Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

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:
China has successfully launched a new communication satellite “APSTAR-6C” into orbit by the Long March 3B launch vehicle from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at Sichuan province of China. The satellite is based on the Dong Fang Hong 4 (DFH-4) platform and with a designed life of 15 years. It will provide TV transmission, communication, internet, and multimedia services to customers across the Asia-Pacific region. The user of the satellite is Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Co. Ltd. Both the satellite and the rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

Notes:
Pradeep Kumar Sinha, a 1977-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been given one year extension to the post of Cabinet Secretary. With this, he will continue as cabinet secretary till June 12, 2019 as against his current retirement date of 12th June 2018. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the extension. In May 2015, Mr Sinha was appointed as cabinet secretary for a fixed two-year term. This is his second extension. As per government rules, no government servant shall be granted extension in service beyond age of retirement of 60 years but as per rule FR 56, extension in public interest may be given “for a period not exceeding four years in the case of Cabinet Secretary”. The Cabinet Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. He is the ex-officio head of the Civil Services Board, the Cabinet Secretariat, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and head of all civil services under the rules of business of the government.

Notes:
The Bhadra Dam is located on the Bhadra River, a tributary of Tungabhadra River, in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka. The dam commissioned in 1965 is a composite earth cum masonry structure of 59.13m height with length of 1,708m at the crest level, which submerges a land area of 11,250.88 hectares. It has a gross storage capacity of 2.025 km3, live storage of 63.00 BCF at full reservoir level and a dead storage of 8.50 BCF at RL (reservoir level) of 631.54m.

Notes:
Journalist Carlos Alvarado has been sworn-in as the new President of Costa Rica on May 8, 2018. In April 2018, he won the presidential election (second round) with 61% votes. Alvarado swept to victory against conservative Protestant singer Fabricio Alvarado Munoz. At 39, Alvarado is the country’s youngest president in modern history. He has spoken out in support of marriage equality, building a green transport network for the nation and for spurring economic growth to fight against insecurity.

Notes:
On May 9, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched the website of Digital India Internship Scheme in New Delhi. Under this scheme, 25 interns will be inducted for a period of three months. These interns will be paid a stipend of Rs. 10, 000 per month. The internship is an opportunity for a student to secure first hand and practical work experience under the guidance of qualified and experienced Supervisor and Mentor. It also aims at active participation in the learning process through experimentation and putting into practice the knowledge acquired in the classrooms.

Notes:
The Balpakram National Park is home to wide species of plants and animals and is located in the midst of the Garo Hills in Meghalaya. The national park is full of sprawling vegetation consisting of sub tropical and deciduous trees. The park is famous for the golden cat and the barking deer. Other animals include Wild water buffalo, Red panda, Elephant and eight species of cats including Tiger and Marbled cat. Wide species of baboons and monkeys are also found in the forest. It is famous for pitcher plant and many medicinal plants called ‘Dik.ke’.

Notes:
The 6th US-India Aviation Summit was formally inaugurated by Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu in Mumbai on May 10, 2018. The biennial Summit is jointly organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). The summit is a technical, policy and commercial forum by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation and the US Trade and Development Agency. Besides a US and India bilateral meeting, the summit will also include sessions on India’s projected aviation growth in next five years, aviation security and technologies for worldwide airspace management among others.

Notes:
The Telangana government has launched Rythu Bandhu (friend of farmers) scheme at Dharmarajupalle-Indiranagar village in Karimnagar district on May 10, 2018. The scheme is a first-of-its-kind initiative providing investment support to farmers, who own land. It is expected to provide the much needed breather to the marginal and small farmers who constitute a major chunk of land owners in the State. Under the scheme, each eligible farmer will get at least Rs 4,000 per acre for two crops in a year — kharif in May and rabi in October. The farmers can utilize the assistance either for purchase of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides or any other input requirement as per their requirement. The scheme will cover both agriculture and horticulture crops and benefits all farmers irrespective of the size of their land holdings.

Notes:
On May 11, the first-ever joint conference of Indian Customs and Department of India Posts at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi to deliberate on streamlining of imports and exports by post. Commissioners of Customs from all the States having Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) were present along with their counterpart Post Master Generals. Imports and exports by post are the 6th highest cited citizen grievances under under Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMs). Customs and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have worked together since a year to liberalise, reform and align laws relating to imports by India Post.