Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
Upendra Tripathy, an IAS officer of Karnataka Cadre, has been appointed as the full-time Interim Director General (IDG) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The purpose of the ISA is to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource rich countries where the global community including bilateral and multilateral organizations, corporates, industry, and stakeholders can make a positive contribution to assist and help achieve the common goals of increasing use of the solar energy in meeting energy needs of prospective ISA member countries in a safe, convenient, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner. The headquarters of ISA is located at National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gwalpahari, Gurgaon.

Notes:
The 12th edition of Special Olympics World Winter Games has started at Graz and Schladming in Austria from March 14 and will continue till March 25, 2017. Over 2,600 athletes from 105 nations are taking part in the event. From India, the team of 89 differently-abled sports persons of the Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) is participating in the competition. So far, Indian team has won 18 medals in the ongoing 2017 Olympics World Winter Games. The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, organized by Special Olympics.

Notes:
Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan has launched an integrated grievances redressal platform “MoP&NG e-Seva” across social media (SM) for all queries and grievances relating to Oil and Gas Sector. This portal will be a single point interface for all customers to reach out to the government for addressing their feedback or grievances related to Oil & Gas Sector on social media. The platform will also deliver 24 x 7 support for consumers.

Notes:
The West Bengal football team has won the 71st edition of the Santosh Trophy Football tournament-2017 for the 32nd time by defeating Goa in the final at Bambolim, Goa. With this win, West Bengal ended a six-year wait having last won the title in 2011.

Notes:
Tanushree Pareek from Rajasthan has become the first woman field officer in the Border Security Force (BSF), the country’s largest border guarding force. She was inducted into the BSF after a convocation ceremony in the BSF academy at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district. Primarily, the BSF is tasked to guard two of the most sensitive Indian frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh while it is extensively deployed for conducting anti-Naxal operations and rendering other duties in the internal security domain.

Notes:
The Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Khammam district of Telangana. The wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of 635.40 square kilometers with the picturesque Kinnerasani Lake with densely forested islands in the middle of the sanctuary. This sanctuary got its name after the river Kinnerasani. This river divides the sanctuary and meets Godavari. The fauna found in this sanctuary are Panthers, Chinkara, Chousinghas, Sambar, Cheetal, Gaurs, Hyena, Jackals, Wild Boars, Tigers, Sloth Bear, and Black Bucks. Tourists can also spot a number of birds like Jungle Fowl, Quails, Partridges, Peafowl, Nuktas, Spoonbills, Teals, and Doves.

Notes:
The category-4 cyclone “Debbie” has recently hit north-east Australian coast with the speed of 263km/h and caused major damage, torrential rain and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes. landfall in Queensland, northeastern Australia. This powerful cyclone has left at least 45,000 homes without power and damaged buildings. More than 25,000 people were asked to evacuate their homes ahead of predictions that the cyclone would be Queensland’s most damaging since 2011.

Notes:
Anthony Lianzuala, a 1982-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer, took over as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in New Delhi on May 1, 2017. With this, he became the first person from the North-Eastern Region to hold this position. The CGA is the apex Accounting Authority of the Central Government and exercises the powers of the President under Article 150 of the constitution for prescribing the forms of Accounts of the Union and State Governments on the advice of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

Notes:
Ueli Steck (40), a renowned Swiss rock climber and mountaineer, has passed away on April 30, 2017 in an accident at a camp near Mount Everest in Nepal. At the time of his death, he was trying to climb the 25,791-foot Himalayan peak of Nuptse in preparation for an ambitious ascent of Everest. Steck was known as “Swiss Machine” for his rapid ascents of some of the world’s most imposing peaks. He was best known for his speed-climbing, including setting several records for ascending the north face of the Eiger, a classic mountaineering peak in the Bernese Alps that he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without using a rope.

Notes:
The South Asia satellite “GSAT-09” will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on May 5, 2017 to boost the development and economy of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations in the region. It will be launched into the orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota using a Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-II launch vehicle. The 2,230 kg satellite has 12 Ku-band transponders. It is cuboid in shape and built around a central cylinder has a mission life of over 12 years. The satellite will enable full range of applications and services in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting applications viz. Television, Direct-to-Home (DTH), Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs), Tele-education, Telemedicine and Disaster Management Support. The beneficiaries of GSAT-09 are as follows: Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Maldivies.