Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2018

Notes:
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).

Notes:
The Pi Day is observed every year on March 14 (3/14) across the world. It is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It’s an important part of the foundation of mathematics, most importantly geometry, where pi is key to equations calculating the area of a circle, A = πr2, and the volume of a cylinder, V = πr2h.

Notes:
The 105th session of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) will be hosted by Manipur Central University in Imphal from 16 to 20 March 2018. The focal theme of the ISC is “Reaching the Unreached Through Science & Technology”. The Indian Science Congress is an annual event, usually held in the first week of January. Top scientists from across the country and the world attend the event. The 104th ISC was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.

Notes:
Baskaran Adhiban from India has clinched the title in the 33rd Reykjavik Open Chess Tournament 2018 with an impressive performance that saw him win five of the nine games. He became only the second Indian after Abhijeet Gupta (in 2016) to win the prestigious Reykjavik Open.

Notes:
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) on March 13, 2018 to strengthen human resource possibility over India’s aviation industry. Under the agreement, the signatory institutions would leverage the existing infrastructure for training in India to expand the reach of vocational training in aviation disciplines. The IATA is a trade association of the world’s airlines and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Notes:
The Odisha government will collaborate with the Thailand-based Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) for strengthening its early warning services and enhancing preparedness for management of hazards in the State. The Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) and RIMES would forge a partnership in the field of drought monitoring and early warning for different natural disasters. RIEMS is owned and managed by 45 collaborating countries in the Asia Pacific and Africa Region. At present, India is chairing RIMES. In collaboration with this intergovernmental body, OSDMA can strengthen its database for more effective management of natural disasters. Odisha is particularly concerned about tsunami originating from the Andamans. Beside this, RIMES is already working with the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority.

Notes:
India has been ranked 78th among 114 on the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2018. The report titled “Fostering Effective Energy Transition”, ranks countries on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability. According to the report India has taken bold measures to improve energy access, energy efficiency, and to improve the deployment of renewable sources of energy. However, energy transition in the country will require large investments, and an enabling environment and robust regulatory frameworks to support the transition. The overall list was topped by Sweden, followed by Norway, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and UK.

Notes:
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has launched a mobile app ‘Lost and Found’ for passengers at 59 airports across India through which travellers can register complaints to recover items they lost or forgot at various airports. The app can be downloaded from the website of the Information and Technology Ministry. The main advantage of this mobile app is that the passengers can directly register complaints and get status of their complaint immediately from the airports under CISF security cover. The mobile phone application can also be used to place a request for obtaining technical consultancy provided by the force. The CISF guards 59 civil airports across the country. It is directly under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New Delhi.

Notes:
M Sukumaran (76), the well-known Malayalam writer, has passed away in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on March 16, 2018. The writer, whose works focused on the sufferings of the dispossessed, won the prestigious Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for his book ‘Marichittillathavarude Smarakangal’ in 1976. He later went on to win the award again in 1997 for Janathikam. In 2006, the writer won the Kendra (Central) Sahitya Akademi award for his short story collection ‘Chuvanna Chihnangal’. Another one of his seminal works is ‘Seshakriya’, which made into a film, and he won the State Government Film Award for Best Story in 1981. Two of his works ‘Sangha Ganam’ and ‘Unarthupattu’ were also made into feature films.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has recently released roadmaps for ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E)’ project to introduce system-wide governance transformation in school education. These roadmaps, which operate between 2018 to 2020, lay out detailed interventions which will taken by the 3 participating states – Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha – aiming to become ‘Role Model States’ in school education. To increase learning outcomes in schools across the country, NITI Aayog’s project SATH-E is promoting vocational education, skill development, teacher training and introducing technology in classrooms. Besides, the project will promote data-driven analysis to strengthen academic monitoring across schools in the country. These roadmaps present the customised, action-oriented programmes, outlining interventions at the individual, district and State level. The roadmaps were jointly prepared by NITI Aayog, the three States and the knowledge partners of the SATH Initiatives, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Piramal Foundation For Education Leadership (PFEL).