Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The Vijaya Bank will set up 100 digital villages in various States of the country as part of its initiative to promote digital banking among the rural population. It is the only public sector financial institution to develop digital villages with focus on rural areas and it has already developed five villages including the one in Guntur district. In those villages, the bank will provide Internet, free Wi-Fi connectivity, mobile payment facilities, ATM cards, online banking and others besides educating the villagers through door-to-door campaign. The bank will also open bank accounts to all the eligible villagers including children and encourage them to make transactions digitally.

Notes:
K G Karmakar and Gauri Shankar have been appointed as new Independent Directors of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved their appointment to the post on the board of directors of the bank for a period of 3 years. The IPPB has been incorporated as a public sector bank under the Department of Posts with 100% equity of the Government of India (GoI). IPPB will offer demand deposits such as savings and current accounts upto a balance of Rs 1 Lac, digitally enabled payments and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals and also provide access to third party financial services such as insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products, forex, and more, in partnership with insurance companies, mutual fund houses, pension providers, banks, international money transfer organisations, etc.

Notes:
The 2nd edition of National Health Editors’ Conference on Yoga will be inaugurated by Shripad Yesso Naik, the Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), at National Media Centre in New Delhi on June 9, 2017. The theme of 2017 conference is “Yoga for Health and Harmony”. The aim of the conference is to give insight to the journalists about the scientific aspects of yoga & its benefits for human health. More than 150 Health Editors and media persons from National, Regional and International media organizations are expected to attend the conference. Senior officers of PIB and Ministry of AYUSH will also remain present on the occasion.

Notes:
Indian-American Raja Chari, a Lieutenant Colonel with the US Air Force, has been chosen for the 2017 NASA Astronaut Candidate Class. He is among 12 new astronauts who will be trained for missions into Earth orbit and to deep space. Chari may become the 3rd person of Indian origin from the US after the late Kalpana Chawla and current NASA astronaut Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams to fly to space. Currently, he is a commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda has been conferred with the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award for accelerating India’s tobacco control initiatives and taking bold measures to protect people against hazards of tobacco use. The global recognition was presented to him by Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia, at the ‘National Consultation on Accelerating Implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals’.

Notes:
China’s state-run news agency Xinhua will set up a $1 million fund to institutionalize media cooperation among the BRICS countries including awards for journalists from the five member states. The purpose of BRICS media forum is to promote six objectives, including “balanced reporting”. The proposal would also focus on joint development of BRICS digital media, financial information services and promoting people- to-people contacts. The BRICS media forum is the result of a joint initiative by Xinhua News Agency, Brazil’s CMA Group, Russia’s Sputnik News Agency and Radio, The Hindu group of publications from India, and South Africa’s Independent Media.

Notes:
Love Raj Singh Dharmashaktu, an Indian mountaineer, has been honoured by Adventure Sports Tourism Society in Lalitpur Metropolitan City near Kathmandu, Nepal on June 9, 2017. He was appointed Tourism Ambassador of Nepal to north India. Recently, Dharmashaktu has become the first Indian mountaineer to conquer the world’s highest peak Mount Everest for a record sixth time on May 27, 2017. He works as an assistant commandant with the Border Security Force (BSF) in Dehradun. He first summited Everest in 1998 and followed it with up with successive ascents in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2013. He hails from Bona village of Munsiyari in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.

Notes:
Muttiah Muralidaran, the most successful bowler in Tests and One Day Internationals, has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in London on Thursday. He was honoured during the innings break of the India versus Sri Lanka ICC Champions Trophy match at The Oval in London on June 8, 2017. With this, he became the first player from Sri Lanka and the 83rd overall to be inducted into the Hall of Fame when ICC CEO Dave Richardson presented him with a commemorative framed cap.

Notes:
Adam West (88), the well known US actor, has passed away in Los Angeles, United States. He was the popular star of 1960s “Batman” TV show.

Notes:
Dr C Narayana Reddy (86), the renowned poet and Jnanpith Award recipient, has passed away in Hyderabad on June 12, 2017. He was popularly known as ‘CiNaRe’ and also honoured with Padmasri and Padma Bhushan for his scholarly writings. He was proficient in Telugu, Urdu and Hindi and several other languages and wrote hundreds of books in all forms of literature. He also wrote lyrics for hundreds of Telugu Films.