Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The 3rd edition of Whatashort Independent International Film Festival (WIIFF) will be held at the Instituto Cervantes in New Delhi from July 8-9, 2017 to promote short films from across the globe. More than 400 films participated from over 34 countries and more than 45 films will be screened this year. The significance of the festival lies in the very core idea of uplifting the indie and short film makers and their creations. It not only provides a unique platform to the shorter version of the motion picture but paves the way to the pinnacle it should achieve.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh Government has signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan of Rs 1950 crore for strengthening of roads in different district. As per the agreement, 70% finances amounting to Rs 1,950 crore will be provided by the ADB as loan, while the state government will bear 30% cost of the project which comes to Rs 832 crore. The project, which will start from 2017 and end in 2024, will cover over 430 km roads in 12 districts.

Notes:
Kaushik Basu, an Indian economist, has taken over as new President of the International Economic Association (IEA) on June 23, 2017 and will serve the post for 3-years. The IEA is a leading organization founded in 1950 for professional economists that seeks to shape global economic policy and research. He has also served as senior vice-president and chief economist at the World Bank from 2012 to 2016 and as the chief economic adviser to the government of India from 2009 to 2012. Currently, Basu is the C. Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has constituted an 11-member committee to scrutinize and recommend names from Maharashtra for the Padma Awards 2018 to the Government of India (GoI). The committee will be headed by Ram Shinde, the Minister for Water Conservation. The Padma awards seek to recognise work of distinction and exceptional achievements in different fields and disciplines such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has collaborated with Facebook to launch first Nationwide “Voter Registration Reminder” on July 1, 2017 to encourage Indian citizens to register themselves on the electoral rolls. As part of this campaign, Facebook will run a voter registration reminder in multiple Indian languages to all the Facebook users in India from July 1 to 4, 2017. For this, Facebook will activate a unique ‘Register Now’ button reminding all the eligible Indian users to enroll themselves as voters. When the users click the button, they will be redirected to National Voters’ Services Portal, where they can register themselves as voters. The reminder will be sent out in 13 Indian languages – English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Assamese, Marathi and Oriya.

Notes:
China has officially started building the world’s first forest city in the north of Liuzhou, Guangxi Province to fight against pollution and climate change, which is set to be completed in 2020. It is designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, a team that develops green projects all around the world. The Liuzhou Forest City is expected to absorb nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide yearly and produce 900 tonnes of oxygen. The energy self-sufficient city will house 30,000 people, 40,000 trees and nearly 1 million plants. As a result, the forest city will help to decrease the average air temperature, improve local air quality, create noise barriers, generate habitats, and improve local biodiversity in the region.

Notes:
Krishna R Urs, a veteran Indian- origin career diplomat, has been appointed as the new US Ambassador to Peru by the Donald Trump administration. Currently, Urs is Charge d’ Affaires of the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain. He has specialization in economic issues and is considered an expert on the Andean region of South America.

Notes:
The Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has been appointed as the brand ambassador by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for the government’s flagship Skill India campaign. Priyanka will use her celebrity status to motivate youngsters to hone their abilities through a media campaign. The Skill India campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2015. The aim of the Government of India (GoI) is to train 40 crore people by 2022 through its skilling initiatives. Earlier, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actors Sidharth Malhotra and Shabana Azmi and singer Mohit Chauhan had also become goodwill envoys for Skill India.

Notes:
India’s first-ever mega trade event for the textiles sector has inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on June 30, 2017. The event ‘Textiles India 2017’ has been organised by the Union Ministry of Textiles with an aim to showcase the country as a global sourcing hub and investment destination. The three-day conference is expected to see participation from 2,500 international buyers, over a 1,000 international and domestic exhibitors and several top fashion designers.

Notes:
The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has signed an agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (KHI) of Japan to manufacture stainless steel coaches and bogies for metro rail. The agreement covers establishing state-of-the-art design, engineering and manufacturing facilities at BHEL using Japanese technology. It will also entitle BHEL for all technology advances and upgrades. The KHI is also the manufacturer and supplier of Shinkansen High Speed Bullet Trains, proposed to be introduced in India on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor.