Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - May, 2018

Notes:
The 15th Asia Media Summit (AMS-2018) will be held in New Delhi on May 10-12 with theme “Telling our Stories- Asia and More”. The summit will provide a unique opportunity for broadcasters in Asia to share their thoughts on broadcasting and information. It is being organised by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in collaboration with its partners and international organisations. The decision makers, media professionals, scholars, and stakeholders of news and programming from Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America will attend the annual conference.

Notes:
The first apex conference for the CEOs of Smart Cities will be held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on 8th May 2018. It will be inaugurated by Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Puri. The 2-day apex Conference is being organized with an objective to provide momentum to the cities and a platform for cross-learning, sharing and disseminating the experience gained over the past two and a half years. The conference will enable the CEOs to learn from the experiences of all city leaders to understand in greater details both successes and failures. The convergence of all the best practices in Smart city missions across the country on a single platform will help the city leaders to not waste time in ‘reinventing the wheel’ but use the collective learning to accelerate the progress of work.

Notes:
India and Guatemala have signed a pact for strengthening diplomatic cooperation through Respective Foreign Service Institutes in the educational field. The agreement was recently inked after a meeting between Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and his Guatemala counterpart, Jafeth Cabrera Franco in Guatemala City. Beside this, both the countries agreed to support each other’s candidature for Non-Permanent Membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Guatemala will support India’s candidature for UNSC membership for 2021-22 while New Delhi will do so for 2031-32 for Guatemala. During the talks, Indian side also agreed to the Guatemala’s request for supplying solar panels to its airports. After discussions and in the presence of both the Vice Presidents, both the sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for training of diplomats and a Letter of Intent for training Guatemalan English Teachers in India. These agreements will be valid for three years and will be extended thereafter, if required.

Notes:
The World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day (WRCRCD) is observed every year on May 8 to recognize the extraordinary contribution and incredible achievements of the stalwarts and volunteers around the world for helping the people in need anytime, anywhere. The day also marks the birth anniversary Jean Henry Dunant, the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize. The 2018 theme “Memorable smiles from around the world” focuses on bringing memorable smiles in people’s faces everywhere. .

Notes:
On May 8, the third edition of the United Nations Peacekeeping Course for African Partners (UNPCAP) was inaugurated in New Delhi to build and enhance the capacity of the African Troop Contributing Countries to the UN. The UNPCAP sessions will be held from May 7-25. The course is conducted by the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping in India (CUNPK) in partnership with the US. It is aimed to build and enhance the capacity of the African Troop Contributing Countries to the UN and to further train the trainers from these countries. The first and second editions of the course were held in New Delhi in 2016 and 2017.

Notes:
Nisha Bhalla, a holistic coach & consultant from Mumbai, has been conferred with the ‘Excellent Woman of Excellence’ award for her spiritual service at the Women Economic Forum (WEF) 2018 in Delhi. The WEF is the largest global gathering of women entrepreneurs and leaders worldwide. This annual event recognizes the most successful women across all fields, with guests like Nobel laureate Ouided Bouchamaoui. Nisha conducts holistic courses at her institute ‘Sai Institute of Kosmic Sciences’ in Mumbai. She has received numerous national level awards in this field over the years and has appeared on popular channels like Zee TV and Star Plus, exhibiting her craft in shows. She had also received the All Maharashtra Maheshwari Trophy from the hands of legendary actors Dilip Kumar and Rishi Kapoor at the age of 12, for her work in aid of the NAB (National Association for the Blind), in 1984.

Notes:
In its second-quarter Sovereign Credit Overview for Asia Pacific region, Credit rating agency Fitch has said that India’s economic growth will accelerate to 7.3% in the current financial year FY19 and 7.5% in the next fiscal. The growth rate will accelerate as money supply has recovered to its pre-demonetisation level and disruptions related to the rollout of GST have diminished. The rating agency said India’s ratings balance a strong medium-term growth outlook and favourable external balances against a weak fiscal position and difficult business environment. But the country’s business environment is likely to improve gradually with the implementation and continued broadening of the government’s structural-reform agenda.

Notes:
Prof. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate and noted economist, has been conferred with the 11th KISS Humanitarian Award 2018 on May 11 for his unwavering commitment to eradicate global poverty and foster economic and social development. He is the founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and is widely known as the Father of Microfinance. The KISS Humanitarian Award is a prestigious international award given to someone who has made exceptional contribution to the society in various fields relating to social issues and who has distinguished himself or herself as a true humanitarian. It was instituted in 2008 by Dr Achyuta Samanta, the founder of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Bhubaneswar.

Notes:
On May 11, the first-ever joint conference of Indian Customs and Department of India Posts at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi to deliberate on streamlining of imports and exports by post. Commissioners of Customs from all the States having Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) were present along with their counterpart Post Master Generals. Imports and exports by post are the 6th highest cited citizen grievances under under Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMs). Customs and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have worked together since a year to liberalise, reform and align laws relating to imports by India Post.

Notes:
The International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated every year across the world on May 12 to mark the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. The day is also mark to recognize the strong commitment, compassion and dedication that nurses display in the practice of their profession. The 2018 theme is – Nurses A Voice to Lead – Health is a Human right.