GK & Current Affairs Quiz: May 26-27, 2018

Notes:
Japanese women’s badminton team has clinched the Uber Cup for the first time since 1981 when they defeated hosts Thailand 3-0 at the IMPACT Stadium on May 26, 2018. Ranked two in world singles, Akane Yamaguchi began Japan’s title got off to a flying start as she beat World No. 4 Ratchanok Intanon 21-15, 21-19. Doubles pair Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota gave Japan their second point, winning the tie 21-18, 21-12. Nozomi Okuhara spelled victory for her side as she made light work of Nitchaon Jindapol, who looked visibly tired, beating her by 21-12, 21-9. Earlier Japan lifted this coveted cup in 1966, 1969, 1972 and 1978. China won the title 14 times. The Uber Cup is also known as the Women’s World Badminton Championship. It is second in prestige only to the Olympics as a national team event.

Notes:
Prof. Ganeshi Lal, the Haryana BJP leader, has been appointed as the new Governor of Odisha. The post was vacant since March 2018 after veteran Naga leader S C Jamir completed his tenure. After that, Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was additionally discharging the duties of Odisha Governor since March 2018. Meanwhile, Kummanam Rajasekharan, who is Kerala BJP chief, will be the new Governor of Mizoram. He will succeed Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma, who is completing his tenure on May 28, 2018. President Ram Nath Kovind approved their appointments.

Notes:
Mia Amor Mottley has become the first female Prime Minister (PM) of the Caribbean island of Barbados. The win makes Mottley just the 8th PM to lead Barbados since the island gained independence from Great Britain in 1966. The Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) recorded an historic landslide victory in the 2018 general election, secured all 30 seats in the House of Assembly and over 70% of the popular vote that makes them the first party to accomplish this feat.

Notes:
The 9th edition of ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav’ under the Ministry of Culture, has started in Tehri, Uttarakhand on May 25, 2018. The 3-day Mahotsav will provide an opportunity to citizens specially youths to experience true spirit of “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat”. It will showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Country in all its rich and varied dimensions, viz Handicrafts, Cuisine, Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Documentation and Performing Arts-Folk, Tribal, Classical and Contemporary- all in one place.

Notes:
Veteran actor Geeta Kapoor (57) has passed away at a Mumbai hospital in Maharashtra on May 26, 2018. Her son left her at a hospital last year and never returned to check on her. The film personalities Ashoke Pandit and Ramesh Taurani were paying for her care. She acted in over 100 films, including Meena Kumari’s classic Pakeezah.

Notes:
The Telangana government has announced a unique life insurance scheme for farmers. Under the scheme, the government will provide life insurance facility of Rs 5 lakh to the nominee, after the death of the insured farmer. The entire premium will be paid by the government to the insurance agency and the nominee will get the amount within 10 days of the claim after the death of the farmer. With this, the dependent family will get the benefit irrespective of the reason for the death of the farmer. The state government has tied up with the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for the implementation of the scheme. The farmers in the age group of 18 to 60 are eligible to enroll their names to get benefit from it. The insurance scheme will commence on August 15 and farmers will be given insurance bonds. Every year on August 1, the total premium amount will be credited to LIC.

Notes:
The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and IIT Bombay have been awarded the Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Award 2018 in the Academic Institutions category at the 2018 India Innovation Conference in Bengaluru on May 16. The award places IIT Bombay in the top 12 innovators in India. Under the Government Research Organizations category, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have been awarded the Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Award 2018. Every year, Clarivate Analytics recognizes the most innovative companies in India according to patent-related metrics that get to the essence of what it means to be truly innovative. This analysis is done using proprietary Clarivate Analytics data and tools. The evaluation is strictly driven by metrics for both patent volume (patents published) as well as patent quality (grant success rate, extent of globalisation, and citations).

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Nepal for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. With this, Nepal has become the first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to defeat the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Trachoma, an eye disease caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, is spread through contact with infective eye or nose discharges. Infection is particularly common in young children. Transmission is associated with poor sanitation and hygiene, which increase the availability of eye discharges and encourage the breeding of flies. Trachoma puts more than 190 million people at risk of blindness in 41 countries. It is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of around 1.9 million people worldwide.

Notes:
Former US astronaut Alan Bean (86), who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon, has passed away in Texas, United States. Bean went into space twice, the first time in November 1969 as the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 12 moon-landing mission. In 1973 he was commander of the second crewed flight to Skylab – America’s first space station. Bean retired from NASA in 1981 and carved a successful career as an artist. His paintings, inspired by space travel, featured lunar boot prints as well as small pieces of his mission patches which were stained by Moon dust.

Notes:
The Wanakbori Thermal Power Station (WTPS) is a coal-fired power station and is located on the bank of Mahi river in Kheda district of Gujarat. There are seven units of each 210 MW capacity.