Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
The Union government has approved the proposal for re-appointment of Sushil Chandra as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for a period of one year from June 1, 2017 till May 31, 2018. He was scheduled to retire on June 1, 2017. The Chairperson of CBDT is ex-officio special secretary and is under the direct charge of the revenue secretary of India. The CBDT is the apex policy making body for the Income Tax department. It has six members apart from the chairman and is responsible for framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income Tax department. The headquarters of CBDT is located in New Delhi.

Notes:
Indian-born legendary sitar player Ustad Rais Khan (77) has recently passed away in Karachi, Pakistan on May 6, 2017. Ustad Raees was born in 1939 in Indore, India in a family of musicians. He belonged to the Mewati Gharana of Indian classical music. His maternal grandfather Inayat Ali Khan was also considered one of the finest sitar players in the subcontinent. He composed many famous songs like `Jab Tera Hukam Mila Tarkay Mohaabat Kar Di’, `Ab Kay Saal Poonam Main, `Neend Ankhoun Se Uri’, `Mojoun Sahil Se Milo’, `Main Khayal Hun Kisi Aur Ka’, `Kabhi Kitaboun Main Phool Rakhna’ and many others. In 1968, he moved to Pakistan. Khan was honoured with Presidential award and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2005 and 2017, respectively.

Notes:
Taranjeet Singh has been appointed the Country Director for Twitter in India. He will lead the team by driving an integrated business strategy and spearheading cross-functional collaboration. Prior to this appointment, he was leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India. Singh was responsible for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India. Before joining Twitter, he was sales director for BBC Advertising in South Asia. Prior to BBC, he held various positions at Outlook Publishing.

Notes:
The 14th edition of United Nations International Day of Vesak has started at Colombo in Sri Lanka from May 12-14, 2017 under the theme “Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace”. The events include an International Buddhist Symposium the participation of over 400 delegates from 100 countries. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, is the chief guest for UN Vesak Day. The significance of Vesak lies with the Buddha’s teaching of cessation of suffering and universal peace to all humankind. It is a message to urge followers to do that which is good and to turn away from evil. It is a message of peace and perfect harmony between human beings and nature.

Notes:
Anil Kumar from India has clinched bronze medal in men’s Greco-Roman 85kg category by defeating Uzbekistan’s Muhammadali Shamsiddinov at the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championship at the KD Jadhav Indoor stadium in New Delhi. Apart from this, Jyoti won the bronze in women’s 75kg category.

Notes:
India’s first-ever National Basketball Association (NBA) academy has officially opened in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The NBA Academy India is the NBA’s 5th elite training centre globally, which will be fully funded by the NBA. The NBA academy will employ a holistic, 360-degree approach to player development with focuses on education, leadership, character development and life skills. As part of the program, the students will compete against top competition throughout the year and will have an opportunity to be selected for travel teams that play in international tournaments and exhibition games. The initiative is part of NBA’s drive to expand recruitment globally.

Notes:
Austin has topped the list of 22 tech cities across the world, as per the 2017 Savills Tech Cities Index. San Francisco has acquired 2nd position followed by New York and London. From India, Bengaluru ranked 20th among tech cities in the world. But when it comes to the cost of living index, Bengaluru tops the charts with a weekly residential rent for tech employees and household standing at $236 – compared to the tech cities’ average of $368. The purpose of 2017 Savills Tech Cities programme is to understand the diverse factors that make up a good location choice for the tech sector.

Notes:
Three Indian women wrestlers Sakshi Malik (60kg), Vinesh Phogat (55kg) and Divya Kakran (69kg) bagged silver medals in their respective categories in the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi after losing out their final bouts. Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik lost her final bout against Japan’s Risako Kawai in 60kg category. Sakshi wrestled for the first time in women’s 60kg category after jumping up the weight division from 58kg. Vinesh Phogat lost the final in women’s 55kg category and Divya Kakran in 69 Kg to settle with silver medals.

Notes:
Chanda Kochhar, the chairman of ICICI Bank, has become the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC on May 10, 2017. With this, she has joined the league of former Indian recipients– former President and space scientist APJ Abdul Kalam and IT honcho Narayana Murthy. The annual award was instituted in 1998 by the prestigious Wilson Center to felicitate individuals whose actions and accomplishments, either in their careers or through service.

Notes:
The 43rd edition of G7 summit will be held at Taorminain Sicily, Italy. The attendees will include the leaders of the seven G7 member states as well as representatives of the European Union. The 43rd G7 summit will be the first summit for British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and U.S. President Donald Trump.