Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2018

Notes:
The World Milk Day (WMD) is observed every year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on June 1 to recognize the importance of milk as a global food. The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector. Interestingly, this is an event which does not follow a specific theme worldwide. Instead, different countries, governments and non-governmental organizations get to pick a theme of their own. The WMD 2018 theme in India is “Drink Move Be Strong”. Milk is enriched with nutrients like calcium, protein, vitamin B2, potassium, iodine, etc.

Notes:
Amit Khare, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, has taken assumed charge as new Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). He succeeded Narendra Kumar Sinha. Prior to the appointment as Secretary, Khare was Additional Chief Secretary in Jharkhand government. During a career span of more than 33 years, Khare has held various field postings and has worked from grassroots to the higher levels of governance in both State and Central Governments. He has also worked as Member Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher Education, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).

Notes:
Tata Motors Ltd.  has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Government of Maharashtra for deployment of 1000 Electric Vehicles (EV) across its range of passenger and commercial vehicles in the State. The company also partnered Tata group company, Tata Power Ltd to set up of EV Charging Stations in the State. The MoU will boost the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 in accelerating the adoption of Evs in Maharashtra.

Notes:
The BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting has started in the South African city of Johannesburg on June 4, 2018. The meeting is expected to lay the foundation for 2018 annual summit of the grouping which will also be held in Johannesburg. The BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is leading the Indian delegation. Beside this, Mrs Swaraj will also chair a meeting of Foreign Ministers of IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa), another bloc working to deepen coordination among the three countries on major global issues. She will also attend a series of events marking the 125th anniversary of the historic incident where a young Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment in Pietermaritzburg railway station in 1893. The incident proved to be a turning point in Mahatma Gandhi’s fight against racial discrimination in South Africa.

Notes:
Leela Menon (86), the senior journalist and chief editor of Malayalam daily Janmabhumi, has passed away in Kochi, Kerala on June 3, 2018. Menon, who began her journalistic career with The Indian Express in New Delhi in 1978, shot into the limelight for her wide-range of ‘exclusive’ stories and courageous reporting. She used to write for The Hindu, Outlook, and regional dailies. In an era with very few opportunities for woman in media, she broke the glass ceiling by breaking several stories of national relevance like the rampant poverty and prostitution at Aruvacode in Malappuram district, Vypeen hooch tragedy, Suryanelli case and Thopumpaddy prostitution racket. She exposed the first high-profile case of ‘Love Jihad. Ms. Menon penned an autobiography titled ‘Nilaykatha Symphony’.

Notes:
The IBSA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in Pretoria, South Africa on June 4, 2018. The External Affairs Minister of the Republic of India, Sushma Swaraj chaired the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) ministerial meet and hold talks on how to deepen coordination among the three countries on major global issues. On this occasion, Ministers adopted and jointly released the IBSA Declaration on South-South Cooperation, to contribute to greater understanding of development cooperation as a common endeavor of the Global South. The Ministers also considered proposed IBSA events planned for 2018-19 to mark the fifteenth-anniversary of IBSA. The Ministers agreed to host these events in all three countries as well as on the margins of multilateral events.

Notes:
Tommy Thomas, an ethnic Indian Christian lawyer, has been appointed as the new attorney general of Malaysia. He succeeded Mohamad Apandi Ali. Tommy is the first practising lawyer to be appointed directly from the Malaysian Bar to be the attorney general, and the first non-Malay and non-Muslim Malaysian to hold this post. The appointment has been approved by Malaysia’s king Sultan Muhammad V, amid protests from Islamic groups that the job must be held by a Muslim. Thus, he became the first person from a minority community to hold the post since Malaysia was formed in 1963.

Notes:
The Union Government has constituted a group of eminent persons to study the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Policy of India. The group will be headed by Industrialist Baba Kalyani. The group will evaluate the SEZ policy, suggest measures to cater to the needs of exporters in the present economic scenario and make the SEZ policy WTO compatible. The Group has to submit its recommendation in 3 months. The SEZ Policy was implemented from 1st April, 2000. Subsequently, the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 was passed by Parliament in May, 2005 which received Presidential assent on the 23rd June, 2005 and the Special Economic Zone Act was enacted. The SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ Rules, came into effect on 10th February, 2006.

Notes:
On June 6, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) in Telangana has received the approval of Technical Advisory Committee of the Union government in a meeting held in the Central Water Commission (CWC) in Delhi. The Kaleshwaram project, which is the biggest lift irrigation project in the country, has provision for the storage of about 148 tmc ft with plans of utilising 180 tmc ft by lifting at least 2 tmc ft water every day for 90 flood days. The project is designed to irrigate 7,38,851 hectares (over 18.47 lakh acres) uplands in the erstwhile districts of Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, Medak, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy. The expected cost of project is Rs 80,000 crore. One of the unique features of the project is the longest tunnel in Asia of 81 kms between Yellampally and Mallannasagar dams. To lift the water the project will utilise 139MW pump, the highest capacity pump to be deployed in any project in the country. The Kaleswaram project across the Godavari river is often described as a boon to the state.

Notes:
Narayan Prasad Singh, the most popular lyricist of Odisha, has passed away in Bhubaneswar on June 6, 2018. He was popularly known as Rasaraj. Born on May 28, 1933 at Koeli village, Singh earned his name in the world of Odia music. He was the lyricist of several popular melodious songs in Odia cinema. He made his debut by writing songs for Akashvani and came to be known as Rasaraj in Odia film industry for penning more than a hundred of songs that touched the heart of both the urban and rural population. Some of his songs are all time hits and his philosophical and contemporary songs had a great impact on youths. Some of his soulful and melodious songs in Odia cinema are ‘Jeevan Jamuna re Juara uthere’, ‘Ratani gaja gamani’, ‘Ae ta kali kaal reeti biparita bhai re’.