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:
The West Bengal government has rolled out a new scheme ‘Rupashree’ from April 1, 2018 in order to provide marriage assistance to girls coming from economically weaker families with a budgetary allocation of Rs 1500 crore. The scheme proposes to extend one-time financial assistance worth Rs 25,000 to the family of the girl whose annual income is up to Rs 1.5 lakh. Under the scheme, the woman will have to submit the application before marriage to the Local Bodies or Block Development Officer (BDO) office. The State Government will deposit Rs 25,000 to the beneficiary of the said scheme before his marriage to his bank account.

Notes:
The World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) is observed every year on April 2 to recognize and support all children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The day is to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. The 2018 theme is “Empowering women and girls with autism”.

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:
Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD), has recently released INDIA RANKINGS 2018 for Higher Educational Institutions and presented awards to the institutions under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF-2018). In it, the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bengaluru has been adjudged the overall best institution in the country. Apart from this, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) – has been adjudged the best engineering college and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM – A) the best management institution. Delhi University’s Miranda House was the best college and National Law School of India University, Bengaluru (NLSIU – B) the best law school in the country. In the medical college category, AIIMS New Delhi stood first, followed by PGIMER Chandigarh and CMC Vellore. The idea behind these rankings is to promote quality in education. The aim is also encourage competition to perform better and set up new benchmarks of performance in higher education space.

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:
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 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:
In a bid to use technology for farmers’ benefit, the Tamil Nadu government has launched mobile application named ‘Uzhavan’ (farmer) app that will allow ryots to have access to 9 types of services including details about their crop insurance. It was launched by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. The app can be used by farmers to get information on farm subsidies, book farm equipment and related infrastructure and get details on their crop insurance, besides receiving weather forecast for the next four days. Palaniswami also launched the ‘Amma Bio-Fertiliser’ scheme, named after late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The initiative was aimed at better management of nature farming, and help boost and maintain soil fertility.

Notes:
The first meeting of NITI Forum for North East- a unit of NITI Aayog took place in Agartala, Tripura on April 09, 2018. The emphasis in meeting was given on Infrastructure and Connectivity. The meeting was inaugurated by Minister of Development of North East Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar. There will be main five missions on which NITI Forum will focus. These include Agriculture, Tourism, Bamboo use and ‘Made in North East’. The NITI Forum was formed to explore and formulate the framework for sustainable growth of the Northeast. It was constituted in February 2018. The secretariat for the Forum has been established in the DoNER Ministry. The Forum includes representation from all NE States, their Chief Secretaries and Secretaries of relevant Central Ministries or Departments, Directors of reputed institutions like IIT and IIM, experts and journalists have been included as members.