GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 23, 2017

Notes:
The 7-member high-level committee on Scouts and Guides under the chairmanship of Harsh Malhotra has submitted its final report to Minister for State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Vijay Goel. The Committee has suggested mandatory revamp of the Bharat Scout and Guides and Hindustan Scouts and Guides. It has found a number of irregularities and anomalies in the management and financial management. It has further recommended for a permanent monitoring Committee to periodically assess the activities of both the organizations. The committee has also recommended that there should be government nominees on the Boards of both the organizations. It also stated that complaints have also been reported, regarding leakage of question papers related to Rashtrapati Puraskar in 2016-2017 in Bharat Scouts and Guides.

Notes:
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez has been bestowed with the International Humanitarian Award in Editor’s Choice category at the 2017 annual Asian Voice Charity Awards for her work in India and worldwide. She has been working with the charity ‘Habitat for Humanity for last five years. This organization works to help people to live with dignity by giving them homes to live in.

Notes:
The 2017 Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM) has started at Kota, Rajasthan from May 24, 2017 to empower farmers with latest technical know-how and best practices. Malaysia is the partner country in the GRAM Kota 2017. The GRAM will provide a platform for Agri-firms to promote themselves and/or find promoters. The 3-day event will bring all stakeholders- farmers from in and around Kota, academicians, technologists, agribusiness companies and policy makers – to accelerate development of sustainable agricultural and allied activities through innovative methods and best practices.

Notes:
Recently, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 52nd annual meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) Group-2017 at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre in Gandhinagar Gujarat with theme “Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa”, which has started from May 22 and will continue till May 26, 2017. It is the first-ever AfDB meeting in India, in which more than 3000 delegates from 81 member countries from across the world including the Governors, Alternate Governors, Executive Directors, policy makers and businesses. The 2018 annual meeting of AfDB Group is scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea.

Notes:
Rohan Chakravarty, a young Indian Wildlife and environment cartoonist, has won the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International President’s Award in Manado, Indonesia for his efforts to inspire change and attitudes towards nature. The award is the global conservation organization’s top accolade to recognize outstanding leadership in young conservationists from around the world. The award acknowledges and encourages outstanding achievements of young people under the age of 30 who are making significant contributions to nature conservation.

Notes:
Sweden has won the 2017 Ice Hockey World Championship by defeating Canada 2-1 after a penaly shoot-out. With this win, Sweden has won its 10th ice hockey world title. The 2017 tournament was hosted by Paris, France, and Germany from May 5 to 21, 2017. The official tournament mascots were Asterix and Obelix, the main characters from the popular French comic book series “The Adventures of Asterix”.

Notes:
The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is observed every year on May 21 to bridge the gap between different cultures. The day is an opportunity to help communities understand the value of cultural diversity and learn how to |live together in harmony. This day was created as a result of the destruction of the Buddha statues of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2001. The 2017 theme is “Local Culture as a Driver for Economic Growth”.

Notes:
Mathunny Mathews (81), popularly known as ‘Toyota Sunny’, has recently passed away on May 20, 2017 in Qadisiya in Kuwait. The funeral was held at his native Podippara, Eraviperoor in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. He was an Indian & a resident in Kuwait, who played a key role in the safe evacuation of 1.7 lakh Indian nationals from the Emirate after Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990. Mathews was one of the founding members of the Indian Arts Circle which brought the expats together. He was the inspiration for ‘Airlift’, a Bollywood movie in which Akshay Kumar depicted Ranjit Katyal.

Notes:
China has become the largest stainless steel producer in the world in 2016, according to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) at annual conference held on May 14-19, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. India overtook Japan as the second- largest producer in 2016. ISSF is a non-profit research and development organisation founded in 1996 and serves as the focal point for the international stainless steel industry. As per the report, India’s stainless steel production rose to 3.32 million tonne in 2016 showing an impressive growth of about 9% over 3 million tonne it produced in 2015.

Notes:
The Ghughua Fossil National Park is located near Shahpura in Madhya Pradesh in which plant fossils belonging to 31 genera of 18 families have been identified. The park is blessed with priceless treasure of plant fossils which have been dated 65 million years old. The site was founded during the 1970s by Dr. Dharmendra Prasad, a statistical officer of the Mandla district and honorary secretary of the district archaeology unit.