Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The Indian-origin Sikh human rights advocate, Palbinder Kaur Shergill has been appointed a judge at the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster. With this, she has become the first turbaned Sikh woman to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge of Canada. Justice Shergill succeeded Justice EA Arnold-Bailey, who retired on May 31. Justice Shergill has actively represented the interests of the Canadian Sikh community in several cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, including the one dealing with the right of Sikh students to wear the kirpan (ceremonial dagger) in schools.

Notes:
The World Bank has cleared a $250-million loan to aid the Skill India mission. The loan amount would be used for making Indian youth more employable through reskilling. Under the skill development programme, adults in 15-59 years of age, underemployed or unemployed, will get the skill training. It will also include the 1.2 crore youngsters in the age group of 15-29 years who are entering the labour market every year. The programme has a mandate to provide placement and entrepreneurship opportunities to women and increase their exposure to skill training.

Notes:
Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Gerry Weber Open tennis tournament by defeating Alexander Zverev in final by 6-1 6-3 at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle, Germany. With this win, Federer clinch his 92nd career title.

Notes:
P V Sindhu, an ace shuttler and Rio Olympics silver medallist, will be conferred with the best Sportsperson of the Year Award by the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI). The Best Team of the Year award was bagged by the Indian Junior Hockey Team, which won the Junior World Cup title by defeating Belgium 2-1 in the final in Lucknow on December 2016. Both the awards would be presented at the 40th convention of the SJFI to be held in Indore in September 2017.

Notes:
Sharjah, the city of United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been designated as the UNESCO World Book Capital 2019 by Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, at the Headquarters of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) at La Haye. The honour is in recognition of the Emirate’s pioneering role in supporting and expanding the local and regional publishing industries, promoting reading to become an intrinsic cultural practice, as well as embracing inter-cultural, knowledge-based dialogue. Sharjah was the first emirate in UAE to establish a formal school and a library. It was also the first emirate to house many cultural institutions like the Emirates Publishers Association and the Emirates’ writers Union. Sharjah is the 19th city to become World Book Capital. It is preceded by Conakry in 2017 and Athens in 2018.

Notes:
China has officially started building the world’s first forest city in the north of Liuzhou, Guangxi Province to fight against pollution and climate change, which is set to be completed in 2020. It is designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, a team that develops green projects all around the world. The Liuzhou Forest City is expected to absorb nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide yearly and produce 900 tonnes of oxygen. The energy self-sufficient city will house 30,000 people, 40,000 trees and nearly 1 million plants. As a result, the forest city will help to decrease the average air temperature, improve local air quality, create noise barriers, generate habitats, and improve local biodiversity in the region.

Notes:
The 12th edition of G20 summit will be held on July 7–8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies with the aim of studying, reviewing and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.

Notes:
Dr. Manoj Soni, the former Vice Chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, has recently taken the Oath of Office and Secrecy as Member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He will hold office for a term of six years or until he turns 65. The Oath was administered by the UPSC Chairman Prof. David R. Syiemlieh. Dr. Soni is the youngest Vice Chancellor since independence and has been a recipient of numerous awards. He has also been awarded the rare honour of “Honorary Mayor-President of the City of Baton Rouge” by World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership and Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, USA. The UPSC can have a limit of 10 members including its chairman and conducts national-level recruitment exams like IAS, IFS and IPS.

Notes:
Odisha will become the India’s first state to set up blood bank for cattle. The first of its kind blood bank would be established on the premises of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.25 crore. The project will have a 60:40 sharing between the Centre and the state government. The cattle farmers will provide blood voluntarily. The blood bank will also go and collect blood from centres. Blood transfusion facility for cattle blood will also be done at the proposed blood bank. This will prevent death of cattle during deliveries and other ailments.

Notes:
The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has signed an agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (KHI) of Japan to manufacture stainless steel coaches and bogies for metro rail. The agreement covers establishing state-of-the-art design, engineering and manufacturing facilities at BHEL using Japanese technology. It will also entitle BHEL for all technology advances and upgrades. The KHI is also the manufacturer and supplier of Shinkansen High Speed Bullet Trains, proposed to be introduced in India on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor.