Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

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 first-ever joint Army exercise “Harimau Shakti 2018” has started between the troops of the Indian and Malaysian armies at Wardieburn Camp in Kuala Lumpur on April 30. The focus will remain on tactical operations in jungle warfare.The aim of the two-week long exercise is to bolster cooperation and coordination between armed forces of both the nations and to share the expertise of both the contingents in conduct of counter insurgency operations in jungle terrain. Both armies stand to hone their tactical and technical skills in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations under the UN mandate. Overall, the exercise will not only provide an excellent opportunity to both the armies to hone their operational skills but will also contribute to enhance the strategic partnership between India and Malaysia.

Notes:
Uma Bharti, the Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, has launched the GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) – DHAN scheme at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Auditorium, Karnal, Haryana on May 1, 2018. The purpose of scheme is to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste. The scheme also aims at creating new rural livelihood opportunities and enhancing income for farmers and other rural people. Under the scheme, cooking gas would be provided to rural habitations and technical support would ensure that the scheme functioned on a sustainable basis. 

Notes:
The 4th Regional Conference on ‘Futuristic, Resilient and Digital Infrastructure’ was held in Bengaluru on May 4, 2018. The 2-day Conference was organized by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), andResearch and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). The conference is a lead-up event to the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is going to be hosted by the Government of India on 25th and 26th June 2018 in Mumbai. The Conference saw eminent delegates representing partner institutions, academia, civil society organizations and experts from various fields expressing their views on how to bring about institutional approaches for futuristic and digital infrastructure in India.

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 bi-annual Naval Commander’s Conference will be held in New Delhi from May 8, 2018. During the 4-day conference, the Navy will review its new mission-based deployment philosophy aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region. The philosophy of the conference will be at sustained, peaceful and responsive presence of Indian Naval ships in critical areas and choke points. During the conference, measures to ensure safety, continued training and checks and balances on crew proficiency on-board its frontline warships will be reviewed.

Notes:
The World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (WRCRCD) is observed every year on May 8 to recognize the extraordinary contribution and incredible achievements of the stalwarts and volunteers around the world for helping the people in need anytime, anywhere. The day also marks the birth anniversary Jean Henry Dunant, the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize. The 2018 theme “Memorable smiles from around the world” focuses on bringing memorable smiles in people’s faces everywhere. .

Notes:
India has signed a loan agreement of $200-million with the World Bank for the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan) to achieve its goal of reducing stunting in children aged 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022. The loan will support the first phase of scaling up of interventions in 315 districts across all states and union territories. A large component of POSHAN Abhiyaan involves gradual scaling-up of the interventions supported by the ongoing World Bank assisted Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts in the country over a 3-year period. The project will ensure convergence of all nutrition-related schemes and provide performance-based incentives to states and community nutrition and health workers, facilitating a focus on results. The POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 8 in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

Notes:
The Gokak falls is a waterfall located on the Ghataprabha River, a tributary of the Krishna river, in Belagavi district of Karnataka. The waterfall is horse shoe shaped at the crest, with a flood breadth of 177 metres. There is a hanging bridge across the river which stands 14m above the rock bed. The bridge was built during British rule. One of the interesting features of this place is the monuments from the Chalukya era that are found on either bank of the rocky gorge. are the monuments from the Chalukya era that are present on either banks of the rocky gorge. Another attraction of this place is the very old river-front temple dedicated to Lord Mahalingeshwara, built in the Later Chalukya style of architecture. There is also an old electricity generation station and electricity was generated here for the first time in 1887.

Notes:
On May 10, India is hosting the 15th edition of the Asia Media Summit (AMS-2018) in New Delhi with theme “Telling our Stories- Asia and More”. New Delhi is hosting the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Kuala Lumpur for the first time. The 3-day summit will encourage regional and bilateral dialogue and cooperation to respond to challenges to the broadcasting sector in the region. It will also provide a unique opportunity for broadcasters in the Asian region to share their thoughts on software and hardware aspects of broadcasting. Over 200 foreign delegates representing 39 countries and over a hundred Indian delegates would participate in the event. Dignitaries attending the Summit include Minister of Information from Bangladesh and Cambodia and Standing Commissioner Korea Communications Commission. The summit is hosted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, jointly with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and public sector firm Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL).