Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
The 10th edition of a biennial exhibition of weapons and military hardware “DefExpo India- 2018” has started at Tiruvidanthal, Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu on April 11, 2018. The 4-day long defence expo was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme of the expo is “India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub”, which will showcase the strengths of India’s defence public sector and uncover the country’s growing private industry. According to the Defence Ministry, over 670 defence firms including 154 foreign manufacturers are participating in the exhibition of weapons and military hardware. It is being attended by official delegations from over 47 countries including the US, the UK, Russia, Afghanistan and Sweden, Finland, Italy, Madagascar, Myanmar, Nepal, Portugal, Seychelles and Vietnam.

Notes:
In the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Indian wrestlers bagged 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal on the opening day of their competitions on April 12, 2018. Rahul Aware has won India’s first wrestling gold medal by defeating Canada’s Steven Takahashi in the men’s freestyle 57 kg wrestling final by 15-7. This was the first CWG medal of his career after he was forced to miss the Glasgow games due to injury. Beside him, veteran Olympian Sushil Kumar clinched gold in the 74 kg category after winning his match by technical superiority against South Africa’s Botha Johannes. In the Women’s 53 kg category, Babita Kumari Phogat claimed the Silver after she lost to Canada’s Diana Weicker, 2-5 in the final. Kiran clinched the Bronze in the 76 kg division following a stunning 10-0 win over Katouskia Pariadhaven of Mauritius.

Notes:
Ram Kumar (94), the noted Indian painter, has passed away on April 14, 2018. He was known for his abstract landscapes. A modernist, he was associated with the Progressive Artists’ Group comprising M.F.Husain, F.N.Souza, H.A.Gade, S.H.Raza and others. The seminal group gave a new direction to Indian art by introducing a fresh idiom. Kumar was honored with Padma Shri by in 1972 and Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1986.

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 Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is one of the rarest eco-regions of the world because it harbors vast tracts of pristine mangrove forests. The sanctuary is a part of the mangrove wetland in Andhra Pradesh and are located in the coastal plain of Krishna delta. It is in news because the four kingfisher species sighted in the sanctuary are ‘wetland dependents’. The species have been identified as White-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis), Pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), Black-capped kingfisher (Halcyon pileate) and the Common kingfisher. The birds are thriving as the sanctuary is an ideal habitation for prey.

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:
The biannual Army Commanders’ Conference, Chaired by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, has started in New Delhi on April 16, 2018. In it, the senior commanders will deliberate on specific issues to Army formations and Army as a whole at the conference. Important issues that are likely to be discussed are management of the extant security dynamics, mitigation of future security threats and enhancement of combat edge over potential adversaries. Other issues like infrastructure development for capacity enhancement along the Northern borders, review of strategic railway lines, issues related to Border Road Organization projects, etc., will be discussed in detail for planning and execution. Army Commanders’ Conference is held biannually for formulating important policy decisions through collegiate deliberations. It is an important event for planning and execution process of the Indian Army.

Notes:
The Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project is located in Sasan village in Singrauli district in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The power plant is operated by Sasan Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power. Sasan UMPP along with the coal mine is the largest integrated coal-cum-power plant in the World. It is India’s first domestic coal-based UMPP.

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:
The India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018 was held in New Delhi on April 16-17. The title of the Conference is ‘Securing Global Supply Chains through Government-Industry Partnerships towards Effective Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1540’. The Conference provided an opportunity to participants to share experiences on their export control systems and to identify legal & technical assistance, action plans & challenges in national implementation of UNSC 1540. It is hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in cooperation with Germany and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). Representatives from the Government and Industry of 39 countries, as well as experts from the UNSC 1540 Committee and UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) participated in the conference.