Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2018

Notes:
The world’s longest sandstone cave named Krem Puri has discovered near the village of Laitsohum in Mawsynram area of East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. With a length of 24,583 metres, Krem Puri was discovered back in 2016 but the actual length of the cave was obtained by the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association (MAA) during one of its recent expeditions. Krem Puri is over 6,000m longer than the current listed sandstone cave in the world, Cueva El Samán, (18,200m) in Venezuela. The cave system has fossils of dinosaurs, especially the Mosasaurus, a giant reptile that lived 66-76 million years ago.

Notes:
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has recently launched the first of its kind initiative titled ‘Videsh Aaya Pradesh ke Dwaar’ in Hyderabad, which is a key centre for Telugu and Urdu media. The purpose of the initiative is to create a pool of media professionals interested in foreign policy and guide them on connecting with the MEA. The initiative involves MEA’s engagement with the regional media based in different cities across India who have carved their own space and have a unique and wide readership profile. The event was attended by around 40 Editors and representatives from the main media organisations based in Hyderabad.

Notes:
The South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF), a London-based organisation, has received the Frederick Pincott Award for 2017 from the Indian High Commissioner, Y K Sinha for promoting Hindi cinema in Britain for the last 18 years. The institution has been active in boosting original research and books on Indian films, also inviting and honouring filmmakers from India, along with documentary film making and producing classic silent films with live music at the British Film Institute (BFI). The SACF has been doing commendable work for nearly two decades to promote Hindi and regional Indian cinema in the UK and as a result has served the cause of dissemination of the Hindi language. SACF Director Lalit Mohan Joshi stated that the institution will continue exploring Hindi cinema as it would launch a new six-week course at the BFI that will look into the history of Indian cinema through literature. The SACF was set up in London in January 2000 by Joshi, along with film archivist P K Nair, film critic Derek Malcolm and social historian-researcher Kusum Pant Joshi.

Notes:
India Under-16 team has won the 2018 U-17 Jockey Cup International Youth Invitational Football tournament by defeating hosts Hong Kong in the final by 4-2 on March 25, 2018. For India, Bekey Oram netted twice in the first half. The other two goals came through Rohit Danu and Lalrokima in the second session. This was India’s third consecutive victory in as many days. They had earlier defeated Chinese Taipei (4-0) and Singapore (3-1). The tournament was an Under-17 event where India fielded their Under-16 national team. The Indian team have already qualified for the AFC Under-16 Finals from where the top four teams will make it to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

Notes:
Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines , has inaugurated Saras Aajeevika Mela at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The SARAS Aajeevika Mela 2018 in New Delhi is an endeavour of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission. It aims to provide a national platform and an opportunity to the rural women producers to showcase their products and seek buyers, either individuals or bulk buyers for sale nationally or internationally. As part of the 2018 mela, 700 women from 28 states are selling their products in over 350 stalls in the Mela. The Ministry has also released a directory of the products of all the women who will be showcasing their products in the Aajeevika Mela 2018.

Notes:
The Department of Posts under Ministry of Communications has launched Cool EMS Service between India and Japan, which will come into force from 29.03.2018. It is one-way service from Japan to India which allows customers in India to import Japanese food items for personal use which is allowed under Indian regulations. Initially, Cool EMS Service will be available in Delhi only. Food items will be carried by Japan Post in special cool boxes containing refrigerant to preserve the quality of the food items and addressee will collect them from Foreign Post office, Kotla Road, New Delhi in-person or through a messenger in the prescribed time frame. All other features like track and trace, etc of Express Mail Service (EMS) will be available for Cool EMS service as well.

Notes:
Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of 55770 fully covered tribal habitations with the safe drinking water in the country followed by Odisha 52427 , Jharkhand 53476 numbers of habitations. This information was given by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jastwantsinh Bhabhor in Lok Sabha on March 28, 2018. Beside this, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) has informed that under the ‘National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) Scheme, 10% of the total allocation of funds is earmarked to be used for the supply of drinking water to Scheduled Tribe (ST) dominated habitations. States have been directed to take special care for implementation of its scheme / programme in tribal areas and progress thereof is monitored through online integrated management information system (IMIS) of MDWS. The status of availability of drinking water to tribal habitations is available in public domain at www.indiawater.gov.in/IMISReports/.

Notes:
The Murrum Silli Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Sillari River, a tributary of the Mahanadi River. It is located in Dhamtari District of Chhattisgarh. It is one of the most prominent architectural marvels in Chhattisgarh.

Notes:
The first mega food park of Rajasthan has inaugurated by Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal at Roopangarh village near Ajmer. The Food Park is set up at an investment of Rs 113.57 crore and will benefit around 25 thousand farmers in Ajmer and neighbouring districts. Center has given the Rs 50 crore subsidy for this project. The mega food park would attract an additional investment of about Rs. 250 crore in about 30 food processing units in the park and to a turnover of about Rs 500 crore per annum. The Park is expected to provide employment to around 5 thousand persons. Rajasthan is the fourth largest producer of food grains in India and leader in mustard, guar seed, coriander, groundnut, fennel, soybean, gram, and oilseeds.

Notes:
The Rangit Dam is a run-of-the-river power project on the Ranjit River, a major tributary of the Tista River, in the South Sikkim district of Sikkim. The dam is 45 metres high concrete gravity structure of 100 metres length. The reservoir created behind the dam has a storage capacity of 1,175,000 cubic metres. The average annual power generation from the 60 MW (3×20 MW) project is 340 GWh with firm power of 39 MW.