Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
In Boxing events at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, five-time world champion and Olympic Bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom won a gold medal by defeating Northern Ireland’s Kristina O’Hara 5-0 in the 48-kg final on April 14, 2018. With this, Mary Kom has become the first Indian woman boxer to win a Commonwealth Gold. Gaurav Solanki joined the top-finishers’ group in the first set of finals, when he picked up the Gold in 52 kg. Amit Panghal (49kg) and Manish Kaushik (60kg) settled for Silver medals after losing closely-contested bouts. Boxer Vikas Krishan won gold in 75 kg category. In shooting, Sanjeev Rajput won the gold medal in the men’s 50 metre rifle 3 positions event with a games record at the Belmont Shooting Centre.

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:
In Nepal, the famous Bisket Jatra is being celebrated in Bhaktapur and other parts of Kathmandu valley. The 9- day annual festival marks beginning of Nepali new year. The Jatra begins four days before the start of new year. It is believed that the festival started during Malla dynasty. There are many legends associated with the Jatra. According to a myth, whosoever marries local princess dies on the very first night of the marriage. Later a brave young man married the princess. In the night, two snakes attacked him and young man killed them. The main attraction of Bisket Jatra is chariot procession of Lord Bhairavanath. The three story chariot is taken out in the streets of Bhakatapur and there is a tug of war between people from upper and lower city to pull the chariot on their side. Thousands of visitors from various parts of Nepal and a large number of foreign tourists gather at Bhaktapur to see this thrilling event.

Notes:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued its first official forecast for 2018 southwest monsoon rains in New Delhi on April 16, 2018. The second stage forecast will be issued in June 2018. These forecasts are prepared using state-of-the-art Statistical Ensemble Forecasting system that is critically reviewed and improved regularly through in-house research activities. It accounts for about 70% of the country’s annual precipitation. This is an annual event that sets the tone not only for agricultural production but also the manner in which the economy, stock markets, inflation and interest rates would move in the year. Monsoon rains is the lifeblood for India’s farm-dependent 2 trillion dollar economy. The June-to-September rains are vital for farming. IMD is headquartered in Delhi and operates hundreds of observation stations across India and Antarctica.

Notes:
The New York Times and The New Yorker have jointly won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service on April 16 for explosive reporting that brought down Harvey Weinstein and spawned a cultural watershed on the issue of sexual harassment. The prestigious prize was awarded to the Times team led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey and New Yorker contributor Ronan Farrow, for reports that ruined the career of the Hollywood mogul and sparked movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up. Apart from this, The Washington Post won the investigative reporting prize for revealing decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct against Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama. The New York Times also shared a second prize with The Washington Post for coverage of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Each winner will receive a certificate and a $15,000 cash award.

Notes:
India has won an election to a crucial non-governmental organisation committee in the United Nations. It topped the election held by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations in the Asia Pacific States category followed by Pakistan, Bahrain and China to serve a four-year term beginning on January 1, 2019. India got the highest number of votes at 46, followed by Pakistan 43, Bahrain 40 and China 39. The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations is a standing committee of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Its main tasks include consideration of applications for consultative status and requests for reclassification submitted by NGOs and consideration of quadrennial reports submitted by NGOs in General and Special categories.

Notes:
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has launched FIEO Globallinker in New Delhi on April 17, which is a digital platform for MSME exporters to digitise their businesses and join a global community of growing businesses. FIEO stands for Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

Notes:
The first meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan has started in New Delhi on April 18, 2018. The mandate of the National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges is to provide policy directions to address countries nutritional challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action. The council is also mandated to coordinate and review convergence between Ministries and review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis. It will submit its report to the Prime Minister every 6 months. NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant and representatives of various ministries of the Central and State Governments are participating in the meeting. The POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan last month. It aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children. The programme also targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth rate.

Notes:
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched the digital platform ‘Pocket Cop Project’ in order to ensure that the police force of the state is equipped with modern day technology. Under the project, every officer in charge of the police station, Investigating Officer, PCR van and officials handling the passport verification process shall be equipped with a smartphone enabled with internet connectivity. The government has made a provision of 4900 such phones. These phones will have the information of as many as 69 lakh criminals and their crimes at fingertips. In Gandhinagar, the CM also handed over these smartphones to each and every police officer of various districts during the event.