Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

Notes:
On May 11, the parliamentary panel headed by veteran BJP MP Murali Manohar Joshi has decided to study the recovery of black money and performance of public sector banks among a host of subjects. The 30-member Estimates Committee has decided to study a host of subjects related to various ministries in the year 2018-19. As per the memorandum of the committee, the panel will look into the import of uranium for nuclear plants, mining activities and environment, upgrading of India Post offices and the drought situation in the country among other matters. The panel on estimates, which is also called the continuous economy committee, suggests changes in policy or administrative framework to bring efficiency in expenditure. Besides the panel on estimates, the Public Accounts Committee has been looking into the issue of black money after the implementation of demonetisation.

Notes:
According to the report ‘RemitSCOPE – Remittance markets and opportunities – Asia and the Pacific’, India has become the largest remittance-receiving country in the world in 2017, with migrant workers from the country sending home 69 billion US dollars. The remittances to the Asia-Pacific region amounted to 256 billion dollars last year. In 2017, India with 69 billion, China with 64 billion and the Philippines with $33 billion are the three largest remittance-receiving countries in the world. Worldwide, an estimated 40% of the total values of remittances go to rural areas. However, in the Asia-Pacific region, remittances go dis-proportionally to countries with a majority of rural populations such as Nepal 81%, India 67%, Vietnam 66%, Bangladesh 65%, Pakistan 61% and the Philippines 56%. As per report, cash-to-cash transactions remain by far the most common form of transfer.

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.

Notes:
India and Peru signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy at Lima on May 11, 2018. The pact was signed in the presence of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and the Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva Arevalo. Beside this, Peru’s External Affairs Ministry organized a special programme in Lima to commemorate the 55 years of diplomatic ties with India. Peru is a founder member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), established with India taking the initiative.

Notes:
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been honoured with the Swara Mauli title by Shankarcharya Vidyanarsimha Bharati Swami at her residence Prabhu Kunj in Mumbai on May 13, 2018. The veteran singer has several awards to her credit in her over 7-decade-long career, including three National Awards. Mangeshkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country, in 2001 – the second vocalist, after MS Subbulakshmi to receive the honour.

Notes:
Indian Shooter Heena Sidhu clinched the gold medal while compatriot P Shri Nivetha settled for bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Competitions of Hannover, Germany. Heena was in a rollicking form in the final where she was tied with France’s Mathilde Lamolle on 239.8 points. She won the tie to win the gold ahead of Mathilde. Shri Nivetha finished on 219.2. The finish marks a strong build-up to next week’s ISSF World Cup in Munich.

Notes:
Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh International, has been honoured with the 2018 Nikkei Asia Prize in Japan for his contribution to Asia’s development. Pathak is among the three who have been conferred with the award. Others are Ma Jun (China) & Professor Nguyen Thanh Liem (Vietnam). Nikkei Inc., one of the largest media corporations in Japan, has been presenting the awards since 1996 to honour people in Asia who have made significant contributions in one of the three areas: Economic and Business Innovation, Science, Technology and Environment and Culture and Community. The prizes will be awarded on June 13 in Tokyo in Japan. Dr Pathak founded the Sulabh International in 1970. It is an NGO that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation among other social services. The foundation has built Sulabh flush composting toilets throughout India, contributing to better sanitation, safety for rural women and freedom from the manual labour of removing human waste.

Notes:
The Dada Dhuniwale Thermal Power Plant is a planned coal based thermal power project located at village Goradia in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company Limited. Its planned capacity is 1600 MW. The project is yet to start due to non availability of coal linkage.

Notes:
Jivya Soma Mashe (84), the noted tribal artist who popularized the Warli paintings world over, has passed away in Ganjad village near Dahanu, about 150 km Northwards of Mumbai on May 15, 2018. He was honored with Padma Shri in 2011 for his contribution to popularization of the Warli tribal art form. Mashe came to limelight in 1975 during special search efforts of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to find out hidden talent amongst the tribles to present the art before the world. Mashe reached Delhi with his paintings, where he was honored with President’s medal in 1976. Thereafter he toured various parts of the world exhibiting his paintings at the art galleries world over. He significantly contributed to the culture and development of the Warlis, a tribe living predominantly in the mountainous and coastal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat. His paintings brought alive glimpses of the tribal vision of nature and culture in equilibrium, and for highlighting the contemporary relevance of local forms of knowledge.

Notes:
IIM-Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) has launched a Bharat Inclusion Initiative, which aims to invest about 25 million in startups working in the areas of financial inclusion, livelihood, education and health over the next 3 to 4 years. The project has received an initial pledge of 12.5 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Omidyar Network and Tata Trusts. This amount includes a $5 million commitment for providing support to startups through acceleration programmes, research, workshops and partnerships. The remaining amount has been earmarked for the Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, which will invest in seed and pre-Series A startups.