Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

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:
The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has launched a mobile Application ‘Selfie with Daughter’ at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on June 9, 2017 to raise awareness among people about female foeticide and sex selection. The President has urged the people to take selfies with their daughters to make the campaign a huge success. The ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign was started by Sunil Jaglan in June 2015 at village Bibipur in Haryana, which was praised by the President on this occasion. The aim of the campaign is to motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child which will result in improving the child sex ratio.

Notes:
The Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary is located in Unnao district on the Kanpur-Lucknow highway in Uttar Pradesh. In 2015, the sanctuary is renamed asShahid Chandra Shekhar Azad Bird Sanctuary. It is home to arus crane, painted stork, peafowl, white ibis, dabchick, whistling teal, open-bill stork, white-necked stork, etc. The major reptiles found in the sanctuary are cobra, viper, krait, ratsnake and water snakes. It also houses a deer park, watchtowers and boats.

Notes:
India has signed a pact with Mauritius to institutionalize cooperation between Parliaments of the two countries. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Speaker of National Assembly of Mauritius Santi Bai Hanoomanjee after their meeting in Port Louis. The relationship between the two countries provides a platform for the sustained growth of friendship and partnership.

Notes:
The book titled “Yug Purush, Bharat Ratna, Atal Ji” is based on the on the social and political life of former Prime Minister of India Atal Bhihari Vajpayee. It is authored by Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank”, who is the BJP MP and former Uttarakhand chief minister. Recently, Pokhriyal has officially handed over the first copy of the 450-page book to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. Though, the book will be launched soon in the market for all.

Notes:
India has been ranked 60th out of 130 nations on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017. The 2017 index highlighted the continual improvement of India in terms of investment, tertiary education, quality of its publications and universities, its ICT services exports and innovation clusters. Among India’s neighbors, Sri Lanka has acquired 90th spot, Nepal 109th, Pakistan 113th and Bangladesh 114th spot. The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden and the Netherlands. The theme of the 2017 Index is “Innovation Feeding the World” that focuses on innovation in agriculture and food systems. The index is co-authored by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Notes:
The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is observed every year on June 19 to raise awareness of the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence around the world and to pay tribute to all those who have courageously devoted their lives to and lost their lives in standing up for the eradication of these crimes. The 2017 theme is “Preventing Sexual Violence Crimes through Justice and Deterrence”.

Notes:
Narendra Kumar Sinha, the 1980 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, will be the new secretary of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry. Currently, Sinha is posted as cultural secretary. He will succeed Ajay Mittal who has been appointed as the new secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The current DoPT Secretary B P Sharma will retire from the post on June 30, 2017.

Notes:
The 6th edition of International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup was held at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on June 24 – 25, 2017. Over 150 athletes from across the globe will participate at the World Cup including the top talent from India. The tournament will be hosted by the City Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO). The Italy-based IFSC has 86 member federations across five continents.

Notes:
India has been ranked 93rd out of 128 countries in the 2017 Social Progress Index (SPI). The list is topped by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The SPI is an aggregate index of social and environmental indicators that capture three dimensions of social progress: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. The 2017 SPI includes data from 128 countries on 50 indicators. The index is published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, and is based on the writings of Amartya Sen, Douglass North, and Joseph Stiglitz.