever Masters 1,000 title. With this win, Isner returned to his career-high ranking of world No. 9.

Notes:
P Gururaja, who hails from Udupi in Karnataka, has clinched India’s first medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018 at Gold Coast in Brisbane, Australia on April 5. He won the silver medal in the men’s 56 kg final with a total lift of 249 kg (111 kg in snatch + 138 kg in clean and jerk). Gururaja, who is the son of a truck driver, is employed with the Indian Air Force (IAF). He recently received the Eklavya award from the Karnataka state government.

Notes:
The Global Logistics Summit (GLS-2018) was held in New Delhi on April 5-6 to improve logistics and connectivity which are vital for increasing intra-state and international trade flows. It was organised by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the World Bank Group. The Summit acts as a platform to hold discussions for global experts, academics, government officials and private sector and industry representatives. According to the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, 56 new airports will be ready for operation in the next few years.

Notes:
Subrata Bhattacharjee, an IFS officer of 1989 batch, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Serbia. Currently, he is Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

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.

Notes:
Actor Raj Kishore (85), Yesteryear Bollywood actor , passed away in Gurgaon on April 6, 2018. He played the role of one of the prisoners in Ramesh Sippy-directed “Sholay”. Some of Raj Kishore’s notable performances were in the films “Padosan”, “Deewar”, “Ram Aur Shyam”, “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”, “Karishma Kudrat Kaa”, “Aasmaan”, “Bombay To Goa” and “Karan Arjun”.

Notes:
The 8th Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific has started at Brilliant Convention Centre in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on April 9, 2018. It is co-organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD). The 4-day forum will provide an attractive Exhibition Program to public, private and startups to showcase their technology, best practices in the area of minimize material use; optimizing resource conservation, wastes minimization and recovery. The tag line of the Forum is “Mission Zero Waste” which is in line the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) of Government of India. The theme of 2018 forum is “Achieving Clean Water, Clean Land and Clean Air through 3R and Resource Efficiency- A 21st Century Vision for Asia-Pacific Communities”. The event was inaugurated by Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 10th April 2018.

Notes:
The joint military exercise “Desert Tiger 5” was recently held between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia in Dubai, UAE. The purpose of the exercise was to raise the level of performance and combat efficiency and working together between both countries based on the strategy to improve the overall ability and combat readiness of ground forces. The military exercise was implemented within the framework of the UAE leadership’s continued desire to support and create unique partnerships between both countries in all areas.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has tied up with Tata Trusts to finance the state’s first poultry company to be run and owned by tribal women. As part of the project, 300 women have been given poultry sheds and each of them would be given 400 chicks every day. After rearing them for 40 days, the poultry will be sold and the project envisages an income between Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 for each woman over a 40-day period. The state government has contributed Rs 12 crore while Tata Trusts has given Rs 3 crore to finance the project and an agreement had been signed with an NGO, Pradhan, to operate the project. This initiative would be implemented in other tribal talukas under the state’s Human Development Programme.