GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 15, 2018

Notes:
Sir William Mark Tully, the veteran British journalist and former BBC India correspondent, has been chosen for 2018 RedInk award for lifetime achievement in journalism. Tully worked with the BBC for 30 years before resigning in July 1994. He held the position of Chief of Bureau, BBC, Delhi, for 20 years. The lifetime achievement award to Tully is the recognition of his long and outstanding contribution to Indian journalism. Meanwhile, Faye D’Souze, the executive editor of Mirror Now channel, has been selected as the winner of the RedInk award for ‘journalist of the year’. Apart from these two awards, the Redink awards for excellence in journalism are given in 13 competitive categories to 32 journalists after a process of selection by a jury appointed for each category. The RedInk awards for excellence in journalism are instituted by the Mumbai Press Club. The awards will be presented to the winners at a ceremony here on May 18 in Mumbai.

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:
Balakumaran (71), the veteran Tamil novelist, has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on May 15, 2018. He was famous for his novels like ‘Mercury Pookal’ and ‘Irumbu Kuthiraigal’ which earned him a good fan following. He created strong women characters, probably cast in the mould of his mother, whom he adored. Balakumaran in a way also liberated women in his works. He had a strained relationship with his father. He also published a number of short stories and later entered Tamil cinema through script and dialogue writing. He had worked with top two stars Rajinkanth (film “Baasha”) and Kamal Haasan (“Nayagan” and “Guna”). Balakumaran was a recipient of a number of awards, including the state government’s ‘Kalaimamani’ honour.

Notes:
Govind Lal Vora (86), the veteran journalist from Chhattisgarh, has passed away in New Delhi on May 15, 2018. He had a long association with journalism of about six decades and was the proprietor-editor of the Hindi daily “Amrit Sandesh” for the last 34 years. Vora was the younger brother of Congress Rajya Sabha MP and AICC treasurer Motilal Vora and uncle of Congress MLA from Durg constituency Arun Vora.

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:
In a Cabinet reshuffle, Col Rajyavardhan Rathore has taken charge as the new Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on May 15, 2018. He replaced Smriti Irani. Mrs Irani will now only hold the portfolio of Minister of Textiles. A communique from the office of President Ram Nath Kovind said, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has been given an additional charge of Ministry of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs till Arun Jaitley, who underwent a kidney surgery recently, recovers from treatment. 

Notes:
The International Day of Families is observed every year on May 15 across the world to promote awareness of issues relating to families and increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic progression that affects families. The 2018 theme “Families and inclusive societies” will explore the role of families and family policies in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 16 in terms of promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a comprehensive plan “REPLACE” to eliminate industrially-produced artificial trans fats from the global food supply by 2023. The elimination of trans fats is key to protecting the health and saving lives. The global health body estimates that every year, trans fat intake leads to over 5,00,000 deaths worldwide from cardiovascular diseases. Industrially-produced trans fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack, baked, and fried foods. Manufacturers often use them as they have a longer shelf life than other fats.

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:
The 4th executive committee meeting of South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) was held in Kolkata, West Bengal on May 8-10, 2018 to curb wildlife crime in South Asian region. It was the first-ever meeting of SAWEN to be held in India since its inception in 2011. The 2-day conference was attended by representatives of 7 (excluding Pakistan) out of 8 member countries. Six proposals, including tracking of wildlife smuggling route, review of existing laws and structure for the organisation were tabled during the meeting. Participating countries also adopted many resolutions to curb wildlife crime in the region. They agreed on having operational framework for strengthening the regional body to combat wildlife crime. The SAWEN provides a platform for its member countries to cooperatively work together in the fight against the burgeoning wildlife crime.