Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

Notes:
The 9th India Japan Energy Dialogue was held in New Delhi on May 1, 2018. Both India and Japan with a view to implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the aegis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognized the importance of development and deployment of next generation technologies including hydrogen to realize de-carbonization. Both countries agree to work together for energy security, energy access and climate change issues. They further confirmed their commitment to work together in promoting well-functioning energy markets and affirmed to promote transparent and diversified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market through the relaxation of destination clause. They also agree to initiate the discussion on Electric Vehicles (Evs) and commit to work together in promoting well-functioning energy markets.

Notes:
Akshay Kumar has bagged the best actor award at the 2018 Dadasaheb Phalke awards for his role in ‘Padman (Jury)’ and for ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’. The awards were given by Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation in Mumbai on April 29. Bhumi Pednekar won the best actress trophy for her work in Toilet Ek Prem Katha. Manisha Koirala won the ‘Most Versatile Actress’ award. Whereas,veteran actor-director Rakesh Roshan was given the lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the industry as an actor, producer and a director. Meanwhile, veteran actor Farida Jalal was awarded the Saraswatibai Dadasaheb Phalke Best actress (Lifetime) award for her contribution to the film industry.

Notes:
The under-construction Lakhwar Dam is a 192 meter high concrete gravity dam with 165.9 meter long head and 20 to 50 km long backwater reservoir on Yamuna River near the Lohari village in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand. The purpose of dam is to generate electricity as well as meet drinking water needs of people in the area. It is expected to come up at a cost of Rs 3,966 crore. It has a 300MW power generation capacity and will have a storage capacity of 333.04 million cubic meter.

Notes:
The Mettur Dam is one of the largest dams in India and the largest in Tamil Nadu located across the river Cauvery where it enters the plains. The total length of the dam is 1,700 metres and has the capacity of 93.4 billion cubic feet. The dam creates Stanley Reservoir.

Notes:
The first-ever India- South Africa Business Summit (ISABS 2018) was held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa on April 29-30, 2018. The tag line of the Summit was “United by Legacy, Unified for Prosperity” and was attended by the Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu. In it, Suresh Prabhu highlighted the historical relations between India and Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho and pledged to take the economic partnership forward. The highlights of the summit included a book release of ‘The Red Fort Declaration – The Legacy 20 Years’ on commemoration of 20 years of Strategic Partnership, authored by journalist Fakir Hassen, which documents the progress of bilateral relations between the two countries. There was also the release of a White Paper setting out the substantive corporate social responsibilities of Indian companies based in South Africa.

Notes:
Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton has won the 2018 Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix tournament at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 29, 2018. In it, both Red Bulls sensationally collided with each other. Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari finished second and Sergio Perez of Force India ended third in the Race.

Notes:
Air Chief Marshal Idris Hassan Latif (94), the former Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), has passed away 2018 in Hyderabad on May 1, 2018. He was the IAF chief from September 1978 to August 1981. After his retirement in 1981, Latif held the posts of Maharashtra Governor and Indian Ambassador to France. He had joined the Royal Indian Air Force in 1941 at the age of 18 and was commissioned the next year. On completion of his training at Ambala, he was posted in Karachi, where he flew vintage biplanes like the Wapiti, Audaxes and Harts, on Anti-Submarine flights over the Arabian Sea. During 1943-44, he was one of the few Indian pilots to be seconded to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom, where he underwent training on more contemporary aircraft like the Hurricane and Spitfire. He returned to India in 1944 and took part in the Burma campaign. At the time of partition, he chose IAF though he was reportedly urged by some to join the Pakistan Air Force.

Notes:
Indian pugilist Neeraj Goyat has been conferred with theWBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award. Neeraj is the current WBC Asia champion in welter weight category. Since turning pro in 2011, Neeraj has won nine fights including two knockouts.

Notes:
On May 5, the NITI Aayog and IBM have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to develop a crop yield prediction model using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide real time advisory to farmers in Aspirational Districts. The purpose of the partnership is to work together towards use of technology to provide insights to farmers to improve crop productivity, soil yield, control agricultural inputs with the overarching goal of improving farmers’ incomes. The first phase of the project will focus on developing the model for 10 Aspirational Districts across the States of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scope of this project is to introduce and make available climate-aware cognitive farming techniques and identifying systems of crop monitoring, early warning on pest/disease outbreak based on advanced AI innovations.

Notes:
The 12th informal meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers was held in Manila, Philippines on May 4, on the sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB). The meeting was attended by the Finance Ministers / Heads of Delegations from the SAARC member states. Finance Minister of Nepal Yuba Raj Khatiwada chaired the meeting. The Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegation briefed the meeting about the current status of economic progress achieved by their countries. They also appreciated ADB for its contribution in the economic growth of SAARC countries. An Indian delegation was headed by Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).