GK & Current Affairs Quiz: March 22, 2017

Notes:
Upendra Tripathy, an IAS officer of Karnataka Cadre, has been appointed as the full-time Interim Director General (IDG) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The purpose of the ISA is to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource rich countries where the global community including bilateral and multilateral organizations, corporates, industry, and stakeholders can make a positive contribution to assist and help achieve the common goals of increasing use of the solar energy in meeting energy needs of prospective ISA member countries in a safe, convenient, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner. The headquarters of ISA is located at National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gwalpahari, Gurgaon.

Notes:
The 12th edition of Special Olympics World Winter Games has started at Graz and Schladming in Austria from March 14 and will continue till March 25, 2017. Over 2,600 athletes from 105 nations are taking part in the event. From India, the team of 89 differently-abled sports persons of the Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) is participating in the competition. So far, Indian team has won 18 medals in the ongoing 2017 Olympics World Winter Games. The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, organized by Special Olympics.

Notes:
Ankur Khanna has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of International Cricket Council (ICC) and will join the ICC headquarters in Dubai at the end of March 2017. Before this, he was the CFO of the Air Asia India. Prior to Air Asia India, Khanna worked in senior roles at Air France/ KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and ITC, an associate company of British American Tobacco.

Notes:
The 23rd Conference of Auditors General of Commonwealth Countries and British Overseas Territories has held in New Delhi from 21-23 March, 2017. The conference was attended by 52 commonwealth countries and 9 British overseas territories. The theme of the conference is “Fostering Partnerships for Capacity Development in Public Audit”. This is the first time the prestigious conference is held in India, which is hosted by Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG). The last such conference was held in Malta in 2014.

Notes:
The 5th edition of ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM) – 2017’ has started at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on March 23 and will extend to other North Eastern states including, Dimapur (Nagaland), Majuli (Assam), Imphal (Manipur), Aizawl (Mizoram), Gangtok (Sikkim), Shillong (Meghalaya) till March 31. It is organized by the Union Ministry of Culture. The purpose of the RSM-2017 is to preserve, promote and popularize the heritage and cultural diversity of Indian culture and reconnect the new generation with Indian culture. Approx 5,000 artists from North East India and 2,000 artists from across the country will showcase India’s cultural heritage through performances, arts and cuisines.

Notes:
Maggie MacDonnell of Canada has won the 2017 Global Teacher Prize for changing the lives of her students and transforming her community in village of Salluit, which has a high rate of suicide. Salluit is an Inuit village deep in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the world’s most remote regions, surrounded by snow and ice. The Global Teacher Prize is awarded by the Varkey Foundation under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Emir of Dubai.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has recently launched initiatives to develop Majuli as India’s first carbon neutral district and as a biodiversity heritage. Apart from this, Assam government has also launch “Forests are Lives” campaign to celebrate the importance of Assam’s rich forest and biodiversity.

Notes:
The World Poetry Day (WPD) is observed every year on March 21 to recognize the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world .

Notes:
Justice Navniti Prasad Singh has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. Earlier, Justice Singh was a former judge in the Patna High Court. He succeeded Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, who has been sworn-in as chief justice of Chhattisgarh High Court.