Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
According to the latest rating review by the Global rating agency Fitch Ratings has forecast India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to accelerate to 7.7% in both FY17 and FY18, from 7.1% in FY16. It expects structural reforms to increase growth, along with higher real disposable income supported by implementation of the 7th pay commission recommendations and an average monsoon. Beside this, The agency kept India’s sovereign rating unchanged at ‘BBB-‘, which is the lowest investment grade. It has also retained “stable” outlook for the India’s ratings. The ratings agency has also indicated that its India’s sovereign ratings balance a strong medium-term growth outlook and favourable external balances with a weak fiscal position and difficult business environment.

Notes:
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has been conferred with the Fellowship Award at the 7th annual Asian Awards in United Kingdom (UK). Beside this, India’s playback singer Adnan Sami has also won the award for ‘Outstanding achievement in Music.” The award for outstanding achievement in Cinema was conferred to renowned Indian actor Om Puri who died in 2017. Other award recipients were Krishnan Guru-Murthy (Outstanding Achievement in Television), Ajay Banga (Business Leader of the Year), Masayoshi Son (Entrepreneur of the year), Nisha Dutt (Social Entrepreneur of the year), Dr Jack Preger (Philanthropist of the year), Ding Punhui (Outstanding achievement in sport), Demis Hassabis (Outstanding achievement in Science and Technology) and Sir Harpal Kumar (Outstanding contribution to the community).

Notes:
The Union Government has set up a high-level task force under Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya to provide credible data for employment policies. The task force will recommend solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner. At present, data on employment is collected and published by certain agencies including the Labour Bureau (LB) but the coverage is very small. The Labour Bureau data covers only a few sectors and the methodology is not based on updated panel of survey respondents.

Notes:
Dr. Hubert Minnis has been elected as the new Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, after delivering a crushing defeat to Perry Christie’s Progressive Liberal Party in a 34-5 parliamentary split.

Notes:
V K Saraswat, the renowned scientist and former Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU). He succeeded former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan, who completed his term on 30th March 2017. Saraswat has been appointed for a term of five years. Currently, he is serving as the Member of NITI Aayog. According to JNU Act, the post of chancellor is a titular post.

Notes:
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to boost awareness and intensify action to arrest the epidemic. As WHO goodwill ambassador for hepatitis in the region, Bachchan will lend his voice and support to public awareness programmes that aim to scale up preventive measures and advocate for early diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis. This is the first formal association between WHO and Bachchan, who served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India.

Notes:
The 24th edition of bilateral maritime exercise “SIMBEX-17” has started between Navies of the Republic of Singapore and India in the South China Sea from May 18 and will continue to May 21, 2017. The purpose of the exercise is to increase interoperability between the two navies as well as to develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations. SIMBEX is an acronym for “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises”.

Notes:
Two Indian peacekeepers, Rifleman Brijesh Thapa and Private Ravi Kumar will be honored posthumously with a prestigious United Nation (UN)’s Dag Hammarskjold Medal for their courage and sacrifice in the line of duty. They are among 117 military, police and civilian personnel who will be awarded with the UN Medal on the 2017 International Day of UN Peacekeepers to be observed on May 29. Permanent Representatives to the UN will collect the medals on behalf of the fallen peacekeepers. Currently, India has deployed more than 7,600 military and police personnel to UN peace operations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, the Middle East, South Sudan, Sudan and the Western Sahara.

Notes:
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez has been bestowed with the International Humanitarian Award in Editor’s Choice category at the 2017 annual Asian Voice Charity Awards for her work in India and worldwide. She has been working with the charity ‘Habitat for Humanity for last five years. This organization works to help people to live with dignity by giving them homes to live in.

Notes:
Rohan Chakravarty, a young Indian Wildlife and environment cartoonist, has won the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International President’s Award in Manado, Indonesia for his efforts to inspire change and attitudes towards nature. The award is the global conservation organization’s top accolade to recognize outstanding leadership in young conservationists from around the world. The award acknowledges and encourages outstanding achievements of young people under the age of 30 who are making significant contributions to nature conservation.