Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
John Bew has been bestowed with the 2017 Orwell Prize for his extraordinary biography “Citizen Clem” , which is about Clement Attlee, the founder of the NHS. The £3,000 award is the Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing, which is awarded annually by the Orwell Foundation to a book that comes closest to the George Orwell’s ambition to make political writing into an art in London.

Notes:
The Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has launched Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017 in New Delhi to prescribe the energy performance standards for new commercial buildings to be constructed across India. The updated version of ECBC provides current as well as futuristic advancements in building technology to further reduce building energy consumption and promote low-carbon growth. The purpose of the code is to optimize energy savings with the comfort level for occupants, and prefers life-cycle cost effectiveness to achieve energy neutrality in commercial building. The ECBC 2017 was developed by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) with technical support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the U.S.-India bilateral Partnership to Advance Clean Energy – Deployment Technical Assistance (PACE-D TA) Program.

Notes:
The Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched a mobile app “Celebrating Yoga” in New Delhi to connect people through Yoga for scientific healthy living. The mobile app has been developed by Department of Science & Technology on the occasion of International Yoga Day (IYD) 2017. The aim of the app is to popularize Yoga and encourage people to practice yoga for a scientifically healthy living.

Notes:
India has re-nominated Justice Dalveer Bhandari as its candidate for another term as judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). His current term runs through February 2018. The ICJ elections will be held in November and if elected, he will serve a term of 9 years. During his term at the ICJ, Justice Bhandari has been engaged actively in the work of the Court. He has delivered individual opinions in eleven cases covering a broad spectrum of subjects such as maritime disputes, whaling in Antarctica, crime of genocide, nuclear disarmament, financing of terrorism and violation of sovereign rights. ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

Notes:
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appointed Syrian refugee Muzoon Almellehan as its newest and youngest Goodwill Ambassador on World Refugee Day (WRD) on June 20, 2017. With this, the 19-year-old female education activist Muzoon has become the first goodwill ambassador with official refugee status.

Notes:
India has recently signed a historical agreement with Portugal to promote cooperation in the field of archives in Lisbon, Portugal. As a part of the cooperation, the Torre do Tombo (National Archives of Portugal) has handed over digital copies of 62 volumes of the collection known as ‘Moncoes do Reino’ (Monsoon correspondence) to the National Archives of India (NAI). These volumes serve as the most important primary source for the study of the Portuguese expansion in Asia and their trade rivalries with the Arabs and European powers as well as their relations with neighboring Kings in South Asia and East Asia.

Notes:
Indian agricultural microbiologist Dr. Shrihari Chandraghatgi, the President and CEO of EcoCycle Corporation, has been conferred with the 2017 Ministry of Environment Award in Japan for developing cutting edge technologies to address burning environmental problems. With this, Chandraghatgi has become the first foreigner to receive this award. The Ministry of Environment Award is the highest honour given in the environmental sector every year jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Japan, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan and The Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun (a media group).

Notes:
Subhash C. Garg, a 1983 batch lAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed as the new the economic affairs secretary in the Union Finance Ministry. The post fell vacant after Shaktikanta Das retired on May 31, 2017. Currently, Tapan Ray, the corporate affairs secretary, has the additional charge of the economic affairs department. Prior to this appointment, Garg was Executive Director at World Bank for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka.

Notes:
Kavita Devi, the former Indian powerlifter and South Asian Games gold medal winner, will become the first Indian woman to compete in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) when she takes part in the first ever Mae Young Classic tournament for women from July 2017. She will be among the 32 participants who will compete at the tournament. The event is set to take place on July 13 -14 in Full Sail Live in Orlando, Florida.

Notes:
The 6th edition of International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup was held at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on June 24 – 25, 2017. Over 150 athletes from across the globe will participate at the World Cup including the top talent from India. The tournament will be hosted by the City Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO). The Italy-based IFSC has 86 member federations across five continents.