Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
The capital of Bangladesh “Dhaka” is the world’s most crowded city with a population density of 44,500 people per square kilometre, released by World Economic Forum (WEF), citing UN Habitat data. According to UN Habitat data, of the top 10 most densely populated cities in the world, six are in Asia, three are in Africa and one is in South America. India’s financial capital Mumbai, home to 31,700 people per square kilometre has acquired second place, where as Kota in Rajasthan with 12,100 people per square kilometre was ranked seventh. Others in the list include Medellin in Columbia (3rd), Manila in Philippines (4th, 14,800), Casablanca in Morocco (5th, 14,200), Lagos in Nigeria (6th, 13,300), Singapore (8th, 10,200) and Jakarta in Indonesia (9th, 9,600).

Notes:
The Indo-Thailand Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) “Siam Bharat 17” table top exercise has held at Chiang Mai, Thailand from May 22 to 26 May 2017 between the Indian Air Force and Royal Thailand Air Force (RTAF). The 11-member IAF contingent is led by Group Captain Sucharu Rai VM. This is second such exercise to be conducted between the two Air Forces. The aim of the bilateral exercise is to evolve SOPs for planning and executing relief missions during unforeseen natural calamities like Tsunami, earthquakes, cyclones, floods etc. The objective is to enhance interoperability between both the Air Forces, while conducting combined air operations triggered by a crisis. The exercise would assist in laying down procedures and establish decision support system at various stages of relief operations.

Notes:
The 2017 World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC) has started at Dusseldorf, Germany on May 29 with the Qualification matches. The main draw will start from May 20. Top-ranked Indian in the world, Achanta Sharath Kamal will lead the 8-member Indian squad. The team also includes Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, reigning national champion Madhurika Patkar, Manika Batra and Mouma Das. It will be the 54th edition of the competition, and hosted by Germany for the seventh time.

Notes:
Gregory LeNoir Allman (69), an American musician, singer, keyboardist and songwriter, has recently passed away at Georgia in United States on May 27, 2017. He was the pioneer of southern rock and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band.

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C A Bhavani Devi from India won the gold medal in the sabre event of the Tournoi Satellite Fencing Championship held at Reykjavik in Iceland on May 27, 2017. She beat Sarah Jane Hampson of Great Britain in the final by 15-13. With this, Bhavani Devi became the first Indian to win a gold medal in an international fencing event.

Notes:
Padmalaya Nanda from Odisha will represent India at the 2017 Little Miss Universe beauty pageant competition, which is scheduled to be held in Georgia, United States from May 31. She will compete against 15 other contestants from around the world for the title of Little Miss Universe. Beside this, she will also lead India in the 2017 Little Miss World contest in Greece.

Notes:
The construction of the world’s largest optical telescope has started in northern Chile, which is expected to begin operating in 2024. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being built by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and will have a main mirror that is 39m in diameter. The telescope will be positioned on top of Cerro Armazones – a 3046-metre long mountain Chile. It will tackle a wide range of scientific challenges, including probing Earth-like exoplanets for signs of life, studying the nature of dark energy and dark matter, and observing the universe’s early stages to explore humans’ origins.

Notes:
The first-ever women television channel “Zan TV (or Women’s TV)” has started in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 30, 2017 with a staff of all female presenters and producers. The purpose of the women TV channel is to highlight the rights of Afghan women, improve their status and ensure their equity with men in the conservative society. It is being seen as a groundbreaking step for women’s rights, in a male dominated country which is struggling for peace. Media entrepreneur Hamid Samar is the founder of Zan TV.

Notes:
India has been ranked 120th among 131 countries in women workforce, as per recently released World Bank (WB)’s India Development Report (IDR). As per the report, the participation level has been dropping since 2005, despite 42% women are graduates. The report states that only 27% of women of the age of 15 or older are working or actively looking for a job. Three of every five prime working age Indian women (26-45 years) are not economically active, meaning they neither work on a farm, nor in businesses, nor do they earn any wages. The report highlighted that India’s potential GDP growth rate can be boosted by a percentage point if women participation increased.

Notes:
The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has got $100 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to finance solar rooftop projects in India. The loan is guaranteed by the Government of India (GoI). This is the first tranche loan of the $500 million multi tranche finance facility Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP) approved by ADB in 2016. The financing includes $330 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $170 million from the multi donor Clean Technology Fund (CTF) administered by ADB. The first tranche loan of $100 million would be financed entirely from the CTF. The entire cost of SRIP is estimated at $1 billion and it aims to install solar rooftop system of around 1 gigawatt capacity in India.