Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
Sreekumaran Thampi, the renowned Lyricist and director, has been chosen for the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award for 2017 in recognition of his sterling contributions to the Malayalam film industry. The J.C. Daniel Award, which is Kerala’s highest award in Malayalam cinema, will be presented to Thampi at the upcoming Kerala State Film Awards distribution function in Kollam. The J.C. Daniel Award, conferred by the state government annually in recognition to an individual’s contributions to Malayalam cinema, carries a purse of Rs 5 lakh, a plaque, and a citation.

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:
The Kerala football team has won the 72nd edition of Santosh Trophy Football tournament 2018 by defeating West Bengal in the final by 4-2 via penalties at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on April 1. It is their sixth Santosh Trophy Football title. The Kerala team is led by Rahul Raj in the 2018-19 season. Kerala have not won the trophy since 2005 and lost on penalties to Services in the final five years ago at home in Kochi.

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:
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:
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Mid-Term Ministerial Conference 2018 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on April 5-6 under the theme “Promoting International Peace and Security for Sustainable Development”. NAM participating states, representatives of observer states and international organizations, countries and institutions, invited as special guests, will take part in the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference. The Indian delegation will be led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The Non-Aligned Movement includes 120 states. Seventeen states and 10 international organizations hold observer status of NAM. In 2019, the Republic of Azerbaijan will host the 18th Summit of the NAM and will chair NAM in 2019-2022.

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:
Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for Railways and Coal, has launched UTTAM App for Coal Quality Monitoring. UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal (uttam.coalindia.in). The app is developed by the Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL). The purpose of the app is to provide an app for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries. UTTAM App ensures accountability, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency in coal ecosystem. It provides a platform for monitoring of sampling and coal dispatches. The App is designed with an aim to make the citizens a stakeholder in the coal ecosystem. UTTAM is an example of leveraging technology to facilitate a bidirectional channel between Coal India Limited and a common citizen. It ensures transparency and efficiency in the coal quality monitoring process and brings coal governance closer to people.

Notes:
Santosh Kumar Mohanty has been appointed a whole-time member of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period of three years. At present Executive Director in SEBI. Prior to this assignment, he was serving as Director in the erstwhile commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission. An officer from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Mohanty has earlier served in the Income Tax Department in various capacities in Kolkata, Nagpur and Mumbai.

Notes:
Chhattisgarh has bagged the ‘State of the Year’ Award under the ‘business leader’ category as part of the India Business Leadership for the remarkable increase in business and services activities in various sectors. Union Information Technology and Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad gave the award at India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) event. organised by a leading business channel. The award was received by The award was received by Chhattisgarh Revenue, Higher Education, Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Prem Prakash Pandey.