Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh Government has launched the Ganga Hariteema Yojana (also known as Ganga Greenery scheme) on 7th April 2018 in 27 districts of the state located on the bank of river Ganga. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has launched the scheme at Allahabad in a function organised on the bank of Sangam the confluence of rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. The purpose of the scheme includes enhancing green cover in the catchment areas of the river Ganga and to control the land erosion. Plantation will be carried out in 1 Km areas from the banks of river under the scheme. General people will also be encouraged for plantation on their private lands under ‘One Person One Tree’ slogan. A high power committee under chairmanship of Chief Minister has been set up to monitor the implementation of the scheme. The scheme will be carried out by September 16 Ozone Day of this year. Department of Forest has been nominated as nodal department for the scheme.

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:
E N Rammohan (77), a celebrated IPS officer and former director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), has passed away in New Delhi on April 8, 2018. He was known for his handlebar moustache, discipline, leadership skills, and a no-nonsense attitude that took him far in the police establishment. He was a 1965-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre and headed the BSF between December 1997 and November 2000. Rammohan was appointed head of a fact-finding probe panel by the home ministry to look into the lapses that took place during the 2010 Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh, in which 76 security were killed. He was a strong proponent of the 5th Schedule for tribal rights, and believed that the denial of land rights was what was fueling insurgency.

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:
India’s mixed badminton team has created history by clinching its first-ever gold after defeating defending champions Malaysia 3-1 in the final event at 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Cost, Australia on April 9, 2018 . Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa all won a match each to guide India power past Lee Chong Wei-spearheaded Malaysia which was winning gold since the 2006 CWG.

Notes:
India with an economic freedom score of 54.5 points has been ranked 130th in the latest annual Index of Economic Freedom released by a top American think-tank the Heritage Foundation. As per 2018 Index, India is developing into an open-market economy, but traces of its past autarkic policies remain. The Index covers 12 freedoms – from property rights to financial freedom – in 186 countries. It is a helpful tool for a variety of audiences, including academics, policymakers, journalists, students, teachers, and those in business and finance. The index is topped by Hong Kong, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Australia.

Notes:
In the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Indian wrestlers bagged 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal on the opening day of their competitions on April 12, 2018. Rahul Aware has won India’s first wrestling gold medal by defeating Canada’s Steven Takahashi in the men’s freestyle 57 kg wrestling final by 15-7. This was the first CWG medal of his career after he was forced to miss the Glasgow games due to injury. Beside him, veteran Olympian Sushil Kumar clinched gold in the 74 kg category after winning his match by technical superiority against South Africa’s Botha Johannes. In the Women’s 53 kg category, Babita Kumari Phogat claimed the Silver after she lost to Canada’s Diana Weicker, 2-5 in the final. Kiran clinched the Bronze in the 76 kg division following a stunning 10-0 win over Katouskia Pariadhaven of Mauritius.

Notes:
Veena Sahajwalla, an Indian-origin scientist in Australia, has launched the world’s first microfactory that can transform the components from electronic waste items such as smartphones and laptops into valuable materials for re-use. The modular microfactories can operate on a site as small as 50 square metres and can be located wherever waste may be stockpiled. A microfactory is one or a series of small machines and devices that uses patented technology to perform one or more functions in the reforming of waste products into new and usable resources. The e-waste microfactory that reforms discarded computers, mobile phones and printers has a number of small modules for this process and fits into a small site. The discarded devices are first placed into a module to break them down. The next module may involve a special robot for the identification of useful parts, she said. Another module then involves using a small furnace which transforms these parts into valuable materials by using a precisely controlled temperature process developed via extensive research. These transformed materials include metal alloys and a range of micro-materials.

Notes:
Marathi movie ‘Dhappa’ bagged the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration, while ‘ Ladhakh’ was declared the Best Regional Film at the 65th National Film Awards. Apart from this, Malayalam Movie ‘Aaalorukkam’, directed by V.C.Abhilash, was awarded the Best Film on Social Issues. Jayaraj was awarded the Best Direction in the Feature Film category for the movie ‘Bhayanakam’ and Nagraj Manjule won the award for the Best Direction in the Non Feature Film Category.

Notes:
At the 65th National Film Awards for 2017, the Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film Of A Director was given to the Jasari language movie ‘Sinjar’ directed by Pampally. The Best Film Critic award was given to Giridhar Jha for his writings covering vast horizon of Hindi cinema with authenticity and originality. The best Children’s film was given to the Marathi Movie Mhorkya, directed by Amar Bharat Deokar. A.R Rahman was awarded the Best Music Direction award for the movie ‘Kaatru Veliyidai’.