Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
On 13th April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened reporting norms for the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) under which an individual can transfer upto 2,50,000 US Dollars abroad in a year. The central bank has made it mandatory for banks to file a daily report of all such transactions. In a notification, RBI stated that these daily reports will be accessible to all other banks and make the verification easier. The purpose of this move is to improve monitoring and also to ensure compliance with the LRS limits. Currently, the LRS transactions are permitted by authorised dealer (AD) banks based on the declaration made by the remitter as there is no way to verify the claim independently. Now, as per new norms, banks will be required to upload daily transaction-wise information undertaken by them under LRS. Under the LRS, Indians are currently allowed to invest overseas 250,000 a year per person.

Notes:
Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, the former Himachal Pradesh governor and Madhya Pradesh High Court judge, has been elected as the new international president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Gurugram on April 14, 2018 for which voting was held for the first time in over five decades. Kokje got 131 votes and defeated incumbent G Raghava Reddy who could muster 60 votes. The election was necessitated after the organisation’s members failed to reach a consensus on a new international president. Prior to his election to the international president, Kokje was the international vice president of the VHP. He also worked as the president of the India Development Council of RSS.

Notes:
The 29th Arab League Summit 2018 has started in Dahran, Saudi Arabia on April 15 to promote Arab joint action to address challenges facing the nation. In the annual gathering of Arab leaders, Saudi Arabia hopes to push for a unified stand against Iran. The fate of Jerusalem, as US plans to move its Embassy after declaring it the capital of Israel is also expected to dominate the Summit. Although in a long diplomatic stand off for the past nearly 10 months, both Saudi Arabia and Qatar have voiced support for the US led air strike on Syria. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai is leading the UAE’s delegation to the 29th Arab League Summit.

Notes:
The Haryana government has decided to introduce Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) and revise the syllabus and workload in 11 subjects at the under-graduation level in state universities keeping with global scenario. The subjects are economics, political science, psychology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, botany, zoology, commerce and geography. Committees comprising five to six members of the teaching faculties in each subject have been constituted. Members of these committees would meet at Kurukshetra and Rohtak on April 14 and 15. They would review the existing syllabi in the universities of Haryana, the neighbouring states as well as the model curriculum of UGC to make an assessment of the workload and evolve choice-based credit system.

Notes:
Yuki Bhambri from India has won the 2018 Santaizi ATP Challenger tennis tournament by defeating his compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan in the final of the event by 6-3 6-4 in Taipei, Taiwan on April 15, 2018. It is his first singles Challenger title of the 2018 season. Yuki earned 125 ranking points and a prize purse of 21,600 while Ramkumar got 75 points and 12,720 for his effort. With this, Yuki has now beaten Ramkumar four times in five meetings. This victory enabled him re-entered top 100 rankings.

Notes:
The World Haemophilia Day (WHD) is observed every year on April 17 to increase awareness of haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. It is an opportunity to help people with bleeding disorders live healthier, longer and more productive lives by educating and empowering them through knowledge sharing, information exchanges, education, and training. The 2018 theme is “Sharing Knowledge Makes Us Stronger”.

Notes:
Surendra Nihal Singh (89), the veteran journalist, has passed away in New Delhi on April 16, 2018. He had worked with several leading newspapers including ‘The Indian Express’ as its editor-in-chief, ‘The Statesman’ as chief editor and ‘Khaleej Times’ as editor. He was the founding editor of ‘The Indian Post’ in 1987. He was awarded the prestigious International Editor of the Year Award in New York for opposing the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. He worked as foreign correspondent in Moscow, London, the United States and Indonesia. Singh was the first correspondent allowed to represent an Indian newspaper in Pakistan after the 1965 war, the veteran editor recalled in an interview in 2013. His books include “The Rocky Road to Indian Democracy: Nehru to Narasimha Rao”, “The Yogi and the Bear: Story of Indo-Soviet Relations” and “The Gang and 900 million: A China Diary”.

Notes:
Kendrick Lamar, an American rapper and songwriter, has created history by becoming the first non-classical or jazz artist to win Pulitzer Prize for his album ‘D.A.M.N.’ in the music category. The Pulitzer board stated that the album is a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life. Lamar is known to have had a deep impact on a racially fraught America and has emerged as the bona fide King of Rap. Apart from this, Andrew Sean Greer took home the Pulitzer in Fiction for his comic queer novel “Less”. In Letters and Drama category, Caroline Fraser’s Prairie Fires won the prestigious award for Biography and Martyna Majok’s acclaimed off-Broadway play ‘Cost of Living’ won the Pulitzer for Drama. Each winner will receive a certificate and a $15,000 cash award.

Notes:
The World Bank has projected India’s growth rate at 7.3% for 2019 and 7.5% for 2020. The bank also noted that Indian economy has recovered from the effects of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The World Bank in its twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus report in Washington stated that growth is expected to accelerate from 6.7% in 2017 to 7.3% in 2018 and to subsequently stabilise supported by a sustained recovery in private investment and private consumption. In the India section of the report, it said India should strive to accelerate investments and exports to take advantage of the recovery in global growth. World Bank acknowledged that disruptions from demonetisation and events surrounding the implementation of the GST led to a setback in economic activity and a potentially larger negative effect on the poor and vulnerable.

Notes:
The United Kingdom has formally joined the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) on April 17, 2018. The announcement was made an event held at the London Stock Exchange as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 (CHOGM). With this, UK became the 62nd signatory member of the ISA. The UK’s partnership will involve providing expertise and advice to the alliance, but no monetary contributions. ISA is an inter-governmental treaty-based organisation that aims to mobilise $1 trillion in funds for future solar generation, storage and technology across the world by 2030.