Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2018

Notes:
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the research body of the health ministry, has been awarded the International Kochon Prize 2017 for its contribution to the national programme in Tuberculosis research. The ICMR through its TB Consortium has accelerated the efforts for research and development on the disease in the country. The TB consortium is working with public and private institutes, to guide the country’s research efforts towards the development of point-of-care diagnostics, shorter treatment regimens and an effective vaccine for Tuberculosis. The Kochon Prize is given by the Kochon Foundation, a non-profit foundation registered in the Republic of Korea. It comprises an award of USD 65,000. The headquarters of ICMR is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
The first regional conference on ‘Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) for Urban Areas – Opportunities and Challenges was held in Kolkata, West Bengal on March 13, 2018. The conference was jointly organized by Ministry of Finance, AIIB, ASSOCHAM and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). Before the 3rd annual meeting of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to be held in Mumbai from June 2018, eight such regional conferences will be held on the issues relating to infrastructures development, sustainable infrastructure, mass rapid transportation system, port and coastal infrastructure, urban development and the like in eight different cities of India.

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The Jhanor-Gandhar Thermal Power Station is a gas-based power plant located at Urja Nagar, in Bharuch district of Gujarat. It is run by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

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The Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) was inaugurated by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on March 14, 2018. The theme of the 2-day conference is “Challenges to Policing in 2020 – How is Cyber Space shaping our approach to Cybercrime and Terrorism, how do we perform within it and take advantage of it”. The conference is mainly focused on holding discussions about the growing interest of various terrorist or organized groups and radical elements in exploiting the Cyberspace and its advanced technologies for their various heinous crimes and nefarious designs. The IACP is the world’s largest organization of Police and law enforcement executives that is highly regarded for its role in identifying and responding to changing needs of the law enforcement community.

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KL Rahul has been named as the ‘Cricketer of the Year’ in the 6th edition of Wisden India Almanack. Beside this, Shantha Rangaswamy, India’s first woman superstar, has been inducted into the Wisden India Hall of Fame alongside Erapalli Prasanna. Shantha was the first lady to captain the Indian women’s team. The Almanack pays a tribute to India’s women cricketers, with a wonderful cover picture of celebration at the World Cup. With over 900 pages of essays, commentary, statistics, portraits, and images, Wisden India Almanack is a joyful ride through the entire last season. The magazine also provides insights into the future challenges that are to come.

Notes:
Juan Martin del Potro from Argentina has won the Indian Wells Masters Tennis tournament 2018 by defeating Roger Federer in a thrilling final by 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 in California on March 18, 2018. Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion, was vying for a record sixth title in California, but it was Del Potro who clinched his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy. Del Potro also became the first player to beat Federer this year.

Notes:
Defending champion Purva Barve from India has clinched the Women’s Singles (Under-19) title at the Israel Junior Badminton tournament 2018 held in Rishon LeZion, Israel on March 17. She won the long drawn battle against third seeded and top-ranked Russian Anastasiia Pustinskaia in three sets 21-19, 19-21, 21-13. The title is her first in 2018 and third overall. Earlier she won the Israel Junior 2017, Italian Junior International 2017 apart from a bronze at the Russian Junior White Nights 2017.

Notes:
India and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement that will enable them to share earth observation data from each other’s satellites. The pact was inked in Bengaluru by Philippe Brunet, Director for Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence, on behalf of the European Commission, and by Scientific Secretary, PG Diwakar. The Copernicus programme provides a wide range of applications like climate change, land, ocean and atmosphere monitoring as well as support in forecasting, management and mitigation of natural disasters. Under this arrangement, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will share data from its earth observation satellites. The European Commission will provide India with free, full and open access to the data from the Copernicus Sentinel family of satellites using high bandwidth connections from data hub to data hub. This will provide both the sides, the data on climate change, weather forecasting and natural disasters.

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The first-ever National workshop on Poshan Abhiyaan has started at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi on March 20, 2018 to implement the campaign in a fast track mode across the country. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is organising the day long workshop in which all states and union territories are participating. The workshop will provide a complete orientation on the campaign to provide handholding in using the softwares involved and to augment the convergence with different Ministries in implementing the campaign for improved Nutritional outcomes. POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on March 8, 2018. It has been set up with a three year budget of Rs 9046.17 crore commencing from 2017-18. It aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children. The programme also targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth rate.

Notes:
The World Sparrow Day (WSD) is observed every year on March 20 to highlight the declining population of the bird due to modern infrastructure, pollution by microwave towers and pesticides and lesser green spaces. It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world.