Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

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:
India is now the second-largest mobile phone producer in the world after China, as per information shared by Indian Cellular Association (ICA) with the Government of India (GoI). ICA referred to data available from market research firm IHS, China’s National Bureau of Statistics and Vietnam General Statistics Office. According to the data shared by ICA, annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017. With this, India replaced Vietnam to become the second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017. With the rise in mobile phone production, imports of the devices in the country also reduced to less than half in 2017-18. The Fast Track Task Force (FTTF), a body under the ministry of electronics and IT, has set a target to achieve around 500 million mobile phone production in India by 2019, with value estimated to be around $46 billion.

Notes:
Sloane Stephens, a US professional tennis player, has won the 2018 women’s singles Miami Open tennis tournament by defeating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in the final by 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on April 1, 2018. It is her first Miami Open tennis title.

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:
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 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), often called Summer Davos, will be held at Boao, a coastal town in the southern island province of Hainan from April 8 to 11 with theme ‘Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity’. It is modeled after the World Economic Forum (WEF) held annually in Davos, Switzerland. It has its fixed address in Bo’ao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing. The BFA is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large.

Notes:
The joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise ‘Chakravath 2018’ is organised by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Kerala government at Kochi Airport. The exercise is conducted by the Southern Naval Command from April 5 to 8. The highlight of the 4-day disaster management exercise is Skill Demo, which was conducted in the Mattancherry Channel off the BTP Jetty. The skill demo showcased the capabilities and prowess of the Armed Forces, as well as all state agencies, in tackling an emergency using all available resource.

Notes:
The Kamuthi Solar Power Project is a solar park spread over an area of 2,500 acres in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu. The project was commissioned by Adani Power. With a generating capacity of 648 MW at a single location, it is the world’s sixth largest (as of 2018) solar park.

Notes:
India’s first high-speed electric locomotive has been flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Madhepura Electric Locomotive Factory in Bihar on April 10, 2018. It has a 12000 horsepower (HP) engine with a maximum speed of 110 km per hour. The first big Make-in-India project is developed & completed in collaboration with French firm Alstome. As per Indian Railways & Alstome pact, 800 such trains will be manufactured in the country over a period of 11 years. The Rs 20,000-crore project includes the Rs 1,300 crore cost for setting up the factory at Madhepura and two loco maintenance depots at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra), beside building 800 locos. The average cost of each locomotive is estimated to be Rs 25 crore. With this induction, India will join an elite list of countries, including Russia, China, Germany and Sweden, that have 12,000 HP and above capacity electric locomotives.

Notes:
The World Homoeopathy Day (WHD) is observed every year on April 10 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Homoeopathy founder Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated a scientific convention on the World Homoeopathy Day (WHD 2018) in New Delhi on April 10. The theme of the 2-day convention is “Innovate: Evolve, Progress: Exploring Science since 40 years”. On this occasion, Ministry of AYUSH awards relating to Homoeopathy for Life Time Achievement, Best Teacher, Young Scientist and Best Research paper will be conferred. Council is signing MoUs with PG Homoeopathic Colleges on this Day to support the development of research infrastructure in an effort to link education with research. The convention will pay tributes to Dr Hahnemann, on his 263rd birth anniversary. Homoeopathic researchers, practitioners, students, industrialists as well as representatives of various homoeopathic associations are participating in the event.