Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
The ‘Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting – 2018’ under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has started in Guwahati, Assam on April 18, 2018. The team is led by the Chairman and Transport Minister of Rajasthan, Yunus Khan, and transport ministers of various states are its members. In total 24 states are participating in the two-day programme. The meeting will mainly focus on the following agenda: frame a National Road Safety Code with the objective to reduce fatalities and road accidents by 50% by 2020; improving road accident victims’ assistance infrastructure; strategies for road safety advocacy programmes; harmonization of motor vehicles taxes across different states; strategies for improving the inter-state passenger and goods transport, harmonization of permit conditions and permit fees across the states, etc.

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.

Notes:
Bhimsain (81), the veteran filmmaker and animation pioneer, has passed away in Mumbai on April 17, 2018. Born in 1936 in Multan (modern-day Pakistan), Bhimsain obtained his diploma in Fine Arts and Classical Music from Lucknow University. In 1970, he made his directorial debut with his first animation short “The Climb”, which earned him the Silver Hugo Award in the Chicago Film Festival. ‘Ek chidiya, anek chidiyaan’ is one of the most popular songs from animation film ‘Ek Anek Ekta’, which he made with Vijaya Mulay in 1974. A versatile artiste who enriched the medium of both television and films with his contribution, Bhimsain was primarily known for his work in the world of animation during the golden period of Doordarshan. He also directed and produced several animation and ad films such as ‘Na’, ‘Ek-Do’, ‘Fire’, ‘Munni’, ‘Freedom is a Thin Lie’, ‘Mehman’, ‘Kahani Har Zamane Ki’ and ‘Business is People’. He is best known for his film “Gharaonda” and animation short films like “Ek Anek Ekta”.

Notes:
The Tilaiya Dam is a concrete gravity dam build across the Barakar River at Tilaiya in Koderma district of Jharkhand. It has a maximum height of 30.2 metres above the river bed. The dam has a catchment area of 984 square kilometres comprising mainly forests, pastures, cultivated lands and waste lands. The annual rainfall in the area is 127 cm. It was inaugurated on 21 February 1953. It has a power generation capacity of 2 x 2 MW.

Notes:
The World Liver Day (WLD) is observed every year on April 19 to build awareness and understanding how important the liver is for our body and how liver ailments can be treated. Liver is a unique organ in human body and has a special capacity of regeneration. It has been seen that even 75% of liver can be safely removed without any untoward consequences because of this capacity of regeneration. The liver is the second largest organ and is a key player in our body’s digestive system. Everything we consume passes through the liver. It fights infections, removes toxins, controls cholesterol, regulates blood sugar, make proteins and releases bile to help digestion. As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), the liver diseases are the 10th most common cause of death in India. Hence, to take care of the liver, one needs to adopt a healthy lifestyle and have a balanced diet of grains, proteins, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and fats. The 2018 theme is ‘Riding New Waves in Liver Diagnosis, Staging & Treatment’.

Notes:
Aditi Rao Hydari has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award 2018 for the Best Leading Lady (Critics Award) for her memorable performance in ‘Bhoomi’. The award ceremony is scheduled on April 21, 2018, at St. Andrews Auditorium in Mumbai. It will be attended by producers, directors, distributors and exhibitors among others from the film fraternity.

Notes:
Senior journalist T K Rajalakshmi has been elected the new president of the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), while Jyoti Malhotra and Shobhna Jain were declared vice-presidents of the media body. The IWPC, which was launched in 1994, is a reputed association of women journalists. It was set up to support women journalist in their professional work, in enhancing their knowledge and skills and to provide a forum for networking. The purpose of the organisation is to create a robust media network by making women’s voices and bylines more visible.

Notes:
The regional conference on “Urban Development: Technological Solutions and Governance Challenges” has started in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on April 19, 2018. The conference is a lead-up event to the 3rd Annual Meeting of AIIB scheduled to be held on 25th and 26th June, 2018 in Mumbai. The 2-day conference is organized by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Gujarat Council along with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), an autonomous research organization under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The focus will be on capacity building, informed decisions, proper planning, recycling and reuse of resources among others.

Notes:
The Facebook (FB) page of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been ranked as the top ranked Facebook pages of Government bodies, ministries and political parties in India. Facebook released the data regarding the popularity of Chief Minister’s Facebook pages and it is based on interactions on the platform which includes total reactions, shares and comments. In this category Yogi Adityanath’s Facebook page is at first position while Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje’s Facebook Page is on second position and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s Page is on third rank. It shows the popularity of UP CM as he is the most sought after person on social media platform.

Notes:
The 2018 Global Malaria Summit was held alongside the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London, United Kingdom on April 18 to make game-changing commitments towards beating malaria at a time when efforts to end the preventable disease had stalled. The summit expected the world leaders to renew their financial and political commitments to continue the fight against malaria, which is showing signs of fighting back. Malaria cases rose to 216 million globally in 2016, five million more than a year ago. The summit featured collective commitments worth over $4.1 billion dollars from governments, private sector, philanthropists and international organisations. There was no India representative to participate in the summit because there is no India commitment.