Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

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:
Rosemary DiCarlo, the US diplomat, has been appointed as the head of UN political affairs, one of the most high-profile positions at the United Nations (UN). With this, DiCarlo has become the first woman to head this position. She succeeded Jeffrey Feltman. DiCarlo also served as deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs and director for United Nations affairs at the national security council in Washington.

Notes:
Kollam Ajith (56), known for his villain roles in Malayalam movies, passed away at Kochi , Kerala on April 5, 2018. He made his silver screen debut with Padmarajan’s 1983 film ‘Parannu Parannu Parannu’. While the actor was mostly seen in villainous and supporting roles, he played the lead role in 1989 film ‘Agnipravesham’. Some of his best-known films are Yuvajanotsavam, Nadodikkattu, No.20 Madras Mail, Nirnayam, Aaraam Thampuran, Olympiyan Anthony Adam and Valliettan among others. Besides his stint in the Malayalam film industry, the actor also starred in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He also helmed Malayalam films Calling Bell and Pakal Pole.

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:
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:
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.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will carry out one of its biggest combat exercises named ‘Gaganshakti 2018’ from 8th April to check its operational preparedness with a focus on dealing with any possible security challenges from China and Pakistan. The two-week long exercise will involve almost the entire assets of the IAF including its fighter squadrons and the main objective of the day and night drill will be to check war waging capability of the force. The first phase of the exercise will focus on northern borders and second phase will be carried out to check preparedness in case of a war-like situation along the western borders. It will also focus on flexible use of airspace, joint maritime air operations with the Indian Navy, joint operations with the Indian Army, simulated combat search and rescue for effective extraction of downed aircrew behind enemy lines, mass casualty evacuation from highway among others.

Notes:
Niranjan Thomas Alva (78), a Supreme Court lawyer and husband of Congress leader Margaret Alva, passed away in Bengaluru on April 7, 2018. Son of Joachim and Violet Alva, freedom fighters and the first couple in the Indian Parliament, Alva was also a former Director of the State Bank of India. He had played a key role in expanding the footprints of the All India Catholic University Federation as its president across the country in late 1950s. As a Supreme Court lawyer, one of the landmark litigations he led resulted in air hostesses in Air India getting the same rights and privileges as their male counterparts, including full retirement benefits and the right to bear children.

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.