Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

Notes:
Sitanshu Kar, a 1983-batch Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, has become the principal director general of the Press Information Bureau (PIB). He succeeded Frank Noronha, who had held the post since 2014. Prior to this post, Kar was serving as the AIR’s News Services Division (NSD) director general. In a career spanning nearly 35 years, Kar has worked in key positions in various media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Apart from this, he has the distinction of being the longest serving spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence. He served there for over a decade at a stretch.

Notes:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has organised Kisan Kalyan Karyashala at the block level across the country on May 2, 2018 in which farmers from that block will participate. The workshops are part of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, a rural-centric campaign that started on the 14th of last month, the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar. It will end on May 7. During workshops, farmers from each block will be interacting with agriculture officers and scientists to discuss ways to increase their income through adoption of new technology. Awareness campaigns and training programmes will disseminate information about steps for doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 and other measures taken by the NDA government for their welfare.

Notes:
Ashok Mitra (90), the noted scholar and the first Finance Minister in the Left Front government in West Bengal, has passed away in Kolkata on May 1, 2018. Besides serving the State Government, he also worked with the Central Government as the Chief Economic Adviser from 1970-72, when Indira Gandhi was prime minister, and was a member of Rajya Sabha. A teacher of Economics, who taught in UN Economic Commission, Mitra was also associated with World Bank for many years. He was one of Bengal’s most prolific columnists and was known for his deep and critical analysis of society and its politics.

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:
The World Press Freedom Day is observed every year on May 3 to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives while following their profession. The 2018 theme “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law” highlights the importance of an enabling legal environment for press freedom and gives special attention to the role of an independent judiciary in ensuring legal guarantees for press freedom and the prosecution of crimes against journalists. The day serves as an occasion to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide.

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:
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 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).

Notes:
The 15th Asia Media Summit (AMS-2018) will be held in New Delhi on May 10-12 with theme “Telling our Stories- Asia and More”. The summit will provide a unique opportunity for broadcasters in Asia to share their thoughts on broadcasting and information. It is being organised by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in collaboration with its partners and international organisations. The decision makers, media professionals, scholars, and stakeholders of news and programming from Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America will attend the annual conference.