Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
Indian Navy has recently launched Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS) at Rajali Air Station in Tamil Nadu. The aim of IAAMS is to modernize the meteorological infrastructure of the nine Naval Air Stations (NAS). IAAMS undertakes automatic and continuous recording of relevant weather parameters that are vital for accurate weather forecasting. It has a special alarm feature that alerts the duty staff during abnormal change of weather parameters that may affect safe flying operations. The system can also provide automatic dissemination of routine weather reports as per standards followed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to other air stations and Air Traffic Controller (ATC) towers without human intervention.

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:
Dr. Sanjay Pratihar, a scientist at Tezpur University, has been chosen for the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal for the Young Scientist Award for the year 2017 for his excellent contribution to multi-metal complexes, theoretical understanding, selective sensing of Hq2+ions and important applications in agriculture. The award, which consists of a bronze medal, a certificate and cash award of Rs. 25,000, will be given to him during INSA’s anniversary meeting scheduled in December 2017. The award of an Academy medal to a Young Scientist shall be made in recognition of notable contributions to any branch of science or technology, recognised by the Academy, on the basis of work carried out in India.

Notes:
The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has recently attended the 8th Convocation of the Lovely Professional University (LPU) at Phagwara, Punjab on May 2, 2017. The LPU is a semi-residential university college in North India created under the Punjab State Private University Act 2005 and recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of UGC Act 1956. LPU offers around 200 programmes and courses at diploma, undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. The university has more than 30,000 students graduating every year.

Notes:
T C A Anant, India’s Chief Statistician and MOSPI Secretary, will launch the new series of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with a base year 2011-12 on May 9, 2017 with an aim to map economic activities more accurately. The new data is expected to provide a more realistic and reliable growth in production. Currently, the IIP is calculated on base year of 2004-05. The IIP gives a broad outlook on output of various types of goods like basic, consumer and capital ones, which helps in gauging the level of economic progress and investments in the economy. The other leading indicators – Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Value Addition (GVA) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) are already on the base year of 2011-12. The Wholesale price index (WPI) is also in process to be shifted to the new base year.

Notes:
In an annual “Asian Development Outlook” economic report released by Asian Development Bank (ADB), India’s GDP growth is predicted at 7.4% in FY 18 (2017-18). The report states that the growth rate will continue to expand to 7.6% in the successive year FY 19 (2018-19). India had grown 7.1% in the previous fiscal year FY 2016-17). As per ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada, the reforms like the Goods and Services Tax and the new bankruptcy law will make it easier to do business in India. Apart from this, the 50th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors has started in Yokohama, Tokyo from May 4 to 7, 2017. The theme of the meeting is ‘Building Together the Prosperity of Asia.’

Notes:
India’s first-ever private sector small arms manufacturing plant has set up at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh in a joint venture with Israel. The purpose of the plant is to supply world class weapons to the armed forces in sync with the India’s defence indigenisation programme. The plant is a joint venture between Indian defence conglomerate ‘Punj Lloy’ and Israel Weapon Systems (IWS), which will produce four products — X95 carbine and assault rifle, Galil sniper rifle, Tavor assault rifle and Negev Light Machine Gun (LMG). The weapons will be assembled based on 100% transfer of technology.

Notes:
Adolph Gustav Kiefer (98), the oldest-living Olympic champion, has recently passed away in Wadsworth, Illinois. He was the first man in the world to swim 100-yard backstroke in under one minute. Kiefer was also an inventor and innovator of new products related to aquatics competition.

Notes:
The 22nd edition of Asian Athletics Championship will be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, which has been scheduled to be held from July 1 to 4, 2017. Recently, the Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik has unveiled the logo and mascot of the championship. The logo depicts an athlete crossing the finishing line with historical tourist attractions of Odisha in the backdrop, while “Olly Turtle” has been declared the mascot of the Championship that represents the famous Olive Ridley sea turtle. The mascot personifies qualities like tactful planners and being cautiously wise. More than 700 athletes from around 45 Asian countries will participate in 42 sports of the tournament.

Notes:
The Bollywood actress Konkona Sen Sharma has won the best actress award for “Lipstick Under My Burkha” at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) 2017. She also bagged the best director award for her debut film “A Death in the Gunj” at the award ceremony. The others who grabbed awards at the 17th annual extravaganza included K Kaladharan (Best actor) for Malayalam film Ottayaal n Paatha (A Narrow Path), Shubhashish Bhutiani for Mukti Bhawan (Best Film), An Insignificant Man (best documentary) and Malayalam film, Kammatipaddam, was honoured for the screenplay. Onir’s film “Aaba” was declared the best short film at the festival.