Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
Anupama Bhatnagar, the senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, has assumed charge as the new secretary of the Press Council of India (PCI) on April 2. She succeeded Vibha Bhargava. Prior to her new assignment, Bhatnagar was posted as the additional director general (news) in All India Radio (AIR).

Notes:
The 16th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting – IEF16 has started in New Delhi, India from April 10, 2018. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aim of the 3-day IEF16 is to focus on how global shifts, transition policies and new technologies influence market stability and future investment in the energy sector. The IEF16 is the largest gathering of energy ministers from across the globe, industry leaders and heads of key international organisations who will debate the future of global energy. Its 72 member countries are signatories to the IEF Charter, which outlines the framework of the global energy dialogue through this inter-governmental arrangement. Apart from them, 20 countries are also participating in this meeting as special invitees.

Notes:
Rishad Premji, the chief strategy officer and board member of Wipro Ltd, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) for 2018-19. He succeeded Raman Roy. Rishad is the son of Wipro Chairman Azim Premji. He has been a member of NASSCOM’s Executive Council and was the Vice Chairman for 2017. NASSCOM also appointed Keshav Murugesh as the Vice Chairman for 2018-19.

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:
The 2018 India Mobile Congress will be held at Aerocity in New Delhi from October 25th to 27th. It is one of the biggest marquee Mobile, Internet and Technology events in Asia, organized by Department of Telecommunications and Cellular Operators Association of India. The event will be an excellent platform for policymakers, industry and regulators to engage in meaningful deliberations to drive the future direction of this important sector. More than one thousand 300 exhibitor’s companies will participate in the exhibition at the event.

Notes:
Manika Batra has created history by becoming the first Indian woman table tennis player to win a singles gold at the Commonwealth Games. She defeated Yu Mengyu of Singapore 4-0 in the final at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 on April 14, 2018. Apart from her, Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan settled for Silver in men’s doubles. Besides guiding India to team gold, Batra had paired up with veteran Mouma Das to win the country’s maiden women’s doubles silver. Batra also claimed mixed doubles bronze in table tennis with Sathiyan.

Notes:
ITDC is an hospitality, retail and Education company owned by Government of India, under Ministry of Tourism. Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

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:
Veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra will be conferred with the prestigious Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement and filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani with Raj Kapoor Special Contribution awards of the Maharashtra Government. Dharmendra has acted in more than 250 films in over six decades and has over 100 box office hits including Bandini, Mamta, Anupama, Satyakam, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay, Chupke Chupke, Yaadon Ki Baarat, etc. His roles in action films earned him nicknames such as “Action King” and “He-Man”. Beside him, Mr Hirani is regarded as one of the most celebrated filmmakers of Hindi cinema, having made critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful films such as “Munna Bhai MBBS”, “3 Idiots” and “PK”. The lifetime achievement award carry a citation and cash reward of Rs 5 lakh while the special contribution award carry a citation and Rs 3 lakh cash prize. The state government-instituted awards will be given away at the 55th Maharashtra State Marathi Film Festival.