Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

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Marathi movie ‘Dhappa’ bagged the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration, while ‘ Ladhakh’ was declared the Best Regional Film at the 65th National Film Awards. Apart from this, Malayalam Movie ‘Aaalorukkam’, directed by V.C.Abhilash, was awarded the Best Film on Social Issues. Jayaraj was awarded the Best Direction in the Feature Film category for the movie ‘Bhayanakam’ and Nagraj Manjule won the award for the Best Direction in the Non Feature Film Category.

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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.

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

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The 7th edition of Home Expo India 2018 will be inaugurated by Smriti Zubin Irani, the Union Minister of Textiles and Information and Broadcasting, at India Expo Centre and Mart in Greater Noida on April 16, 2018. The 3-day expo, organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), is on three segmented categories shows comprising Housewares, Textiles and Furniture. This will be one of leading business-to-business shows where more than 650 Indian exporters will be displaying a wide range of tableware, home textiles, kitchenware, houseware and bathroom accessories. International buyers, leading manufacturers and exporters will share the same platform and will exchange various ideas related to this industry. This event will showcase the finest artistic elements and craftsmanship in harmony with innovative designs and latest products.

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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.

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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.

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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”.

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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.

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The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2018) has started in London, United Kingdom with theme ‘Towards a Common Future’ from April 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in the event on 19th and 20th of April. The biennial event has brought together delegates from 53 Commonwealth nations. The focus will be on ensuring that the Commonwealth is responsive to global challenges and delivers a more prosperous, secure, sustainable and fair future for all its citizens, particularly its young people.

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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.