GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 11, 2017

Notes:
Mark Lowcock, the head of Britain’s international development department, will be the new Under-secretary General of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). He will succeed Stephen O’Brien, who held the post for two years. He will be tasked with leading the UN’s struggling relief efforts in Syria along with major aid operations in South Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, the Central African Republic and the Lake Chad region.

Notes:
Sanjay Mitra, the 1982 batch officer of West Bengal cadre, will be the new defence secretary of India for a fixed two-year tenure after G Mohan Kumar retires on May 24, 2017. This will be his first posting in the Defence Ministry. At present, Mitra is holding the charge of secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways.

Notes:
Harpreet Singh from India has won the bronze mendal in Greco-Roman 80kg category at 2017 Asian Wrestling Championships. He edged out Na Junjie of China by 3-2 in the play-off for the bronze medal.

Notes:
Prof. Vikram Vishal, the assistant professor in the Earth Sciences department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, has been conferred with the 2017 Young Scientist award from the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). He won the award for proposing a scientific model that can trap the carbon dioxide emitted by industries and inject them in hard rock within the sub-surface of earth. It may prove to be a long-term solution for carbon dioxide emissions in the country. The award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity and excellence in young scientists, and awarded annually by INSA. It carries a bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.

Notes:
Taranjeet Singh has been appointed the Country Director for Twitter in India. He will lead the team by driving an integrated business strategy and spearheading cross-functional collaboration. Prior to this appointment, he was leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India. Singh was responsible for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India. Before joining Twitter, he was sales director for BBC Advertising in South Asia. Prior to BBC, he held various positions at Outlook Publishing.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the digital filing system “Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS)” of Supreme Court at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi to serve as a digital repository for case-related information. This digital filing system will enable the Supreme Court of India (SCI) to go paperless. Its functions include the option of e-filing cases, checking listing dates, case status, and online service of notice/summons, office reports and overall tracking of progress of a case filed with the apex court registry.

Notes:
The 29th edition of India–Indonesia bilateral maritime exercise “Co-Ordinated Patrol (CORPAT)” has started at Port Blair under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command from May 9 and will continue till May 12, 2017. The closing ceremony of the CORPAT is scheduled at Belawan, Indonesia from 22 – 25 May 17. The CORPAT reflects the shared concerns between the two countries for a peaceful Indian Ocean for the benefit of international community. The Andaman and Nicobar Command is the only Tri-service theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India.

Notes:
Dr. Hubert Minnis has been elected as the new Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, after delivering a crushing defeat to Perry Christie’s Progressive Liberal Party in a 34-5 parliamentary split.

Notes:
The National Technology Day (NTD) is celebrated every year on May 11 by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology to mark the historic feat of test-firing its very first nuclear-capable missile back in 1998 and to commemorate achievements of Innovation and Technology in India. The 2017 theme is “Technology for inclusive and sustainable growth”.

Notes:
Radha Mohan Singh, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has recently launched an online interface “e-Krishi Samvad” in New Delhi to provide direct solution to the problem faced by farmers in the agriculture sector. The e-Krishi Samvad is an internet-based interface and is a unique platform that will provide direct and effective solutions to the problems faced by farmers and stakeholders. With this facility, farmers can directly connect to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) website www.icar.org.in and get the appropriate solutions from the experts through web or SMS. Stakeholders can upload photographs related to diseases of the crops, animals or fishes for diagnostics and remedial measures instantly from the specialists.