Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2017

Notes:
The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu has recently launched the Online Film Certification System “e-Cinepramaan” of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to promote transparency & Ease of Doing Business. The objective is to eliminate the need for human interface to the extent possible. Under the new process, the status of each application (filed by film producers) would be visible online in the dashboard of the producer/concerned CBFC official. Additionally, the new process will eliminate middle men and would mitigate chances of any corruption. The new online certification system would be an important step in making the CBFC Office paper less and would enable effective monitoring & real time progress tracking for both CBFC Officials and the applicant (Producers).

Notes:
Siddhartha Upadhyay, the sports entrepreneur and philanthropist, has been appointed the new member in the governing body of Sports Authority of India (SAI). He is the founder and secretary general of the Society for Transformation, Inclusion, and Recognition through Sports (STAIRS). The STAIRS is a not-for-profit organization work towards sports, education, health and skill development of children across India. The new SAI governing body also includes prominent sporting names such as badminton ace Jwala Gutta, shooter Gagan Narang, athletes Ashwani Nachappa and Shiny Wilson.

Notes:
Paytm will become the first e-commerce company to take membership of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) in April 2017. The move is significant because advertising violations by e-commerce companies, which are big spenders on television, print and digital media, have been on the rise in recent years. This move comes after the six complaints which are filed against the errant advertisers under the e-commerce majors PAYTM, Amazon, Clear trip, Magic bricks, free charge and Pepper fry for making false and misleading claims on November 2016.

Notes:
The popular tribal festival of nature worshipping – ‘Sarhul’ has started in all over Jharkhand with enthusiasm. The festival marks the beginning of New Year by worshiping trees. This annual festival is celebrated during the spring season when trees and other elements of nature are worshiped. Sarhul literally means ‘Worship of Sal’. The festival is dedicated to Dharti mata — Mother Earth. Tribals believe that they can use new crop mainly paddy, leaves of the trees, flowers and fruits of the season only after this festival is celebrated.

Notes:
Anthony Lianzuala, a 1982-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer, took over as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in New Delhi on May 1, 2017. With this, he became the first person from the North-Eastern Region to hold this position. The CGA is the apex Accounting Authority of the Central Government and exercises the powers of the President under Article 150 of the constitution for prescribing the forms of Accounts of the Union and State Governments on the advice of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

Notes:
India’s first-ever Blind Football Academy (BFA) with full time training & rehabilitation for the visually impaired persons is expected to come up at Kochi in Kerala. The Society for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged (SRVC) and the Indian Blind Federation (IBFF) are making an effort to establish the academy. The purpose to set up BFA is to train and develop the best players to create a national team of world class standard and to qualify for the Paralympics by 2024.

Notes:
The National Anti-Child Labour Day is observed every year in India on April 30 to create awareness and educate the citizens about the hardships of the child labourers. It is also an effort to surface the responsibility we hold as social citizens. Apart from this, the International Labour Organization (ILO) also observes World Day against Child Labour every year on June 12 to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour worldwide.

Notes:
In an annual “Asian Development Outlook” economic report released by Asian Development Bank (ADB), India’s GDP growth is predicted at 7.4% in FY 18 (2017-18). The report states that the growth rate will continue to expand to 7.6% in the successive year FY 19 (2018-19). India had grown 7.1% in the previous fiscal year FY 2016-17). As per ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada, the reforms like the Goods and Services Tax and the new bankruptcy law will make it easier to do business in India. Apart from this, the 50th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors has started in Yokohama, Tokyo from May 4 to 7, 2017. The theme of the meeting is ‘Building Together the Prosperity of Asia.’

Notes:
Captain Chand Roop (87), the Dronacharya awardee and acclaimed wrestler coach, has recently passed away in Delhi. He took up wrestling after joining the Indian Army in 1948. He was a former National champion who became a coach to train the Army wrestlers. There he produced Asian Games bronze medallist and former Bharat Kesari title winner Netrapal and another prominent wrestler Vijay Kumar. Besides, he trained countless wrestlers as a coach, including the likes of Ombeer Singh, Rohtash Dahiya, Ashok Kumar and Ramesh Kumar, who all were conferred with the Arjuna Award.

Notes:
The 7th edition of multinational military exercise “Eager Lion” has started in Jordon from May 8, 2017. Approx 7,400 troops from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Arab Gulf region are taking part in the exercises which run to May 18th, including from United States, Britain, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The man oeuvres would include border security, cyber defence, and “command and control” exercises, to bolster coordination in response to threats including terrorism. Jordan is a key recipient of US financial aid and a partner in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and Iraq.