Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
The Navegaon National Park is located in the Gondia district of Maharashtra. It is a popular forest resort in the easternmost part of Maharashtra and was built in the 18th century. It is home to number of fishes, 209 species of birds, 9 species of reptiles and 26 species of mammals which includes Tiger, Panther, Jungle cat, Small India Civet, Palm Civet, Wolf, Jackals, Bisons, Sambars, Nilgais, Chitals, Wild boars, Sloth Bears, and Nathan Lewis.

Notes:
The Sakewa festival of Rai Community has recently celebrated in Sikkim as a tribute to Mother Nature. The fest is also known as Bhoomi Puja or Chandi Puja or worship of land. This festival is marked with the performing of puja where prayers are offered to the Supreme Power for Peace and Protection and for the well-being of all the living and non-living things of the universe. Apart from this, Buddha Purnima is also celebrated in Sikkim as the day marked the birth of Gautam Buddha and also the day on which he attained Nirvana under the Mahabodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. The people visited monasteries and listen sermons across the state. Most monks have spent the day reading scriptures before the statue of the Buddha.

Notes:
The Indian Army has decided to re-introduce Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) as a “permanent feature” of its campaign against militants after a gap of 15 years. The CASO will be carried out in a major way in militancy-hit areas of Kulgam, Pulwama, Tral, Budgam and Shopian in south Kashmir. The Army had discontinued CASO following stiff opposition from the local population and after 2001 launched CASO only on specific intelligence-based inputs. The security establishment felt that CASO had alienated the local population from the armed forces due to difficulties people faced during such operations. The decision to re-introduce CASO as a major feature of the counter-terror operations comes against the backdrop of anger over the recent killing of young and unarmed Kashmiri Army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz in Shopian by militants.

Notes:
The 2017 Arctic Energy Summit (AES) will be held in Helsinki, Finland from September 18-20, 2017. It will be hosted by Institute of the North and Finland Ministry of Economy and Employment. The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues. The 2017 Summit will address energy in the Arctic as it relates to small and off-grid community energy solutions, oil and gas development, renewable energy, etc.

Notes:
Bandaru Dattatraya, the Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, will lead the Indian delegation to the 2017 G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meet, which is scheduled to be held at Bad Neuenahr in Germany on May 18-19, 2017. Dattatraya will outline India’s recent initiatives for the welfare of its workers including those related to employment promotion, social security, Maternity benefit and child labour. The G20 meet will discuss various topics on labour, migrants and youth employment. A G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration is likely to be adopted at the end of the meeting, which will be presented to the Summit scheduled on 7th-8th July at Hamburg, Germany.

Notes:
Reema Lagoo (59), the veteran actress of film and TV, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on May 18, 2017. She was best-known for her roles as mother in Bollywood movies such as “Hum Saath Saath Hain”, “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Kal Ho Na Ho”, “Hum Aapke Hain Koun”, etc. She was also known for starring in the TV serials Tu Tu Main Main and Shriman Shrimati. Her last screen appearances were in the Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali and TV show Naamkaran.

Notes:
The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is observed every year on May 17 to mark the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention (ITC) and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The purpose of the day is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. The 2017 theme “Big Data for Big Impact” focuses on the power of Big Data for development and aims to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, often unstructured data into actionable information in a development context.

Notes:
Chris Cornell (52), the renowned American musician, singer and songwriter, has recently passed away at Michigan, United States. He was best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock band “Soundgarden” and as lead vocalist and songwriter for the group “Audioslave”.

Notes:
The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) is observed every year on May 22 to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The 2017 theme “Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism” provides an opportunity to raise awareness and action towards the important contribution of sustainable tourism both to economic growth and to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Notes:
The World Metrology Day (WMD) is observed every year on May 20 to mark the signing of the Metre Convention on May 20, 1875. The Convention set the framework for global collaboration in the science of measurement and in its industrial, commercial and societal application. The 2017 theme is “Measurements for transport”.