Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Jelena Ostapenk, a Latvian professional tennis player, has won the 2017 French Open Women’s Singles Tennis Tournament by defeating Simona Halep from Romania in the final by 4–6, 6–4, 6–3. With this win, Ostapenk became the first Latvian player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament and the first unseeded woman to win the French Open since 1933. She is known for her highly aggressive playing style, including powerful inside-out groundstrokes and a tendency to aim for the lines.

Notes:
Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) Principal Adviser E. Sreedharan has been bestowed with the 2017 Nanniyode Rajan Memorial Award for his contributions to the development of the country. The award consists of a purse of Rs. 25,000 and a trophy. It is instituted by the Milma Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (TRCMPU) in memory of its former chairman.

Notes:
Dr. Neeru Chadha has become the first Indian woman to be elected as the judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for a nine-year term from 2017 to 2026. She got most of the votes in Asia Pacific Group. With this election, Dr. Chadha has also become the first Indian woman to occupy a top UN position, after Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The Hamburg-based ITLOS, established in 1996, is one of dispute settlement mechanisms under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that entered into force in 1994.

Notes:
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has inaugurated the 16th North East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) Conference at Imphal in Manipur on June 15, 2017. The theme of the Conference is “North East and Look East Policy”. The Conference will deliberate on three significant themes – North East and Look East Policy, special plan for development of railways, airways, surface road and inland waterways connectivity for speedy economic development of North East Region and setting up of a chapter of Speaker’s Research Initiative in the North Eastern Region for capacity building of the legislators of the region and generating research for the North Eastern legislatures. In the conference, Manipur Governor Dr. Najma Heptulla, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker and NERCPA Chairman Abu Taher Mondal, Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh, Presiding Officers and members of the legislatures of North East States are participating.

Notes:
The Sikkim government has signed MoU with the British Council to increase quality of education in the state. The purpose of the MoU is to support the aims and aspirations of the young people of Sikkim through collaborative projects in the area of English, education and skills by strengthening the capacity of the teachers and other professionals, working with youth in the state and support its cultural economy. The programme also include capacity building in teaching, learning and research pedagogy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Social Science teachers from undergraduate colleges and universities in Sikkim by UK higher education experts along with internship of young faculties at relevant UK Universities.

Notes:
Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, the renowned litterateur from Arunachal Pradesh, will be conferred with the 5th edition of Bhupen Hazarika National Award-2017 in a ceremony at Srinagar, Jammu & Kaskmir in September 2017. The award was instituted by Pune-based social organization Sarhad in 2012 and is conferred on a person every year who has rendered an outstanding work at the national and international level. It consists of Rs. 51,000, a memento and a certificate.

Notes:
The World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is observed every year on June 15 to highlight the often silent suffering of the elder generation. This is the one day of the year when the whole world voices its opposition to the abuse and suffering inflicted to some defenseless older people. The 2017 theme “Understand and End Financial Abuse of Older People: A Human Rights Issue” underscores the importance of preventing financial exploitation in the context of elder abuse to the enjoyment of older persons’ human rights.

Notes:
John Bew has been bestowed with the 2017 Orwell Prize for his extraordinary biography “Citizen Clem” , which is about Clement Attlee, the founder of the NHS. The £3,000 award is the Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing, which is awarded annually by the Orwell Foundation to a book that comes closest to the George Orwell’s ambition to make political writing into an art in London.

Notes:
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has appointed Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as new brand ambassador for Goods and Services Tax (GST). A 40-second video “GST – An initiative to create a unified national market” featuring him has already been shot and is being circulated by the Finance Ministry. In the video, Bachchan explains GST as a unifying force just like the three colours in the national flag. The GST will simplify a web of taxes, regulations and border levies by subsuming an array of central and state levies including excise duty, service tax and VAT.

Notes:
India has re-nominated Justice Dalveer Bhandari as its candidate for another term as judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). His current term runs through February 2018. The ICJ elections will be held in November and if elected, he will serve a term of 9 years. During his term at the ICJ, Justice Bhandari has been engaged actively in the work of the Court. He has delivered individual opinions in eleven cases covering a broad spectrum of subjects such as maritime disputes, whaling in Antarctica, crime of genocide, nuclear disarmament, financing of terrorism and violation of sovereign rights. ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations based in The Hague in the Netherlands.