GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 17, 2017

Notes:
Dr. Aravind Kumar Rengan, the Assistant Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad (IIT-H), has been awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal in the Young Scientist category for 2017 for his research in cancer treatment. The award, which consists of a bronze medal, a certificate and cash award of Rs. 25,000, will be given to him during INSA’s anniversary general meeting in December 2017.

Notes:
Indian teen Rifath Sharook from Tamil Nadu has designed the world’s lightest & smallest satellite named “KalamSat”. The satellite weighs only 64 grams and will be launched by NASA on June 21, 2017. With this, he will become the first Indian student to have his experiment launched by NASA. The main role of the satellite will be to demonstrate the performance of 3-D printed carbon fibre. The satellite has been designed in a way which will have a 240-minute mission in space and will operate for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment of space.

Notes:
Arun Jaitley, the Union Minister of Finance, has officially launched the Portal of Operation Clean Money on May 16, 2017 for a transparent tax administration as well as to enable citizen engagement for creating a tax compliant society. The salient features of the portal are to provide comprehensive information at one place, to enable citizen engagement for creating a tax compliant society & to enabling transparent tax administration by sharing status reports. The portal designed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will identify those who have made large deposits or purchases and which are not in line with declared income as a follow-up to Operation Clean Money.

Notes:
Javier Valdez (50), the renowned Mexican journalist and founder of Ríodoce, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen on May 15, 2017 in the northwest state of Sinaloa in Mexico. Valdez was a nationally and internationally-recognised journalist who authored several books on the drug trade, including “Narcoperiodismo” and “Los Morros del Narco”. He was known for his reporting on drug trafficking and organized crime.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has recently constituted “Maa committee” to check mid day meal quality in state-run primary schools to ensure that the students will get nutritious food prepared in hygienic conditions. It will be a committee of six mothers, from all sections of the society, whose students are studying in that school. From cleanliness in kitchen to quality of food being served to children, the committee will keep an eye on minute details.

Notes:
The headquarters of OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of Organization (IPHRC) are at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. IPHRC seeks to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Muslim world through provision of objective and neutral views on many human rights issues, in accordance with international rules and in consonance with Islamic principles. The IPHRC is an expert body with advisory capacity established by Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as the principal organ working independently in the area of human rights. The IPHRC has the power to monitor human rights within the member states and facilitates the integration of human rights into all OIC mandates. It also aids in the promotion of political, civil, and economic rights in all member states.

Notes:
Arjun Maini from Bengaluru, driving for Jenzer Motorsports, has created history by becoming the first Indian driver to win his first race in the GP3 (a feeder series to GP2) series at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain on May 14, 2017. Now, Maini stands 3rd in the championship with 21 points after the first round of the nine-round GP3 series. Nirei Fukuzumi of Japan (Team ART Grand Prix) leads the standings with 29 points, followed by Maini’s Jenzer teammate, Alessio Lorandi of Italy (25). The 2017 GP3 series will finish at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi on November 26, 2017.

Notes:
Bandaru Dattatraya, the Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, will lead the Indian delegation to the 2017 G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meet, which is scheduled to be held at Bad Neuenahr in Germany on May 18-19, 2017. Dattatraya will outline India’s recent initiatives for the welfare of its workers including those related to employment promotion, social security, Maternity benefit and child labour. The G20 meet will discuss various topics on labour, migrants and youth employment. A G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Declaration is likely to be adopted at the end of the meeting, which will be presented to the Summit scheduled on 7th-8th July at Hamburg, Germany.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) has successfully created India’s first smart grid project, which will generate power from renewable sources of energy. Soon, the project is to be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee. The smart grid will be synchronised to generate power from solar, wind and vegetable waste resources, depending on the weather conditions and availability of waste products. The power to be generated from solar energy depends on the availability of sunlight, while wind energy will be produced during nor’wester and tropical storm. The power from biogas will be generated from vegetable waste collected from the campus kitchen and outside markets.

Notes:
Anshu Jamsenpa, the Indian mountaineer from Arunachal Pradesh, has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to scale the Mount Everest for the fourth time. She will attempt a double ascent to the world’s highest peak to make it a total five successful climbs. If she is successful with her double ascent this time, Ms Jamsenpa will set a record five climbs of Mt Everest.