Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The World Environment Day (WED) is observed every year on June 5 to raise awareness about forests and wider issues of environmental protection. The 2017 theme is ‘Connecting People to Nature’. It implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share. The host country for the WED 2017 is Canada, where the official celebrations take place.

Notes:
India’s first-ever Rural LED Street Lighting Project will be implemented by the Government of India (GoI) in Andhra Pradesh (AP). The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power will retrofit10 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights in Gram Panchayats of 7 districts in AP. This is the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country under the GoI’s Street Lighting National Project (SLNP). In the first phase, the replacement will be undertaken in gram panchayats of the districts of Guntur, Prakasham, Nellore, Kurnool, Kadapa, Ananthapur and Chittoor. This replacement drive in rural areas will help the gram panchayats to cumulatively save approximately 147 million units of electricity annually and lead to reduction of 12 crore tonnes of CO2. The entire upfront capital cost of this project is being funded by French Development Agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Notes:
India has been ranked 45th out of 63 countries in the IMD’s world competitiveness rankings 2017. The list is compiled by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management and Development (IMD)’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC). Hong Kong has topped the list, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark. The IMD measures how well countries manage all their resources and competencies to facilitate long-term value creation.

Notes:
J P Nadda, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, has launched “Skill for Life, Save a Life” initiative in New Delhi to promote skill development in the health sector. The purpose of the initiative is to upscale the quality and quantity of trained professionals in the healthcare system. Under this initiative various courses are planned in specific competencies for healthcare professionals as well as for general public.

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The World Oceans Day (WOD) is observed every year on June 8 to raise global awareness of the benefits derived from the oceans and the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans. This year, in 2017, the main conservation focus will be on plastic pollution prevention and cleaning the ocean of marine litter with theme “Our Oceans, Our Future”. The 2017 WOD has coincided with the first-ever United Nations World Oceans Conference taking place from 5 to 9 June at UN headquarters in New York. The purpose of the conference is to mobilize action for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.

Notes:
Nepal has recently signed a financing agreement with China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to build 1,200-megawatt Budhi-Gandaki hydroelectric project. The estimated cost of the project is $2.5 billion. This project will be helpful for Nepal, which is facing acute power shortage.

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Axis Bank has become the first Indian bank to launch a bio-degradable prepaid gift plastic card to offer its customers a simple way of contributing towards environment-friendly payment solutions. The plastic card is made up of Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) and can decompose easily and can also be recycled. The cards will be acceptable at all domestic merchant outlets and online portals. According to a circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 July 2014, the maximum validity of pre-paid gift instruments is 3 years.

Notes:
Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sasmita Malik were awarded 2016 AIFF Player of the Year and the AIFF Women’s Player of the Year respectively at the first ever All India Football Federation (AIFF) Awards in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Malik won the award for her immense contribution to the success and growth of the Indian women’s football team, while Mohun Bagan striker Jeje Lalpekhlua won the award for scoring a total of 7 goals in the last 9 games he has played for India in the 2016-17 season.

Notes:
The Union Government has launched a video conferencing aided legal service ‘Tele Law’ for the people living in rural areas. Through Tele-Law, the legal aid to poor will fulfill the government’s commitment to ensure access to justice and empowerment of the poor. Under the scheme, the Tele-Law portal will be available across the Common Service Centre (CSC) network connecting the citizens to legal service providers. The portal will connect law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal through the CSCs. Also, the National Legal Services Authority’s panel of lawyers from state capitals will provide legal advice and counseling to the applicants across the 1000 CSC through video conferencing. In the first phase, the Tele-Law scheme will be tested as a pilot across 500 CSCs in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Notes:
Vietnam Grand Master Nguyen Duc Hoa has clinched the 10th Mumbai Mayor’s Cup International Open Chess Tournament by defeating Indian chess player GM Neelotpal Das in the final round with 8.5 points on June 11, 2017.