Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2018

Notes:
India will provide $5 million dollar assistance to Jordan in the form of vaccines and medicines in 2018. Apart from this, India and Jordan have inked 12 agreements in areas including Defence, Health and Cultural Exchange Programme. The other MoUs include cooperation between Prasar Bharati and Jordan TV Cooperation and Indian Institute of Mass Communication and Jordan Media Institute (JMI). The MoU between Prasar Bharti and Jordan TV provides for cooperation in the fields of exchange and co-production of programs, training of personnel and further coordination. The pacts were inked after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and King of Jordan Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein in New Delhi. The King Abdullah II arrived in New Delhi on February 27 on a three-day visit to India.

Notes:
The All India Radio (AIR) and National Book Trust (NBT) has recently signed a MoU to preserve and promote cultural heritage and folk songs sung on various occasion across the country. Several traditional and folk songs have been recorded under the Akashvani Lok Sampada Sanrakhshan Mahapariyojana. The MoU was inked in presence of Director General of AIR, F. Shehreyar and NBT Chairman, Baldeo Bhai Sharma in New Delhi. Through NBT, All India Radio will provide information to people about the rich heritage of folk songs preserved by it. The NBT will publish the Sanskar and folk songs. The NBT is an Indian publishing house functions under aegis of Ministry of Human Resource The headquarters of NBT is located in Vasant Kunj, Delhi.

Notes:
India’s star wrestler Vinesh Phogat has settled for Silver Medal in the 50kg Freestyle competition at the Asian Wrestling Championship in Kyrgyzstan on March 1. In the final of the event at Bishkek, she lost to China’s Chun Lei. Another Indian, Sangeeta claimed Bronze in 59kg division. 

Notes:
Justice S. Ratnavel Pandian (89), the former Supreme Court judge, has passed away at Chennai, Tamil Nadu on February 28, 2018. He was a multi-faceted personality who tried his hands in politics before entering the legal profession. In the apex court, he was part of a Bench that decided the famous Indra Sawhney case, in which the constitutionality of reservations to Backward Classes was upheld in 1992. After his retirement in 1994, Justice Pandian headed the 5th Central Pay Commission and submitted its final report in April 1997. He took over as chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes on August 14, 2006 and was given the status of Union Cabinet Minister for the duration of the term of his office, which lasted till 2009.

Notes:
The mega annual cultural festival ‘India by the Nile’ will be held in Cairo, Egypt from March 6, 2018 with main focus on classical culture. The 12-day event will host a wide range of events to celebrate Indian culture and its diversity. It is the biggest foreign festival in Egypt which provides audiences an Indian cultural experience and encourages artistic collaborations between India and Egypt will be held in several cities such as Cairo. The festival, which is organised by the Embassy of India in Egypt and the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture in collaboration with entertainment company Teamwork Arts, is a celebration of contemporary and classical music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, food and literature.

Notes:
India’s shooter Manu Bhaker from Haryana won the gold medal in 10 metre Air Pistol Women event at the 2018 ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico on March 4. She shot 237.5 points to bag top honour at the ongoing event. Meanwhile, in the men’s 10-metre Air Rifle event, Ravi Kumar won a Bronze, which was his first World Cup medal. India has so far bagged 4 medals – two gold and two bronze at the event. A total of 404 athletes from 50 National Olympic Committees are participating in the in the 12-day competition, which will have 15 medal events including three mixed team events. India has fielded a 33-member squad.

Notes:
The Odisha government has launched a programme “Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas (Our Village, our development)” to reach out to the people in rural areas and involve themselves in the developmental activities. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has flagged off mobile video vans for ‘Ama Gaon Ama Vikas’ programme that will move across the State to highlight various welfare schemes at villages in the state. Through these Wi-Fi enabled latest technology video wall vans, people can directly send their grievances to the Chief Minister’s Office at the Secretariat in Bhubaneswar. This initiative will help people in solving their grievances instantly.

Notes:
Prafulla Das (91), the renowned litterateur, has passed at Rajkanika in Kendrapara district of Odisha on March 3, 2018. He was a recipient of the prestigious “Sarala Award” for his achievement in the literary field. ‘Banhimana’, the biography of freedom fighter Malati Chaudhury, brought him the Sarala Award in 2014. Das had written a number of books on the history of India’s freedom struggle and the role of Odisha.

Notes:
For the first time, India has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign partners — Russia & Bangladesh — for civil nuclear cooperation. The MoU will be helpful for cooperation in construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna, Bangladesh. This will be first ever nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. It was signed in Moscow by deputy director general of Rosatom (Russia’s Alex civil nuclear body) Nikolay Spassky, ambassador of Bangladesh in Russia SM Saiful Hoque and Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran. The Rooppur project is the first initiative under an Indo-Russian deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries. This will also be the first time Indian companies will be able to participate in a nuclear power project abroad. India is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and hence cannot participate directly in construction of atomic power reactors. The Nuclear Power Cooperation of India Limited (NPCIL) will play a key role in building a nuclear power plant on foreign soil with the proposed supply of equipment and material for the power station being built by Russia in Bangladesh.

Notes:
Viswanathan Anand, the five-time world champion, has won the 11thTal Memorial Chess tournament (rapid section) 2018 with a score of 6.0/9 in Moscow on March 4. The win came after an easy final round draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel. . The trophy adds to Anand’s world rapid title won in Riyadh over two months ago. The Tal Memorial Rapid is a 10-player single round-robin taking place in the Museum of Russian Impressionism in Moscow. The ten top players were competing for a $130,000 prize fund, with $25,000 for 1st place.