GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 10, 2017

Notes:
Moon Jae-in, a former human rights attorney, has been sworn-in as the 19th President of South Korea. He succeeded Park Geun-hye. After taking the office, Moon appointed South Jeolla Province Governor, Lee Nak-yon as the Prime Minister. He also nominated Suh Hoon, a longtime intelligence official with expertise in North Korea issues, as his new chief of the National Intelligence Service.

Notes:
The Union Government has set up a high-level task force under Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya to provide credible data for employment policies. The task force will recommend solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner. At present, data on employment is collected and published by certain agencies including the Labour Bureau (LB) but the coverage is very small. The Labour Bureau data covers only a few sectors and the methodology is not based on updated panel of survey respondents.

Notes:
The Sakewa festival of Rai Community has recently celebrated in Sikkim as a tribute to Mother Nature. The fest is also known as Bhoomi Puja or Chandi Puja or worship of land. This festival is marked with the performing of puja where prayers are offered to the Supreme Power for Peace and Protection and for the well-being of all the living and non-living things of the universe. Apart from this, Buddha Purnima is also celebrated in Sikkim as the day marked the birth of Gautam Buddha and also the day on which he attained Nirvana under the Mahabodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. The people visited monasteries and listen sermons across the state. Most monks have spent the day reading scriptures before the statue of the Buddha.

Notes:
Jhulan Nishit Goswami, Indian women’s team fast bowler, has become the highest wicket-taker in the history of women ODI cricket and broke the record of the Australia Cathryn Fitzpatrick of 180 wickets from 109 matches. She dismissed South Africa’s Raisibe Ntozakhe in an ongoing ODI to claim her 181st victim in the 50-over format in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Jhulan’s feat has been achieved in her 153rd match. Jhulan was also adjudged ICC’s ‘Women Cricketer of the Year’ in 2007. Jhulan Goswami also has 40 wickets in 10 Tests and 50 wickets in 60 Twenty20 Internationals.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has recently imposed a ban on sale of ‘High in Fat, Salt and Sugar’ (HFSS) food at school canteens across the state. A Government Resolution (GR) listed 12 categories of foods which cover potato chips, noodles, carbonated soft drinks, pizza, burger, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, etc., which cannot be sold. It also gives a list of 20 items that can be sold, which include wheat roti, vegetable pulav, idli-vada, coconut water and jaljira. The resolution also calls for creating awareness among children about consuming nutritional food.

Notes:
The Bollywood actress Konkona Sen Sharma has won the best actress award for “Lipstick Under My Burkha” at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) 2017. She also bagged the best director award for her debut film “A Death in the Gunj” at the award ceremony. The others who grabbed awards at the 17th annual extravaganza included K Kaladharan (Best actor) for Malayalam film Ottayaal n Paatha (A Narrow Path), Shubhashish Bhutiani for Mukti Bhawan (Best Film), An Insignificant Man (best documentary) and Malayalam film, Kammatipaddam, was honoured for the screenplay. Onir’s film “Aaba” was declared the best short film at the festival.

Notes:
The World Thalassaemia Day (WTD) is observed every year on May 8 to spread awareness about this deadly disease and the importance of blood donation and how it helps the millions of people suffering from Thalassemia worldwide. Thalassemia is genetic blood disorders characterised by reduction in the synthesis or absence of haemoglobin in the body. According to a WHO report, more than 90% patients with thalassaemia in western countries lead a normal life, whereas in India, roughly half of all patients die before reaching adulthood. Approx 3.9% of India’s population is a carrier for thalassemia. The 2017 theme ‘Together for Humanity’ highlights the need for unity and the efforts that are required to fight this fatal disease.

Notes:
Sohail Mahmood, one of Pakistan’s senior-most diplomats, will be the Pakistan’s new High Commissioner to India. The new envoy will face a daunting task of handling the ties with India amid strains in relationship over a range of issues including cross-border terror attacks in India and the sentencing of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to death for alleged spying. Mahmood will succeed Abdul Basit at the end of May 2017. Currently, he is the Ambassador of Pakistan to Turkey.

Notes:
Arjun Tulshiram Pawar (80), the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister, has recently passed away in Mumbai. He was the minister of state for tribal welfare in the Congress-NCP government led by Vilasrao Deshmukh in 1999. The leader, who represented Kalvan Vidhan Sabha constituency for many years, lost the 2014 state Assembly election.

Notes:
The Mudumalai National Park (MNP) is located about 150 kilometres north-west of Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu. The protected area is home to several endangered and vulnerable species including Indian elephant, Bengal tiger, gaur and Indian leopard. There are at least 266 species of birds in the sanctuary, including critically endangered Indian white-rumped vulture and long-billed vulture.