Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The book “Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand” has been authored by K. Vijay Kumar, the Senior Security Adviser in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The book is a source of valuable inspiration offering insight into the tactics that went into the wiping out of the dreaded forest brigand on whom a prize money of Rs. 5 crores had been declared more than a decade back.

Notes:
The 2nd edition of International Conference on India Pharma & India Medical Device-2017 has been inaugurated by Ananth kumar, the Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, in Bengaluru, Karnataka on February 11, 2017. The three day event, with the Vision – ‘For Responsible Healthcare’, is based on themes: Medical Devices- ‘Shaping the Future-Making the Right Choices’ and Pharma -‘Shaping the future of India Pharma’. This initiative will be a platform to give a push to the Indian Pharma & Medical Devices sector in becoming globally competitive.

Notes:
The ‘Parents’ Worship Day’ (or ‘Matru-Pitru Diwas’ ) is celebrated every year by the Chhattisgarh government on February 14 at all schools in the state to teach ‘Bharatiya sanskriti’ to students.

Notes:
India will host a conference on counter radicalisation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to share experiences and ideas on prevention of radicalization in October 2017. The conference will provide common platform to countries for sharing experiences and ideas on prevention of radicalisation.

Notes:
India’s first-ever floating elementary school “Loktak Elementary Floating School” has started at Langolsabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok floating village on Loktak Lake in Manipur. The school has been opened under the initiative undertaken by All Loktak Lake Fisherman’s Union with the support of an NGO – People Resources Development Association (PRDA). The school will not only cater to the need of the children but for the illiterate adults as well. The Loktak Lake is referred as the “lifeline of Manipur” as it is highly productive and many lives depend on the lake for endurance. The lake is also an Important Bird Area as it’s a potential breeding site for waterfowl and is a staging site for migratory birds.

Notes:
Banasree Sengupta (71), the renowned Bengali singer, has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. She was known for her mellifluous voice. Some of her hit songs are Aaj Bikeler Dake Tomar Chhithi Pelam, Amar Angey Jaley Rangmoshal, Chhi chhi Eki Kando Korechi, Dur Akashay Tomar Sur, etc. She also lent her voice to Bengali, Hindi, Assamese and Odia films.

Notes:
The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has won the prestigious International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17 for the best overall presentation of its 2015-2016 annual report. The EDII is an autonomous and not-for-profit national resource institute for entrepreneurship education, research, training and institution-building. The Mercury Awards, founded in 1987, promote excellence, quality and performance in the various fields of public relations. The award entertains participation from agencies, associations, corporations, government agencies, nonprofit groups, and organizations from around 80 countries worldwide every year.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed an agreement with Japan on enhancing railway safety in the Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety. The areas of cooperation include rail inspection, rail wielding and providing automatic railway track safety inspection, maintenance of rolling stock and any other
relevant railway safety matters jointly determined by both sides with the aim to prevent major rail accidents.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu has flagged off India’s first Antyodaya Express between Ernakulam and Howrah. The train service was inaugurated by the Railways Minister via video conferencing in New Delhi on February 27, 2017. The Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes. The new express train will have facilities like cushioned luggage racks which can serve as seats, LED lights, modular toilets, pleasing interior colour scheme and others. Beside this, the Railway Minister has also flagged off the 4th Humsafar Express between Sriganganagar and Tiruchirapalli. The new train is fully air-conditioned third AC service with an optional service for meals.

Notes:
Recently, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has imposed a 5-year ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and its journalists from filming in all Indian tiger reserves for allegedly misrepresenting facts in a documentary on poaching in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The BBC documentary “Killing for Conservation” by its journalist Justin Rowlatt, talks about Kaziranga’s rhino conservation which claims that forest guards have the power to ‘shoot and kill’ poachers. The documentary also criticizes anti-poaching policies in wildlife reserves as affecting the life of tribal people living in the vicinity of the park. The NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation.