Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched the 2nd edition of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan under which students from 750 higher educational institutions from across the country will adopt villages and visit them to get acquainted with lifestyle of people there and the problems faced by them. The ministr advised the students to involve local village people at every stage of problem identification and solvinyg issues relating to health, cleanliness, waste management, plantation, financial inclusion, women and child development. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, the institutions have been selected on a Challenge Mode and the scheme has been extended to 750 reputed Higher Educational Institutes, both public and private of the country.

Notes:
India’s first-ever nationwide conference on the archaeology, anthropology and sociology of food will be held in Mumbai, Maharashtra from on May 5 and 6, 2018. The conference titled “ArchaeoBroma” is being touted as India’s first-ever national meet on “food as culture”. It will be organised by the India Study Centre Trust (INSTUCEN Trust) and the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (CEMS) of the University of Mumbai. Topics like concepts in food studies will focus on creating an academic framework for examining food from point of views of history, archaeology and sociology.

Notes:
Mario Abdo Benitez, who belongs to the ruling Colorado Party, has won the 2018 presidential election in Paraguay by defeating Efraín Alegre with 46.46% of the votes to 42.73%. The new President and Vice-President will take office on 15 August 2018 and will leave the office in August 2023.

Notes:
On April 26, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of the NITI Aayog has launched the Atal New India Challenge, which aims to support innovators to create products/solutions based on advanced technologies in areas of national importance and social relevance through a grant-based mechanism. Under the challenge, grants of up to Rs 1 crore and mentorship will be given to the winning ideas. AIM will invite prospective innovators, MSMEs and start-ups to design market-ready products, using cutting-edge technologies or prototypes. The focus areas include climate-smart agriculture, smart mobility, predictive maintenance of rolling stock, and waste management. Applicants showing capability, intent and potential to productize technologies will be awarded grants up to Rs 1 crore. This grant will be further supplemented by mentoring, handholding, incubating and other support as needed at various stages of commercialisation, while generating wider deployment for the product.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has entered into a legal agreement with the World Bank for a flexible financing arrangement to accelerate research towards early development for biopharmaceuticals. A Statement issued by the government said the mission has been approved at a cost of 250 million dollars for five years with 50 per cent funding through the World Bank Loan. The aim is to make India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products. The agreement was executed between the project implementing agency, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, a PSU of Department of Biotechnology, Department of Economic Affairs Ministry of Finance and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on behalf of World Bank.

Notes:
On April 29, Pawan Chamling has created history by becoming the longest serving chief minister in India. He surpassed the record of former communist ruler of West Bengal, Late Jyoti Basu. Chamling became the chief minister of Sikkim on 12th December 1994 and has ruled the tiny Himalayan state ever since. He is also the president of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). Chamling, who also writes poetry, joined politics in 1973 and was elected to the Sikkim assembly for the first time in 1985. The assembly elections will be held in Sikkim in 2019.

Notes:
Rafael Nadal, a Spanish professional tennis player, has lifted his 11th Barcelona Open tennis title on April 29, 2018 and extended his record of 46 consecutive sets won on clay. In the final, he defeated Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas by 6-2 6-1. With this, Nadal also achieved a number of records, having achieved 400 career wins on clay. He became the only player with 400 or more career wins on both clay and hard.

Notes:
Singing legend Asha Bhosle has been honoured with the Lifetime 26th P C Chandra Puraskaar 2018at the Science City auditorium.in Mumbai, Maharashtra on April 29, 2018. The award is a tribute to the founding father of the P. C. Chandra Group, the late Shri Purna Chandra Chandra. It carries an honorarium of Rs 10 lakh which is tax exempted.

Notes:
The book “My Journey from Marxism-Leninism to Nehruvian Socialism” has been authored by C H Hanumantha Rao, who is former Planning Commission and Finance Commission member. Mr Rao is presently one of the most creative thinkers, social activist, and distinguished economist in India. The book has been launched by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A period, on which Professor Rao does not comment on much, that is the period of 1975 Emergency, which was imposed by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But it is quite clear from this book that he was not very happy with Emergency and the suspension of human rights and civil rights in the country.

Notes:
On April 29, the 2018 International Buddhist Conference was held in Lumbini, the birth place of Gautama Buddha. It was organised as part of 2562nd Buddha Jayanti celebrations. The basic purpose of the conference was to disseminate teachings of Gautam Buddha and spread the messages of nonviolence, brotherhood, co-existence, love and peace to the international community. Representatives from more than 20 nations, including India, reputed archaeologists, historians, Buddhist gurus and scholars, participated in the conference. The 2-day conference, organised with the theme ‘Lumbini Nepal: The birthplace of Lord Buddha and the fountain of Buddhism and world peace’, concluded with a 10-point Lumbini Declaration 2018, which includes issues such as interfaith dialogue, infrastructure development, connecting Buddhist attractions in Nepal and India, and implementing the Greater Lumbini Area Master Plan.