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:
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:
Star weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu from Manipur has clinched the first gold for India at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG-2018) with a power-packed performance in the women’s 48 kg weightlifting category in Gold Coast, Australia on April 5. In a remarkable performance, Chanu smashed the Commonwealth Games record in snatch, pulling off clean lifts in all her three attempts (80kg, 84kg and 86kg). Chanu lifted a total of 196 kg (86 kg in Snatch + 110 kg in Clean and Jerk) to win the gold for country.

Notes:
As per latest survey conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) across 53 airports, the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) has been declared as the cleanest and best-maintained airport in the country under the 1.5 million to 5 million passenger handling airport category. Airport director VV Rao received the award during the 23rd annual day celebrations of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in New Delhi on April 1, 2018.

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:
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:
The Centre, Maharashtra Government and the World Bank have signed a $420 million project to help small and marginals farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the state. The project will help in increasing climate resilient practices in agriculture and ensuring that farming continues to remain a financially viable activity for them. The project will benefit over 70 lakh farmers cultivating 30 lakh hectares of land in 15 districts. The Maharashtra Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture will be implemented in rural areas largely dependent upon rain-fed agriculture. The project will take up a series of activities at the farm and watershed level and implement micro irrigation systems, expand surface water storage and facilitate aquifer recharge. This would help to a more efficient use of scarce water resources. By adopting climate-resilient seed varieties with short maturity and drought resistance, the project will help the farmers in reducing risks of climate-related crop failure and increase their income.