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:
The first biannual Indian Air Force Commanders’ Conference was inaugurated by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Air Headquarters in New Delhi on May 31, 2018. The two day conference will discuss operational, maintenance and administrative takeaways identified during the military exercise ‘Gagan Shakti-2018′ and the way ahead. The aim of the Gagan Shakti-2018, which was conducted in April 2018, was real time coordination, deployment and employment of air power in a short and intense battle scenario.

Notes:
Assamese Singer Zubeen Garg will be honoured with the ‘Hero to Animals Award’ from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for his recent appeal to end animal sacrifice at the Kamakhya Temple in Assam. Zubeen had expressed his anguish over the ritual of animal sacrifice and appealed for putting an end to the practice while performing at a Bihu function near the temple recently. The priests of the Kamakhya Temple had subsequently criticised Zubeen for his statement and demanded an apology from him at the earliest.

Notes:
The Somasila Dam is built across the Penna River near Somasila in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. The reservoir impounded by the dam has a surface area of 212.28 km2 with live storage capacity of 1.994 km3.

Notes:
In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been sworn-in for a second four-year term in office as the country faces major economic and security challenges. Sisi won 97% of valid votes in the March presidential election.

Notes:
On June 3, the Indian Navy evacuated 38 stranded Indians from Socotra Island in Yemen where they were stranded for nearly 10 days after a severe Cyclonic storm Mekunu hit the area. The Navy evacuated the Indians as part of operation code name ‘NISTAR’, carried out off the coast of Socotra and embarked them at Indian Naval ship INS Sunayna to bring them back to India. The evacuated Indians were immediately provided with medical care, food, water and telephone facilities to call and reassure their families at home. The Island of Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea and is recognised as a world natural heritage site by UNESCO in 2008. It is one of the most isolated landforms on Earth that a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. Notable are the dragon’s blood trees that look like flying saucers perched on trunks.

Notes:
Sanjana Ramesh has won the ‘Most Valuable Player’ (MVP) award at the Basketball Without Borders Asia 2018, which featured 66 campers from 16 countries from the Asia-Pacific region. Her compatriot Vaishnavi Yadav won the ‘Girls Grit Award’ in the camp. The camp got underway with the girls championship game between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. Coached on the sidelines by Ruth Riley and Sakshi Sheoran, the Lynx defeated the Liberty 20-13.

Notes:
Ecuadorean foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa has been elected President of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a mainly ceremonial title that nonetheless carries a high profile and important procedural functions. Espinosa defeated Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras by 128 votes to 62, with two abstentions. Espinosa will become the fourth woman ever to hold the UNGA presidency and the first since Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, from Bahrain, in 2006-2007. Espinosa will assume the position in September at the start of the 73rd UN General Assembly. It is rare to have a contested election for the position, which is normally filled by consensus without a vote. It was the turn for Latin America and the Caribbean to nominate the assembly president based on a preset geographical rotation. The previous women leaders of the Assembly were India’s Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in 1953; Liberia’s Angie Elisabeth Brooks in 1969 and Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain in 2006.

Notes:
Dr. Sapan Kumar Murmu (58), the renowned doctor and Superintendent of VIMSAR, has passed away on June 8, 2018. Dr. Murmu started his career at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) and held various important posts. He was also Head of the Department of Paediatrics at VIMSAR. The VIMSAR is a premier government-run medical college and hospital of Odisha. It was established in 1959 in Burla, a small town on the banks of the Mahanadi River in the Sambalpur district of Western Odisha. It is one of the oldest institutes in Odisha for imparting highly specialized medical education at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Notes:
Mithali Raj has become the first Indian cricketer to score 2,000 runs in T20 International Cricket. She achieved the landmark during India’s 7-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup T20 at Kaula Lumpur on June 7, 2018. Mithali now has 2,015 runs from 75 matches. She is the seventh woman to reach 2,000 runs in T20 format. The list is headed by England cricketer Charlotte Edwards with 2,605, followed by Stafanie Taylor (2,582) and Suzie Bates (2,515). Interestingly, India men’s team captain Virat Kohli with 1,983 runs is the next on the list, followed by Rohit Sharma (1,852) and Suresh Raina (1,499).