Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2018

Notes:
Nadiya Shafi, a video reporter from Srinagar, has won the 2018 Martha Farrell Award for Excellence in women’s empowerment. The award is in recognition of Nadiya’s commitment towards gender equality and leading gender discussions clubs in her hometown defying patriarchal norms. Beside this, the ‘best organisation for gender equality’ award went to Maharashtra-based Resource and Support Centre for Development (RSCD) for sustained efforts towards promoting inclusion of women in political processes across 30 districts of Maharashtra. The award is instituted in the memory of Dr. Martha Farrell, who was killed in Kabul in a terrorist attack in 2015 while leading a gender training workshop for the Aga Khan Foundation. It carries a cash prize of Rs 1.50 lakh and is co-sponsored by Rizwan Adatia Foundation (RAF) and Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), and supported by Martha Farrell Foundation (MFF).

Notes:
The World Intellectual Property Day (WIPD) is observed every year on April 26 to highlight the role of intellectual property rights, such as patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and copyright, in spurring innovation and creativity. The 2018 theme is “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity”.

Notes:
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been awarded the 2018 National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018 in the category ‘Top R&D Institution/Organisation for Patents and Commercialisation’. The award was handed over by Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu to mark the 2018 World Intellectual Property Day (WIPD). The CSIR has been ranked 9th amongst 1,207 government institutions, with an overall global ranking of 75 covering 5,250 institutions. The CSIR was established in 1942. It runs 38 laboratories and 39 field stations throughout the nation, with a collective staff of over 12,000 scientists and scientific and technical personnel. Although, it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860. 

Notes:
Indu Malhotra, a renowned arbitration expert, has become the first woman lawyer to be directly promoted as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC). She took oath of office and secrecy as Supreme Court judge in New Delhi on April 27, 2018. With Malhotra joining the bench, the strength of the Supreme Court is now 25, against the sanctioned strength of 31, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). In 2007, Ms Malhotra, was only the second women to be appointed a senior advocate by the apex court, three decades after Leila Seth made the history. In 1989, Justice M Fathima Beevi became the first woman to be appointed as a judge of the apex court. Thereafter, Justice Sujata V Manohar, Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai made it to the top court as judges.

Notes:
The Dalmia Bharat Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Tourism Ministry to take up Red Fort (Delhi) and Gandikota Fort (Andhra Pradesh) under the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project. By signing the contract, Dalmia Bharat has become the first corporate to be part of the initiative. It will look after the operations and the maintenance of these heritage sites for the next five years. The ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project is a unique endeavour by the Ministry of Tourism, which envisions in developing monuments, heritage and tourist sites across India to enhance their tourism potential and cultural importance. The adoption will allow the corporate to construct, landscape, illuminate and maintain activities related to provision and development of tourist amenities. It will also include various basic and advanced amenities such as public conveniences, clean drinking water, and cleanliness of the monument among others. The group will also introduce other key amenities for the visitors like App based Multi lingual Audio-Guide, easy accessibility to the differently-abled visitors.

Notes:
Sitanshu Yashaschandra, the Gujarati poet, playwright and academic, has been selected for the 2017 Saraswati Samman for his collection of verses titled ‘Vakhar’. The award is presented by the KK Birla Foundation, a literary and cultural organisation that also gives the Vyas Samman for Hindi and Bihari Puraskar for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan. It is the highest recognition in the field of Indian literature in the country and carries a citation, a plaque and award money of Rs 15 lakh.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has signed a MoU with the British Council to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation. With this MoU, the British Council hopes to expand its existing work in the state, where in recent times, it has trained more than 100,000 teachers benefitting around five million learners. The areas of potential collaboration include developing further initiatives to improve English teaching and enhance employability skills in schools and training institutes, building capacity in higher education and research and further co-operation on inspiring hundreds of thousands of people in the state through arts and culture.

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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:
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.

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The multi-nation counter-terrorism exercise “Peace Mission” will be held at the Ural mountains of Russia in September 2018, which will take place under the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The purpose of the exercise will be to enhance counter-terror cooperation among the 8 SCO member countries. It will be for the first time since Independence that India and Pakistan will both be part of a military exercise, though the armies of the two nations have worked together in UN peace keeping missions. The drill will also see the resumption of bilateral military exercise between India and China, which was suspended in 2017 following the 73-day Doklam standoff. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became full members of the bloc last year. With expansion of the grouping, SCO now represents over 40% of humanity and nearly 20% of the global GDP.