Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Bano Qudsia (88), the renowned Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright, has recently passed away in Lahore, Pakistan. She was born in November 1928 in Ferozepur, India and migrated to Pakistan after partition. Among her prominent writings include Aadhi Baat, Aatish-i-zer-i-paa, Aik Din, Amer Bail, Asay Pasay, Chahar Chaman, Chhotaa Sheher Baray Log, Footpath ki Ghaas, Hasil Ghaat and Hawa Kay Naam.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu has introduced ‘Arunachal Civil Service Awards’ for excellence in public administration. The purpose of the award is not only to boost the morale of the state government employees by recognizing their hard work and innovative work done by them, but also is expected to bring in a productive work culture. The award consists of a medal, a scroll, and a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for an individual and Rs 5 lakhs for an organisation/group/team. The award will be considered on the basis of implementation of innovative schemes or projects, showing innovation and adaptation to meet the stakeholders’ requirement, building up perceptible system changes and institutions. The award also aims to honour civil servants and government employees who make public service delivery system efficient, corruption free, including speedy and judicious execution of work. Extraordinary performance in emergent situations like floods, earthquakes, etc shall also form the basis of being eligible for this award.

Notes:
India will host the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs (NSAs) to discuss action against the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation. This was decided at the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) which recently concluded at Kathmandu, Nepal. This marked an important step forward to realize the action oriented agenda for BIMSTEC agreed by the leaders at their Retreat hosted by Prime Minister Modi in Goa in October 2016.

Notes:
The 11th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition – Aero India 2017 – will be held at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru, Karnataka from February 14. In the 5-day event, 72 aircrafts, beside 270 Indian and 279 foreign companies will participate. Exhibitors from US, Russia, Israel, Germany, Singapore, UAE, South Korea and Australia will participate. The aerobatic teams participating in the show are Indian Air Force Sarang Team, the Indian Air Force Surya Kiran Team, the Scandinavian Air Show Team from Sweden and the Evolvkos Aerobatic Team from UK.

Notes:
The First Sherpas Meeting of the 9th BRICS Summit was held in Nanjing, the capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, from February 23-24, 2017. The Sherpas Meeting discussed the priority areas for BRICS cooperation for this year, especially in the areas of political affairs, economy and culture, under the theme “BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future.” The meeting attracted more than 100 participants, including coordinators from all sides, foreign diplomats, and representatives from the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).

Notes:
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) summit will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 7 with the theme of “Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean”. The summit will discuss ways to strengthen maritime cooperation and fight against violent extremism. Leaders and representatives of the 21 member states and seven dialogue partners of IORA are expected to attend the summit. From India, Vice President Hamid Ansari will attend the IORA Summit. The IORA Summit is expected to provide momentum to the strengthening of cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.

Notes:
The National Conference on Innovation in Educational Administration has started at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi on March 5, 2017. The 3-day conference has organized by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The main purpose of the programme is to recognise innovative ideas and best practices adopted by district and block level education officers for effective management of the educational administrative system at district and block levels. The National Awards for innovation in Educational Administration will be presented by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on March 7. About 150 district and block level education officers from across India and resource persons and faculty of the university will participate in the conference.

Notes:
The Commonwealth Day is observed every year on the second Monday in March month, which provides an opportunity for individuals, communities and organizations to promote the values of peace, democracy and equality that the Commonwealth stands for. The 2017 Commonwealth Day is celebrated on March 13 with the theme “A Peace-building Commonwealth”.

Notes:
Arun Jaitley, who is the current Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs in the Cabinet of India, has taken additional charge of the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) on March 14, 2017. He succeeded Manohar Parrikar, who resigned from the post to take on the new role of Chief Minister of Goa. This is the 2nd time that Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence Ministry during the present NDA government. He was in-charge of the ministry earlier from 26th May to 9th November in 2014.

Notes:
Vienna has topped the list in the Mercer’s 19th Quality of Living survey 2017. Zurich is in second place, followed by Munich, Auckland, Vancouver, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Geneva. The highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America are Singapore (25) and Montevideo (79). Among Indian cities, Mumbai is ranked the highest at 141, followed by Kolkata (149) and Pune (151), while Bangalore was rated the lowest (177) by the report. The survey included a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each city’s supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services, and public transportation as well as traffic congestion and the range of international flights available from local airports. The survey highlights that Indian cities that have been part of the survey haven’t made much progress on the quality of living scale since last year.