Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

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 Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar has launched the ‘Samagra Shiksha’ – an integrated Scheme for school education in New Delhi on May 24. The scheme focuses on improving quality of education, enhancing the Learning outcomes and using technology to empower children and teachers. Samagra Shiksha is a program that unifies learning from the pre-school to class 12 levels and encapsulates elements of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). It aims to treat education holistically as a continuum from pre-school to class 12. The excerpts of the scheme are as follows: provision of quality education, bridging social and gender gaps in school education, promoting vocationalisation of education, strengthening teacher education institutions like SCERTs and Diets to improve quality of teachers, annual grant of Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 per school for strengthening of libraries, etc.

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Mia Amor Mottley has become the first female Prime Minister (PM) of the Caribbean island of Barbados. The win makes Mottley just the 8th PM to lead Barbados since the island gained independence from Great Britain in 1966. The Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) recorded an historic landslide victory in the 2018 general election, secured all 30 seats in the House of Assembly and over 70% of the popular vote that makes them the first party to accomplish this feat.

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The Himachal Pradesh government has launched the ‘Prakritik Kheti Khushhaal Kisaan Yojana’ to enhance agricultural income by adopting low-cost climate-resilient Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) system. Under the scheme farmers would be provided training, necessary equipments, bio-pesticides, bio-insecticides, etc. The purpose of the scheme is to promote organic farming in a big way and plans to adopt an integrated approach for promoting organic and zero budget natural farming system. At present, 39,790 farmers have already switched over to organic farming ensuring production of healthy food grains, free from harmful chemical ingredients. A state-level committee headed by the chief minister would monitor the implementation and progress of the ZBNF system.

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Film actor Akshay kumar has launched an advertisement campaign on twin pit toilet technology for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in New Delhi on May 27, 2018. The ad campaign focuses on promoting the twin pit toilet technology in rural India. The actor appealed everybody to spread the awareness on the issue and make the cleanliness drive more effective. The twin pit toilet technology is an Indian invention that collects defecation for a period of five years and then it turns into valuable organic compost. This decomposed waste is safe to handle and rich in NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) nutrients which makes it ideal for use in agriculture. The technology is also recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Kerala cartoonist Thomas Antony has won an international award in the best caricature category. He is among the 9 winners at the 13th edition of the World Press Cartoon awards 2018, instituted by an organization based in Lisbon, Portugal. The awards are given to the best works published in 2017 in newspapers and magazines from around the world. According to World Press Cartoon website, the winners are from 8 countries in three continents– Europe, Asia and South America. Antony is the lone cartoonist selected from Asia selected for the prize. The awards will be presented at a function to be held in Portugal on June 2, 2018.

Notes:
Pankaj Saran, the 1982-batch officer of Indian Foreign Service (IFS), has been appointed as the new Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA). He will at post for a period of two years, on deputation basis initially till the date of his superannuation, i.e., November 30, 2018, then on re-employment on contract basis. Currently, he is India’s envoy to Russia. He served twice in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) — first as Deputy Secretary/ Director during 1995 and 1999, and then as the Joint Secretary between 2007 and 2012. Former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Ajit Doval is the National Security Adviser (NSA). He is assisted by Deputy National Security Advisers. Ex-chief of India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Rajinder Khanna was in January 2018 also appointed as the Deputy NSA.

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On May 29, the Ministry of Women and Child and Development (MoWCD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi for management of Home of Widows at Sunrakh Bangar, Vrindavan. The MoWCD has constructed this shelter home for widows with a capacity of 1000 inmates. The MoU shall be in force for a period of 2 years which may be renewed for further period on satisfactory running of the Home. As per MoU, the Uttar Pradesh Government shall be responsible for activities including setting up mechanism for identifying beneficiaries, providing residential care to the widows, deploying staff as per norms with prescribed qualification and experience. The MoU further states that senior officials of Government of Uttar Pradesh shall visit and check the security staff periodically and monitor their performance. The MoU also includes provisions for facilitating Aadhaar Cards for all inmates and medical/geriatric care for inmates.

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Former Supreme Court judge Justice R K Agrawal, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, has been appointed the President of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). He will take over from Justice D K Jain, who will complete his term on May 31. The NCDRC, which deals with consumer rights and addresses their disputes and grievances, is a quasi-judicial commission set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. The commission is headquartered in New Delhi and is headed by sitting or retired judge of Supreme Court of India (SCI).

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The latest report of Moody’s Investors Service has cut India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.3% in 2018 from the previous estimate of 7.5% due to higher oil prices and tighter financial conditions. However, Moody’s maintained its 2019 growth forecast at 7.5%. The report “Global Macro Outlook: 2018-19” stated that the Indian economy is in cyclical recovery led by both investment and consumption. However, higher oil prices and tighter financial conditions will weigh on the pace of acceleration. The private investment cycle will continue to make a gradual recovery, as twin balance-sheet issues – impaired assets at banks and corporates – slowly get addressed through deleveraging and the application of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.