Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

Notes:
The Telangana government has announced a unique life insurance scheme for farmers. Under the scheme, the government will provide life insurance facility of Rs 5 lakh to the nominee, after the death of the insured farmer. The entire premium will be paid by the government to the insurance agency and the nominee will get the amount within 10 days of the claim after the death of the farmer. With this, the dependent family will get the benefit irrespective of the reason for the death of the farmer. The state government has tied up with the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for the implementation of the scheme. The farmers in the age group of 18 to 60 are eligible to enroll their names to get benefit from it. The insurance scheme will commence on August 15 and farmers will be given insurance bonds. Every year on August 1, the total premium amount will be credited to LIC.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Nepal for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. With this, Nepal has become the first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to defeat the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Trachoma, an eye disease caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, is spread through contact with infective eye or nose discharges. Infection is particularly common in young children. Transmission is associated with poor sanitation and hygiene, which increase the availability of eye discharges and encourage the breeding of flies. Trachoma puts more than 190 million people at risk of blindness in 41 countries. It is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of around 1.9 million people worldwide.

Notes:
Former US astronaut Alan Bean (86), who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon, has passed away in Texas, United States. Bean went into space twice, the first time in November 1969 as the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 12 moon-landing mission. In 1973 he was commander of the second crewed flight to Skylab – America’s first space station. Bean retired from NASA in 1981 and carved a successful career as an artist. His paintings, inspired by space travel, featured lunar boot prints as well as small pieces of his mission patches which were stained by Moon dust.

Notes:
The Wanakbori Thermal Power Station (WTPS) is a coal-fired power station and is located on the bank of Mahi river in Kheda district of Gujarat. There are seven units of each 210 MW capacity.

Notes:
The BCCI and UN Environment has signed a letter of intent to promote ‘green’ Cricket in India at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on May 27, 2018. The aim of the partnership is to spread greater awareness about key environmental challenges facing the country, and highlight alternate and more sustainable solutions. The BCCI will endeavor to reduce its environmental impact by greening operations and engaging cricketers and fans in green initiatives. The partnership will also focus on phasing out single-use plastic across stadiums in the country. Even during the course of 2018 IPL, a film with messages from captains of various franchises was created and aired in stadiums highlighting hazards of plastic pollution. The headquarters of UN Environment is located in Nairobi, Kenya.

Notes:
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recognized the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) in Kerala as the world’s first fully solar energy-powered airport. The airport has a 12 MWp solar power plant comprising of 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres. The plant is capable of generating 50,000 units of electricity daily, and is equipped with a supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), through which remote monitoring is carried out. The airport now generates 0.125 million units of power a day from its eight power plants with a total installation capacity of 30 MWp. It will be scaled up to 40 MWp by July 2018. The CIAL is the first airport in India developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model and was funded by nearly 10,000 non-resident Indians from 30 countries. With over 2 million sq ft in area, the airport’s Terminal 3 is India’s fourth largest terminal.

Notes:
India has signed a loan agreement with the World Bank (WB) for USD 21.7 million for strengthening the public financial management in Rajasthan project in New Delhi on May 29, 2018. The objective of the project is to contribute to improved budget execution, enhanced accountability and greater efficiency in revenue administration in Rajasthan. It involves strengthening of the Public Financial Management Framework; strengthening of expenditure and revenue systems; and project management and capacity building among others. The project size is approximately USD 31 million, of which $21.7 million will be financed by the World Bank, and remaining amount will be funded out of the state budget. The project duration is 5 years.

Notes:
The Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) government has submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Rs 189 crore Devika river rejuvenation project to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for approval. The aim of the project is to develop bathing ghats in the premises of the Devika River, removal of encroachments, sewerage treatment, restoration of natural water bodies and development of catchment area. The river holds religious significance as it is revered by Hindus as the sister of river Ganga. Devika river, which is also known as Devika Nagari, originates from the hilly Suddha Mahadev temple in Udhampur district and flows down towards western Punjab (now in Pakistan) where it merges with the Ravi river.

Notes:
In the North-East, the Gaj Yatra has been rolled out by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) from Tura, the principal town of Garo Hills of Meghalaya on May 28, 2018. It is the part of an 18-month-long national campaign to protect India’s national heritage animal “elephants” and its habitat. The event involves taking an elephant mascot across districts frequented by jumbo herds for generating awareness among the people. The aim of the campaign is to involve people from all walks of life in the conservation of elephants. The WTI is securing 101 elephant corridors through its Right to Passage project, in partnership with the Union government’s Project Elephant, state forest departments and various NGOs. The aim is to rehabilitate people affected “by conflict in corridor areas” while ensuring uninterrupted movement of elephants between key habitats. Earlier, the campaign was launched by the Dr. Harsh Vardhan on the occasion of 2017 World Elephant Day (WED) in New Delhi.

Notes:
The book ‘Straight Talk’ has been authored by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the Member of Rajya Sabha. The book suggested the automatic suspension of allowances for law makers per day or per hour lost due to disruptions. It also stresses to set up the special tribunals or fast track courts for election related cases. There are many more suggestions related to Law & Parliament in the book. It was released by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on May 30, 2018.