Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2018

Notes:
The Haryana Government has launched 7-Star Gram Panchayat Rainbow scheme to give star rankings to its panchayats on the basis of 7 social parameters. The panchayats will be judged on sex ratio, education, hygiene, environment preservation, governance and social participation. Under the scheme, approx 1,120 villages of Haryana has achieved star ranking since its launch in January 2018. The Ambala district topped the star ranking with 407 stars followed by Gurugram with 199 stars and Karnal with 75 stars. The selected villages will be honoured at an award ceremony to be held in Panchkula, Gurugram and Rohtak in July 2018. The villages would be rewarded Rs one lakh for achieving each parameter. The villages having equal or more girl population will be given Rs 50,000 as bonus with their reward money. Similarly, the villages which adopt Swachhta Mission will be given additional Rs 50,000 as reward.

Notes:
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has banned the Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Afghanistan-based Islamic State in Khorasan Province (or ISIS Wilayat Khorasan) under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 (UAPA). The outfit, which has now been banned, considers India and Indian interests as its targets and is engaged in activities of radicalising and recruiting Indian youth for terror activities. The main purpose of anti-terror law is to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India. It has strict penal provisions to deal with banned organisations and their members. There are 39 banned outfits under UAPA, including the Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and others.

Notes:
On 22nd June 2018, the annual Ambubachi Mela has started at Nilachall hillock where the Kamakhya temple is situated in Assam. The temple will remain close from this evening and re-opened for public in the morning of 26th this month. Over 10 lakh devotees are expected to attend the mela. Temporary camps have been set up in and around the temple. Special thrust is being given in maintaining cleanliness. Around three thousand security personnel have been deployed. 80 buses have been pressed into services by the Assam State Transport Corporation to ferry passengers.

Notes:
Gautam Kanjilal (68), who was one of the pioneers in rock climbing in India and veteran mountaineer, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on June 22, 2018. An engineer by profession and a member of city-based mountaineering club Himalayan Association, Kanjilal began his outward bound activities way back in 1970 when he attended a rock climbing course at Susunia Hills. Subsequently he underwent training at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling and took part in the expedition to hitherto unclimbed Sudarshan in 1978. He also acted as an instructor and course commandant in various rock climbing and adventure courses till a few years back. A keen rock climber, Kanjilal explored quite a few rock routes in the hills of Bankura and Purulia districts and one of them is named after him ( Kanjimal ) which he pioneered along with three other rock climbers during late 1970s.

Notes:
On June 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Mohanpura Irrigation Project in Rajgarh district in Madhya Pradesh. The Rs 3,866-crore project includes a dam and a canal system. This project will facilitate irrigation of agricultural land in Rajgarh district. It will also provide drinking water to villages in the area. It will benefit 727 villages in the state and would irrigate 1.25 lakh hectares of land.

Notes:
In Archery, Deepika Kumari clinched a gold medal in the women’s recurve event at stage three of World Cup in Salt Lake City of US on June 25, 2018. She defeated Michelle Kroppen of Germany 7-3. With the win, the four-time World Cup final silver medalist has automatically qualified for the Archery World Cup Final to be held in Samsun of Turkey later this year. Beside her, Abhishek Verma secured an individual silver and a mixed team bronze medal in compound events. In the medal standings, India finished fourth behind US, Colombia and Chinese Taipei with a gold, silver and bronze each in the penultimate stage of the World Cup. India’s Asian Games-bound archery squad will now head to Berlin to take part in fourth stage of World Cup from 16th to 22nd of next month.

Notes:
The naval forces of India and Bangladesh will conduct the joint patrol exercise “Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT)” in the Bay of Bengal from June 27. The first edition of 3-day naval exercise will be inaugurated by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the naval staff (CNS) of India, who is visiting Bangladesh from June 24. The purpose of the Lanba’s visit is to consolidate bilateral defence relations between India and Bangladesh and to explore new avenues for naval cooperation. In the CORPAT exercise, four maritime patrol aircraft, two from the Bangladesh Navy and two from the Indian navy, and four frigates, two from the Bangladesh Navy (BNS Abu Bakar and BNS Dhaleswari) and two from the Indian navy (INS Satpura and INS Kadmatt) will participate.

Notes:
The Getalsud Dam is an artificial reservoir situated at Ormanjhi in Ranchi, Jharkhand. It was constructed across the Subarnarekha River and was opened in 1971. It is a popular picnic spot for the residents of Ranchi and Ramgarh District. The dam provides a small-scale fishing opportunity to the local people of Rukka. The main purpose of the dam is to fulfill the drinking water requirements of the residents of Ranchi. Apart from that, it is also used for industrial purposes and generating electricity.

Notes:
The 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 championship will be held in the West Indies from November 9 to 24. This is the first standalone ICC women’s event in the shortest format of the game. India will begin their campaign against New Zealand on the opening day. The 10-team tournament, featuring three-time champions Australia and reigning winners England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and defending champions the West Indies, plus two qualifiers, will be played across three venues in the Caribbean. The finalists of the World T20 Qualifier in the Netherlands from July 7 to 14 will add to the line-up of the November tournament. The teams participating in the Qualifying event are Bangladesh, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

Notes:
The 58th National Interstate Senior Athletics Championships 2018 has started in Guwahati, Assam on June 26. The event was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal. Over 800 players are taking part in the 4-day event. The Indian athletics team for the upcoming Asian Games 2018 to be held at Jakarta will be selected from this meet. Competitions will be held in a total of 42 categories, 21 in men and 21 in women.