Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

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’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:
M Sathiyavathy, an IAS officer of the 1982 batch of Union Territories cadre, has been appointed as the new member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Currntly, she is secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and has been given additional charge of the post of secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment. She has held several important positions in the central government, including first woman chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). She had been the joint director general in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Controller, ISRO Satellite Centre, Department of Space, member secretary, Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, and additional secretary and financial adviser, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

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The conference of Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of Union Territories was held at Megapode Resort, Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on April 11, 2018. The Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, VP Singh, Lt. Governor of Puducherry, Dr Kiran Bedi, Lt. Governor, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Admiral (Retd.) DK Joshi and representatives from Delhi, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu are attending the conference.

Notes:
In its latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2018, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has stated that India’s economic growth is set to rise to 7.3% in 2018-19 and grow at 7.6% further in FY20 on the back of structural reforms such as GST and clean banking. In its report, ADB has credited the Modi-government’s GST saying that growth will pick up as the new tax regime improves productivity. The report also stated that Indian economy grew 6.6 % in FY18 as it battled the lingering effects of demonetisation in 2016, businesses adjusting to GST in 2017, and a subdued agriculture. The country’s economic growth was 7.1% in 2016-17.

Notes:
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has recently approved setting up a 5000 MW capacity solar park at the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), which would be the largest such entity in the world after its completion. As per official release, the proposed solar power generation project would be set up in 11,000 hectares of land with an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. The project will contribute significantly in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of producing 175 gigawatt of electricity through renewable energy sources by 2022.

Notes:
Inspector General KR Nautiyal, on promotion to the rank of Additional Director General, has been appointed as the new Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard). He will succeed Inspector General KS Sheoran on April 12, 2018. Nautiyal has commanded all type of Coast Guard ships and was Deputy Director-General (operations and CS) at CGHQ, New Delhi, Commander CGRHQ (NE) in Kolkata and Commander CGRHQ (W) in Mumbai.

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:
The book “India’s Heritage of Gharana Music: Pandits of Gwalior” has been authored by classical vocalist Meeta Pandit. It was recently launched by politicians Jyotiraditya Scindia and Karan Singh. The book is an outcome of an emotional journey that author undertook after her elder brother Tushar Pandit died in a road accident in 1994. According to the book, Akbar’s fondness for Tansen troubled the other musicians, who looked for ways to humiliate the musician. The book also documents how the Pandit family assimilated the great music tradition from the Khans — Ustad Haddu Khan, Ustad Natthu Khan, and Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan — and sheds light on the gharana style.

Notes:
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided to scrap the quota system in government services after thousands of students marched across the country in protest against a controversial policy of setting aside jobs for special groups. The students began the protests against discriminatory quotas for government jobs, leaving scores of people injured at the Dhaka University. According to the Bangladesh government’s existing quota system, 56% of jobs in the public sector are reserved for children of freedom fighters, women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and citizens of some backward districts.