Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
Ajay Tyagi, a 1984 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has become the 9th Chairman of markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period of 3-years on March 1, 2017. He succeeded U K Sinha. Prior to this appointment, he has handled capital markets division in the Finance Ministry. Tyagi also has diverse experience at the Centre. He was Joint Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before joining Finance Ministry in November 2014 as Additional Secretary. He has also worked in ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel and Rural Development. The chairman of SEBI receives a consolidated pay package of Rs 4.5 lakh per month.

Notes:
Telecom Secretary J S Deepak, a 1982 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, has been appointed as India’s permanent representative to World Trade Organization (WTO) from June 1, 2017. According to the official order, he has been shifted from the telecom ministry and has made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries with immediate effect till May 31, 2017. The WTO is a global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations.

Notes:
Recently, para shooter Avani Lekhara (15) from India shot a junior world record 244.4 in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event (R2) to won the silver medal at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Al Ain, UAE. Beside this, para shooter Pooja Agarwal shot 228.4 in the final of the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 event (P2) to won a silver medal at the tournament. Notably, both Indian shooters were making their international debuts at the competition.

Notes:
Yumnam Yaima Singh (95), the Veteran politician and former Member of Parliament, has recently passed away in Imphal, Manipur. Y Yaima Singh was first elected to the Territorial Council in 1957. He was elected seven times continuously to the Manipur Assembly from Oinam Constituency from 1962 to 1985. He had held various Ministerial posts such as Education, IFCD, and Law & Legislative Affairs. He was the Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly form 1980 – 85. He was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991 on the Manipur People’s Party (MPP) ticket, representing the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency. He was also a brilliant writer, who wrote a book titled “A Piece of Tenth Lok Sabha” in English, amongst many others.

Notes:
The National Conference on Innovation in Educational Administration has started at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi on March 5, 2017. The 3-day conference has organized by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The main purpose of the programme is to recognise innovative ideas and best practices adopted by district and block level education officers for effective management of the educational administrative system at district and block levels. The National Awards for innovation in Educational Administration will be presented by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on March 7. About 150 district and block level education officers from across India and resource persons and faculty of the university will participate in the conference.

Notes:
Recently, the West Bengal government has granted official language status to endangered tribal language “Kurukh” of the Dravidian family. The language is spoken by Oraon and Kisan tribes. Apart from this, the state government has granted official status to Rajbanshi-Kamtapuri language spoken by the Koch Rajbanshi community.

Notes:
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has become the world’s number 2 airport in the over 40 million passengers per annum category, as per the Montreal (Canada)-based Airports Council International 2016 rankings. The ranking is based on the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey report 2016. Beside this, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has secured the first position in Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passengers survey in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category for 2016. The survey statistics shows that Hyderabad Airport has steadily improved its score from 4.4 in 2009 to 4.9 in 2016, measured on scale of 1 to 5. The ASQ awards are presented to those airports whose customers have rated them the highest over the course of the year. The awards will be presented in Port Luis, Mauritius, October 2017.

Notes:
M Chandrakasu (67), the Former Puducherry Minister, has recently passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He represented Nedungad constituency in the outlying enclave of Karaikal for six terms. He was Agriculture Minister in the All India N R Congress (AINRC) government formed by N Rangasamy in 2011.

Notes:
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is recently passed in the Lok Sabha, will raise the maternity leave for working women in public and private sector from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children. The maternity leave beyond the first two children will continue to be 12 weeks. The bill will now be sent to the President for his assent before it becomes an Act. It has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during last winter session. The Bill provides for 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age and a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child. In such cases, 12-week period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother. The bill also makes it mandatory for employers in establishments with 30 women or 50 employees, whichever is less, to provide crèche facilities either in office or in any place within a 500-metre radius.

Notes:
The Himachal Pradesh Government has recently launched the mobile app and website ‘Mera Hunar HP’ for job aspirants. It is a first-of- its-kind application in India. Mera Hunar is a web based platform where the skilled, semi-skilled persons can apply for various jobs as per their convenience viz: Plumber, Carpenter, mechanic, security guards, drivers, tourists guides, etc. The platform is available both in English and Hindi. This platform will directly connect the prospective employers with the job seekers as the application will contain the address and the phone numbers of those looking for jobs and other details as well.This will benefit those looking for daily jobs within their area.