GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 21, 2018

Notes:
Uttam Pacharne, the noted artist and sculptor, has been appointed as the new Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi by the President of India. He will hold office for a term of three years from the date on which he assumes the charge of his office. Pacharne is a widely respected person in the field of art and has held various important positions. Currently, he is Member of Advisory Committee of Kala Academy (Goa) and Member of Advisory Committee of P.L. Deshpande State Lalit Kala Academy and Director of Janseva Sahakari Bank (Borivali). Previously in March 2018, M.L. Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Akademies) of Ministry of Culture, was appointed Protem Chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi.

Notes:
The 26th BASIC Ministerial Meeting of Environment Ministers was held in Durban, South Africa. India was represented by Union Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan. In it, Dr Vardhan reiterated his appeal to make joint efforts to create a societal movement in combating climate change through “Green Good Deeds”. He told his counterparts from BASIC countries and Michal Kurtyka of Poland, who will take over as next president of Conference of Parties (COP-24), that India has shown the vision and the political will to act. The Basic countries is a bloc of four countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China, formed by an agreement on November 28, 2009. In a joint statement issued, the Basic countries had committed to work together with other parties to ensure the full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement.

Notes:
Davis Cup player Prajnesh Gunneswaran has won the prestigious T.K. Ramanathan award for the year 2017-18 at the annual day function of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association at SDAT tennis stadium on May 19, 2018. The award is instituted by the legendary Ramanathan Krrishnan in the memory of his father, which carries a cash prize of Rs 30,000. Beside this, Bandaru Kundana Sri bagged the Nagamani Mahadevan award and Rs10, 000. VM Sandeep, part of the junior Davis Cup team, secured the Muthukrishnan Memorial Award with Rs 10,000.

Notes:
IIT Kanpur has set up the India’s first advisory Centre for Energy Regulation (CER) with the help of Government of United Kingdom to strengthen policy and regulatory limitations in energy and power sector. It would adopt innovative approach to engage with stakeholders in the power sector, especially the electricity regulatory commissions, electric utilities and the academia. The centre would also develop a regulatory database to enable stakeholders in taking more informed decisions. The online learning modules and tools would help enhance understanding of the regulatory and policy aspect for the beginners as well as advanced learners and the centre’s output can later be accessed from its web portal cer.iitk.ac.in.

Notes:
According to the AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration Review, India is the 6th wealthiest country in the world with a total wealth of US $8,230 billion. The factors that will help in wealth creation in India include large number of entrepreneurs, good educational system, robust outlook for IT, business process outsourcing, real estate, healthcare and media sectors which will result in a 200% rise in wealth in 10 years. In the list, the United States is the wealthiest country in the world with a total wealth of $62,584 billion. China stood at the 2nd place with $24,803 billion, while Japan is at the 3rd place with $19,522 billion. Total wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each country. It includes all their assets less any liabilities. As per report, the global wealth is expected to rise by 50% over the next decade, reaching $321 trillion by 2027. The fastest growing wealth markets are expected to be India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China, Mauritius.

Notes:
Anil Kumar Jha has been appointed as chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of Coal India Limited (CIL) till his superannuation i.e. January 31, 2020. Prior to this post, He was CMD of subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields. Jha replaced acting chairman Suresh Kumar, who has been holding the post of additional secretary at the ministry of coal. The CIL is a state-owned coal mining company headquartered in Kolkata.

Notes:
In Tennis, Rafael Nadal has beaten defending champion Alexander Zverev by 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to win Italian Open title for a record 8th time. With his victory in Rome, Nadal regained the World No. 1 ranking before the 2018 French Open.

Notes:
The Indian women’s Hockey team failed to defend its crown at the 5th Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2018, as it lost to hosts South Korea, 0-1 in the summit clash at the Sunrise Stadium in Donghae City on May 20. South Korea set a resolute defence and scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute when Youngsil Lee found the back of the net from a field effort. With this, South Korea has lifted the title for the 3rd time after having won it in 2010 and 2011. India, on the other hand, finished second best for the second time after having lost to Japan in the final of the 2013 edition. Indian striker Vandana Katariya was declared player of the tournament while youngster Lalremsiami was named as the upcoming player of the tournament. Besides, striker Navneet Kaur and Vandana Katariya finished as joint top-scorer in the tournament along with China’s Xiaoming Song.

Notes:
Bernard Lewis (101), the renowned Jewish-American historian, has passed away in New Jersey, United States on May 19, 2018. He was one of the most famous and influential Middle East scholars in the world who warned of a “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West. His influential books shaped generations of scholars on the West Asian region but whose views stirred fierce passions. Mr. Lewis, who was born in London and was a long-time professor at Princeton University, was a Cold War hawk, a strong pro-Israel Jew, and influential among White House and Pentagon planners of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. The books included The Arabs in History (1950), The Emergence of Modern Turkey (1961), and The Crisis of Islam (2003).

Notes:
Russia has launched the world’s first floating nuclear power station ” Akademik Lomonosov ” at a ceremony in the port of the far northern city of Murmansk, where it will be loaded with nuclear fuel before heading to eastern Siberia. The 21,500-tonne ship was named after Academician Mikhail Lomonosov. Akademik Lomonosov, which is constructed by the state nuclear power firm Rosatom, has a length of 144 metres and width of 30 metres (98 ft). It has a displacement of 21,500 tonnes and a crew of 69 people. It will be primarily used to power oil rigs as Russia pushes further north into the Arctic to drill for oil and gas and needs electricity in far-flung locations.