Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

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 “2018 Vijay Prahar” exercise of Indian Army’s South Western Command has started near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. Over 20,000 troops of the strike formations of the Army are engaged in the exercise to fine-tune the joint-manship with the Indian Air Force (IAF). During the exercise, the formations are practicing and operationalising certain concepts of operating in the network-centric environment, integrated employment of modern-day sensors with the weapon platforms, employment of attack helicopters in the air cavalry role and a bold offensive of application of the Special Forces. The exercise that began a couple of weeks ago will conclude on May 9 and Army chief General Bipin Rawat and other senior officers are likely to witness the final phase.

Notes:
Maharashtra has become the first Indian state to provide digitally-signed land record receipts (also known as 7/12 receipts). The 7/12 receipt is the most important document which establishes the ownership of the land, and is primarily used by farmers while applying for loans. It is also used by the government during crop surveys and to extend various facilities. With digital authentication, the farmers will no longer have to visit revenue offices or the Maha e-seva centres. Now, the farmers will have to inform only the gat (group) number or survey number to bank or a government department, and the respective agency can ensure the 7/12 receipt online. Presently, eight lakh 7/12 receipts come with digital sign, and the aim is to complete the digitisation of all 2.5 crore receipts by August 1. To get the 7/12 receipt with digital sign, one must go to https://mahabhulekh.maharashtra. Gov.in and fill the necessary details. A pdf file with digital sign can be printed, which can be used with any government office.

Notes:
On May 2, Jagdish Mukhi has been sworn in as the acting governor of Manipur by the Acting Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice N Kotiswar Singh. As per official release, Mukhi, who is the governor of Assam and Meghalaya, will hold office in the absence of Governor Najma Heptullah. The swearing-in was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar Singh, Speaker Y Khemchand Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Ksh Bhabananda Singh, the council of ministers, the chief secretary and director general of police and other senior officials.

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:
B. N. Vijay Kumar (60), the sitting BJP MLA from Jayanagar in Karnataka, has passed away in Bengaluru due to cardiac arrest while campaigning in his constituency on May 3, 2018. He was contesting the Assembly election for the third time. A two-time MLA from Jayanagar, Vijay Kumar was a bachelor and a civil engineering graduate. He was known for his simplicity and mild manners.

Notes:
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has announced additional grants of $3 million to two Indian non-profit organisations – Central Square Foundation and The Teacher App. The grants are a part of Google.org’s mission to help provide quality education access and learning for all. With a $1 million grant to The Teacher App in India, Google.org aims to provide teachers with training and resources on the concepts of math, science, language, and pedagogy. The funds are expected to scale the platform to reach 500,000 teachers in two years. With online video emerging as a popular medium of learning, Google.org will provide a $2 million grant and technical assistance from the YouTube Learning team to Central Square Foundation, a policy think tank focused on improving the quality of school education. The grant will support a minimum of 20 content creators to produce at least 200 hours of quality science, technology, engineering and Math content in Hindi and vernacular languages.

Notes:
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah from Egypt has been named the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year for 2017/18. With this, Salah became the first African to be given the accolade after edging out Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne by less than 20 votes in a ballot of more than 400 FWA members. Beside this, Salah also became the first Egyptian player to won the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) player of the year award in April 2018.

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.