Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

Notes:
Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani (78), the veteran Telugu writer & novelist, has passed away at California, United States on May 21, 2018. She hailed from Kaza village of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh. She was considered among the top fiction writers of her time. An author of over 40 novels, her works mainly centered on human relationships. Some of her famous novels include Murali Krishna, Radha Krishna, Aagamana, Aathmeeyulu, Abhijata, Secretary, Jeevana Tarangalu and Kalala Kougili. Many of her literary works have been adapted to film and TV screenplays. Her last notable contribution for films has been Trivikram Srinivas’s A..Aa, inspired by her novel ‘Meena’.

Notes:
The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX) has launched the India’s first options contract on copper futures on May 21, 2018. The option contract will provide physical market participants an additional instrument to hedge their risk. Currently, June, August and November 2018 option contracts are available for trading, with one MCX copper futures contract (1 MT) as the underlying. The exercised positions of the options contract post expiry shall devolve into the respective underlying future positions. This new options contract provides the optimal tool to hedge and mitigate price risk in copper for the stakeholders. MCX copper options are available to trade from 10:00am-11:30pm/11:55pm on weekdays. In order to encourage active participation in the market the exchange is not levying any transaction fees on all the commodity options contracts till September 30, 2018.

Notes:
The Athirappilly Falls is located across Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of Kerala. It is the largest waterfall in Kerala, which stands tall at 80 feet. The scenic beauty of Athirappilly falls has always been attractive to filmmakers. The falls were featured in several Malayalam and Bollywood films such as ‘Baahubali’, ‘Dil Se’, ‘Guru’, ‘Madras Cafe’, ‘Happy’, etc.

Notes:
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has named Stacey Cunningham its first female President in the history of the 226-year-old exchange. She will succeed Thomas Farley on May 25, 2018. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of NYSE. With Cunningham’s promotion, America’s leading two stock exchanges will be led by women after Adena Friedman took over as CEO of Nasdaq in January 2017.

Notes:
The 3-day Smart Cities India 2018 Expo has started in New Delhi on May 23, 2018. The mega event, consisting five expos is being held with a vision to help develop attractive and safe cities that evoke pride, passion and a sense of belonging among citizens. The five expos are as follows: Building India Expo, Solar India Expo, Transport India Expo, Smart Cities India Expo and Water India Expo. Over 300 exhibitors from different countries are participating in the 4th edition of this event. The event is co-organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), the NASSCOM Center of Excellence – IoT and Exhibitions India Group.

Notes:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) meeting has started in Islamabad, Pakistan on May 23, 2018. It is first time that Pakistan is hosting the meeting. The legal experts from 8 member states, including India, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, as well as representatives of the SCO and RATS Executive Committee are participating in the meeting. The purpose of the 3-day meeting is to discuss terrorist threats facing the region and ways and means to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation between SCO member states. Other goals of the meeting included strengthening trust amongst the member states and promoting cooperation in politics, trade, economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, and environmental protection.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, has approved an ordinance to set up the India’s first national sports university in Imphal, Manipur. The ordinance is on the lines of the bill introduced in Lok Sabha in August, 2017, which is already pending in Parliament. The proposed university will be spread over 325 acres and cost Rs 524 crore. It will promote sports education in the areas of sports sciences, sports technology, sports management, and sports coaching. It will function as a national training centre for select sports disciplines. It may also establish campuses and study centres in other parts of the country. The University will be empowered to grant degrees, diplomas and certificates.

Notes:
The two-month long military exercise of India Army “Gandiv Vijay” was concluded in Mahajan field firing ranges near Suratgarh in Rajasthan on May 23, 2018. The Chetak corps of South Western Command of Indian Army carried out the exercise with an aim to train commanders and soldiers in their offensive tasks. Thousands of troops from the Corps took part in the exercise along with a huge array of weapons and equipment. The exercise was based on the central role of carrying out offensive operations through a joint air-land battle in a network-centric environment employing modern intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance concepts and equipment. It was an integrated exercise involving multi-mode mobilisation from dispersed locations to the time and place of decision in a terrain orchestrated on the lines of operational responsibility of the formation. During the exercise, synergy between mechanised forces, infantry, artillery, engineers, elements of Special Forces (SF) and Air Force was practised and fine tuned.

Notes:
On May 23, NITI Aayog and ABB India have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to work together in preparing key sectors of the economy for digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and industrial automation. Jointly, NITI Aayog and ABB will work with government ministries, solicit feedback for areas critical to them and discuss solutions using industrial automation, and digitalization technologies. The initiative also covers the fast growing segment of electric mobility. The first workshop for senior government officials, under this collaboration, would be organised in June 2018 at ABB Ability Innovation Centre in Bengaluru. Given the importance of the food processing sector, the workshop will focus on digital and automation technologies in this sector. NITI Aayog, in collaboration with ABB, will come out with a report on policy recommendations based on the feedback received in the workshops, by December 2018.

Notes:
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput has collaborated with NITI Aayog for the promotion of Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) launched by the Cenrtal government. An agreement in this effect was signed by the actor with NITI Aayog in New Delhi on May 25, 2018. The aim of the WEP is to build an ecosystem for women across India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses. Mr. Rajput will also promote NITI Aayog’s digital payments campaign which looks towards transforming India into a less-cash economy. The actor will endorse the WEP and encourage use of Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) application by appearing in various video, print and social media campaigns of NITI Aayog. He would also be supporting NITI Aayog in promoting the Women Transforming India Awards 2018, the theme for which is ‘Women and Entrepreneurship’ and whose nominations are currently ongoing.