GK & Current Affairs Quiz: April 18, 2018

Notes:
The International Monetary Fund in the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) has projected India to grow at growth rate at 7.4% in 2018 and 7.8% in 2019, up from 6.7% in 2017. The report stated that India in 2018 and 2019 would re-emerge as one of the fastest growing major economies. The IMF explained this is due to the strong private consumption as well as fading transitory effects of the currency exchange initiative and implementation of the national goods and services tax. IMF said that the two major economic reforms, demonetisation and GST, resulted in a slightly lower growth rate of 6.7% in 2017. According to the IMF, India has made progress on structural reforms in the recent past, which will help reduce internal barriers to trade, increase efficiency, and improve tax compliance. The report, however, said, while the medium-term growth outlook for India is strong, an important challenge is to enhance inclusiveness.

Notes:
The ‘Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting – 2018’ under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has started in Guwahati, Assam on April 18, 2018. The team is led by the Chairman and Transport Minister of Rajasthan, Yunus Khan, and transport ministers of various states are its members. In total 24 states are participating in the two-day programme. The meeting will mainly focus on the following agenda: frame a National Road Safety Code with the objective to reduce fatalities and road accidents by 50% by 2020; improving road accident victims’ assistance infrastructure; strategies for road safety advocacy programmes; harmonization of motor vehicles taxes across different states; strategies for improving the inter-state passenger and goods transport, harmonization of permit conditions and permit fees across the states, etc.

Notes:
The World Heritage Day (WHD), also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, has been celebrated every year on April 18 ever since 1982. The purpose of the day is to spread awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving various sites around the world that have achieved world heritage status. As of 2018, India has 36 World Heritage Sites including Western Ghats, Sundarbans National Park, Historic City of Ahmadabad, Taj Mahal in Agra, Nalanda University, Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. The 2018 theme “Heritage for Generations” emphasis on inter-generational transfer of knowledge.

Notes:
The first meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan has started in New Delhi on April 18, 2018. The mandate of the National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges is to provide policy directions to address countries nutritional challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action. The council is also mandated to coordinate and review convergence between Ministries and review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis. It will submit its report to the Prime Minister every 6 months. NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant and representatives of various ministries of the Central and State Governments are participating in the meeting. The POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan last month. It aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children. The programme also targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth rate.

Notes:
The Islands Tourism Festival has inaugurated by Chief Secretary of A & N Administration Anindo Mazumdar at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar on April 18, 2018. During this five days festival, cultural programmes, adventure sports, flea market and traditional games will be organised. Artist from different parts of the country will also present cultural programme.

Notes:
The United Kingdom has formally joined the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) on April 17, 2018. The announcement was made an event held at the London Stock Exchange as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 (CHOGM). With this, UK became the 62nd signatory member of the ISA. The UK’s partnership will involve providing expertise and advice to the alliance, but no monetary contributions. ISA is an inter-governmental treaty-based organisation that aims to mobilise $1 trillion in funds for future solar generation, storage and technology across the world by 2030.

Notes:
Lieutenant General PP Malhotra has taken charge as new Director General of National Cadet Corps (NCC), the largest uniformed youth organization in the world. Prior to assuming his present appointment, he was the Chief Engineer of the Army’s premier Northern Command. The NCC is the Indian military cadet corps with its headquarters at New Delhi.

Notes:
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched the digital platform ‘Pocket Cop Project’ in order to ensure that the police force of the state is equipped with modern day technology. Under the project, every officer in charge of the police station, Investigating Officer, PCR van and officials handling the passport verification process shall be equipped with a smartphone enabled with internet connectivity. The government has made a provision of 4900 such phones. These phones will have the information of as many as 69 lakh criminals and their crimes at fingertips. In Gandhinagar, the CM also handed over these smartphones to each and every police officer of various districts during the event.

Notes:
Bhimsain (81), the veteran filmmaker and animation pioneer, has passed away in Mumbai on April 17, 2018. Born in 1936 in Multan (modern-day Pakistan), Bhimsain obtained his diploma in Fine Arts and Classical Music from Lucknow University. In 1970, he made his directorial debut with his first animation short “The Climb”, which earned him the Silver Hugo Award in the Chicago Film Festival. ‘Ek chidiya, anek chidiyaan’ is one of the most popular songs from animation film ‘Ek Anek Ekta’, which he made with Vijaya Mulay in 1974. A versatile artiste who enriched the medium of both television and films with his contribution, Bhimsain was primarily known for his work in the world of animation during the golden period of Doordarshan. He also directed and produced several animation and ad films such as ‘Na’, ‘Ek-Do’, ‘Fire’, ‘Munni’, ‘Freedom is a Thin Lie’, ‘Mehman’, ‘Kahani Har Zamane Ki’ and ‘Business is People’. He is best known for his film “Gharaonda” and animation short films like “Ek Anek Ekta”.

Notes:
The Tilaiya Dam is a concrete gravity dam build across the Barakar River at Tilaiya in Koderma district of Jharkhand. It has a maximum height of 30.2 metres above the river bed. The dam has a catchment area of 984 square kilometres comprising mainly forests, pastures, cultivated lands and waste lands. The annual rainfall in the area is 127 cm. It was inaugurated on 21 February 1953. It has a power generation capacity of 2 x 2 MW.