Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
The Assam government has made Sanskrit education compulsory in all state board schools till Class VIII. Apart from making Sanskrit mandatory, the cabinet also created a post to monitor cleanliness in government-run schools under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Assam government has also decided to appoint a computer teacher in all high schools to provide students access to computer education.

Notes:
India will attend the meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), which is scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan on March 2017. The PIC is a bilateral commission of officials from India-Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Under the IWT treaty, it is required that India and Pakistan meet every financial year. As per the provisions in the treaty, India can use only 20% of the total water carried by the Indus River. The treaty which was signed in 1960 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan, gives India control over the three eastern rivers of the Indus basin, the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej, while Pakistan has the three western rivers, the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum.

Notes:
The 10th edition of International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) has started with the theme “Building knowledge Societies: From Digital Government to Digital Empowerment” in New Delhi from March 7, 2017. The conference will discuss the role of technology in transforming relation between government and its citizens, businesses and civil society. The key objective of ICEGOV 2017 is to explore how digital government can lead to digital empowerment by local knowledge. It is recognition of India’s emerging role as a massive cyber power, accelerated by the Digital India push which has acquired international acknowledgement. The 3-day event is organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in collaboration with United Nations University and UNESCO and has inaugurated by the Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Law & Justice.

Notes:
Prof. Ronald Drever (85), a pioneer in the field of gravitational waves, has recently passed away in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). He was one of the co-founders of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors that detected the gravitational waves emited by the merger of a binary black hole pair.

Notes:
The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is observed every year on March 15 to promote the basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those rights are respected and protected. It also gives people a chance to protest against the market abuses and social injustices. The 2017 theme is ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust’. In India, besides the WCRD, we observe the National Consumer Day (NCD) on 24th of December every year.

Notes:
The 2017 International Conference on the “Vision Zero” and its relevance to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) has started in New Delhi from March 15 and will continue till March 17. The conference will provide a forum for promoting safety and health at work by exchanging knowledge, practices and experience. During the conference, an exhibition on “OSH – INOSH EXPO 2017” will also be organize to show-case new trends in Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), Occupational Health Promotion (OGP), etc. The 3-day conference is organized by Directorate General Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment and German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Germany in association with International Social Security Association (ISSA).

Notes:
Amy Krouse Rosenthal (51), the prolific American author of both adult and children’s books, has recently passed away in Chicago, United States. She is best known for her memoir “Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life”, her children’s picture books and the film project “The Beckoning of Lovely”. She is the only author to have three children’s books make the Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy list in the same year. She was a contributor to Chicago’s NPR affiliate WBEZ, and to the TED conference.

Notes:
The 6th edition of the International Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) has started in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from March 16, 2017. It is the largest Engineering sourcing show in India for International visitors, which is organized under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The focus sectors of the IESS are industrial supply, metal & shop floor, industrial & electrical machinery, automotive component, etc. The 3-day event has exclusive Technology and Innovation Pavilions with representations from BARC, IIT Mumbai, IIT Madras, Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI), International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) and MSME Tools Room.

Notes:
The book “The Sleepwalker’s Dream: A Novel” has been authored by Dr. Dhrubajyoti Borah, the President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Through the book, the author traces the journey of a group of militants towards an elusive freedom and an uncertain future. It is about June, Ron and several other rebels fleeing their hideout in Bhutan after an army attack along with their injured unconscious leader, who is unlikely to survive the ordeal of their journey towards the Assam border.

Notes:
Babul Supriyo, the singer-turned BJP MP, has become the Vice-President (VP) of the Local Organising Committee (LoC) of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, which is to be hosted by India. The event will be held in October 2017. Currently, he is the Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.