Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
The book “The Sleepwalker’s Dream: A Novel” has been authored by Dr. Dhrubajyoti Borah, the President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Through the book, the author traces the journey of a group of militants towards an elusive freedom and an uncertain future. It is about June, Ron and several other rebels fleeing their hideout in Bhutan after an army attack along with their injured unconscious leader, who is unlikely to survive the ordeal of their journey towards the Assam border.

Notes:
The World Bank (WB) has recently approved the $175 million loan for the national hydrology project to improve India’s ability to forecast floods and reduce vulnerability to recurring floods and droughts. The loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 6-year grace period in which no interest payments will be due. The loan will mature in 23 years. The move will help in reducing the vulnerability of many regions to recurring floods and droughts as absence of real-time ground information for the entire country creates difficulties in issuing alerts on time.

Notes:
The first fully India-made 12-coach train “Medha” has flagged off between Dadar to Borivali at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The rake can run at a speed of 110 kmph and has a capacity of 6,050 passengers and the number of seats is 1,168. Medha rake costs Rs. 43.23 crore and has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, which has installed LED lighting to reduce energy consumption. This will save energy by approximately 30-35% as compared to the existing rakes. This rake has in-built systems to minimise breakdowns during the travel.

Notes:
The ICICI bank has recently launched a mobile banking app “Mera iMobile” for rural customers that allow them to access banking services as well as information on agri services. The app is open for both bank customers as well as others and is available in 11 different languages. The list of banking services includes Kisan Credit Card, Gold Loan, Farm Equipment Loan and loans to Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The app also enables them to undertake an array of frequently used banking services from their smartphone, without using mobile internet services. Additionally, it is the first banking app to offer agriculture related information like crop-wise mandi prices of nearly 230 crop varieties across 460 mandis. It also displays taluka-wise weather update for close to 3700 talukas across and over 300 districts, aiding farmers to plan their sowing and harvesting activities conveniently and in an informed manner.

Notes:
Anshumali Shrivastava, an Indian-American Computer Scientist, has won the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s prestigious 2017 CAREER award for his research on redesigning current machine-learning processes. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science at William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, which is a private research university located in Houston, Texas.

Notes:
India has been ranked at 122nd out of 155 countries in the 2017 United Nations’s World Happiness Index (WHI), as per recently released World Happiness Report (WHR) 2017. Among the 8 SAARC nations, Pakistan is at 80th position, Nepal stood at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110 while Sri Lanka is at 120. The list is topped by Norway, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland. The rankings are based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person, healthy life expectancy with four factors from global surveys. In those surveys, people give scores from 1 to 10 on how much social support they feel they have if something goes wrong, their freedom to make their own life choices, their sense of how corrupt their society is and how generous they are.

Notes:
Veteran photojournalist Raghu Rai has been bestowed with the Life Time Achievement (LTA) award at the 6th National Photography Awards-2017 by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) for his remarkable contribution to the field. He is known for his books, Raghu Rai’s India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White. The subjects of his photographs include MS Subbulakshmi, Bismillah Khan, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Indira Gandhi, Raj Kapoor and Mrinal Sen. The National Photography Awards (NPA) is an annual event organized by the I & B Ministry to promote art, technique of photography and to encourage professional and amateur photographers from all corners of the country.

Notes:
The Bihar government has recently launched an ambitious programme to provide free WiFi facilities in colleges and universities on the occasion of Bihar Diwas. The purpose of the program is to provide free Wi-Fi facility to help youths to move ahead in life and to become digital smart. The foundation day of Bihar which is also known as Bihar Diwas (or Bihar Sthapana Diwas) is celebrated every year on March 22. It was on this day when the British carved out the state from Bengal Presidency in 1912.

Notes:
The Sri Lankan Government has recently launched a new Peace Education and Reconciliation Unit (PERU) to create awareness on reconciliation among hundreds of thousands of students.

Notes:
The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is observed every year on March 25 to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice. The 2017 theme “Remember Slavery: Recognising the Legacy and Contributions of People of African Descent” draw attention to the consequences of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, especially the ways in which the enslaved Africans and their descendants influenced and continue to shape societies across the world, including in the areas of technology and culture.