Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The G-7 Foreign Ministers meeting has started in Luca, Italy from April 10, 2017. The civil war in Syria is likely to dominate talks in the two day summit, with Italy hoping for a final communique that will reinforce United Nations’ efforts to end six years of conflict. The fight against terrorism is also expected to be high on the agenda. The meeting comes as the United States moves a Navy strike group near the Korean peninsula amid concerns over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and as the West’s relations with Russia struggle to overcome years of mistrust. The Group of 7 (G7) consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (USA).

Notes:
The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu has recently released a book titled “Gandhi in Champaran” authored by noted author Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar at National Mahatma Gandhi Museum in New Delhi. Naidu also released a book containing a collection of letters and articles of the correspondence between Nobel laureate Romain Rolland and Mahatma Gandhi as well as DG Tendulkar’s 8 volume biography of Mahatama Gandhi.

Notes:
The Union government has recently constituted an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting un-served and under-served airports. Besides, the panel would be responsible for coordination among stakeholders, including state governments, for time bound implementation of the scheme. The committee will be chaired by Rajiv Nayan Choubey, the Civil Aviation Secretary. The committee will also be responsible for overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-served airports.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh government will launch a unique programme ‘Ammaku Vandanam’ in schools to pay tribute to mothers and to respect motherhood. The programme will be implemented in high schools on the annual day of every academic year or on any other day decided by the School Management Committee (SMC). Under the programme, the school children will take the blessings of their mothers and may also do ‘paada pooja’ (washing her feet). The state government has allocated Rs 2.50 crore for organising the programme. Of this, the government will release Rs. 1.25 crore, while the remaining amount has to be pooled by the headmasters and teachers from the alumni/donors/CSR.

Notes:
The Sangken festival has started in Arunachal Pradesh from April 14, 2017 that marks the start of Theravada Buddhist New Year. It is celebrated by the Theravada Buddhist community. On the occasion the images of Buddha are taken out and are given ceremonial bath. The holy bath of lord Buddha is an auspicious event in the 3-day fest. Later people celebrate the festival by splashing water on each others, which symbolizes the spiritual cleansing in order to begin the New Year free from impurities. The water also symbolizes fortune and purity that is said to clear all diseases, sins and bad luck.

Notes:
B.N. Mohapatra, an officer of Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) of 1980 batch, has been appointed the new Financial Commissioner (FC) of Indian Railways. Prior to this posting, he served as Additional Member (Finance) since November 2016,

Notes:
Bhubaneswar has become the first Indian city to won 2017 Pierre L’enfant Planning Excellence and Achievement Awards-2017, which is instituted by the American Planning Association (APA). The No.1 smart city Bhubaneswar has received this award for good and advanced town planning and engaging its residents in the planning process. The association selected five excellence award recipients, which will be honoured at an awards luncheon at the association’s National Planning Conference in New York on May 8, 2017. Notably, the American Planning Association honours comprehensive planning efforts and inspiring individuals to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs and initiatives, public education efforts, and individuals for their leadership on planning issues.

Notes:
India has been ranked 136th out of 180 countries in the latest annual World Press Freedom Index (WPFI-2017). As per report, the rank has been slipped 3-places due to threats from (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s nationalism” and growing self-censorship in the mainstream media. The report also mentioned that journalists were increasingly targets of online smear campaigns and threats. The 2017 WPFI compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reflects a world in which attacks on the media have become commonplace and strongmen are on the rise. The index is topped by Norway, followed by Sweden, Finland and Denmark. China has acquired 176th position among 180 nations and is described as the “world’s leading prison for citizen journalists”.

Notes:
Jehan Daruvala has created history by becoming the first Indian racer to occupy pole position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championships in the qualifying session for Round 2 in Monza, Italy. Though, he was unable to translate that to a race victory, and finished the hard-fought race on April 29, 2017 in second place, behind his Carlin Racing teammate Lando Norris of the United Kingdom (UK). Formula 3 is considered to be one of the toughest junior racing category, but is known to produce legends in F1.

Notes:
India’s first-ever Blind Football Academy (BFA) with full time training & rehabilitation for the visually impaired persons is expected to come up at Kochi in Kerala. The Society for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged (SRVC) and the Indian Blind Federation (IBFF) are making an effort to establish the academy. The purpose to set up BFA is to train and develop the best players to create a national team of world class standard and to qualify for the Paralympics by 2024.