Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2018

Notes:
Vishwas Mandalik (from Nasik) and The Yoga Institute (in Mumbai) have been selected as recipients of the Prime Minister’s award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of yoga for the year 2018. The selection was done from among 186 nominations received under different categories. The winners would be felicitated with a trophy, certificate and a cash award of Rs 25 lakh each. The Yoga Institute, established in 1918 by Shri Yogendraji, completed its 100 years serving the society. It has produced more than 50 thousand yoga teachers and has over 500 publications to its credit. While Vishwas Mandalik acquired in-depth knowledge of authentic Patanjali & Hatha Yoga, Bhagwad Gita and Upnishad by study and research of ancient scriptures for over last 55 years. In 1978, he set up first branch of Yoga Vidya Dham, and as of today there are 160 centres in India. He has written 42 books and developed 300 CDs to cover various training courses.

Notes:
The 7th edition of India Minerals and Metals forum was inaugurated in New Delhi on June 21, 2018. The forum seeks to come up with solutions to leverage in the sector with the changing global scenario. The deliberations took cognizance on the need to consolidate small players for strengthening of overall health of the industry. The government officials emphasized on utilizing low grade minerals to reduce burden on high end minerals. It was expressed that India has been conservative in exploration of deep seated minerals due to environmental concerns but it needs quick progress and there is a lot of scope for private sector for carrying out such researches.

Notes:
Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi (94), the renowned Urdu satirist and humourist of the Indian subcontinent, has passed away in Karachi, Pakistan on June 20, 2018. He was widely admired in the literary circles for his unique way of writing and subtle satire. Born in Jaipur (Rajasthan ) in 1923 and educated at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Yousafi migrated to Pakistan in 1956 and became a career banker. Some of his most popular works include Chiragh Talay, Khakam-ba-dahan, Zarguzasht, Aab-E-gum and Sham-e-Shair-e-Yaaraan. In recognition of his contributions to Urdu literature, the Government of Pakistan conferred upon him two highest literary awards Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 1999 and 2002, respectively. The Hilal-i-Imtiaz is the highest literary honour given by the Pakistan government to civilians.

Notes:
Prabhakar Choubey (83), the veteran journalist and litterateur, has passed away in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on June 21, 2018.

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:
Pallavi Durua, who belongs to Odisha’s Koraput district, has been crowned as the India’s first “Tribal Queen” at the Adi Rani Kalinga Tribal Queen competition held at Utkal Mandap on June 26, 2018. Panchami Majhi of Titlagarh and Rashmirekha Hansdah of Mayurbhanj were declared as the first and second runners-up of the beauty pageant respectively. The trio will now feature in a short movie on tribal culture, to be produced by a Mumbai-based producer. Besides that, special awards were also given in seven different categories including tribal attire, photogenic face, best skin, best personality, the best presentation of ornaments, the best presentation of own culture and best in talent. The jury included a pool of guests from national and state-level, headed by Padma Shri Tulasi Munda, who is also the ambassador of the event. The prime objective of the event was to promote tribal art and culture.

Notes:
India has extended a $100 million line of credit to Seychelles to allow it to build its defense capabilities and purchase weapons from India. The two nations also signed six Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), including in the area of infrastructure development in Seychelles, cyber security and white-shipping arrangement that would enable the two countries to exchange data regarding identity and movement of non-military commercial vessels. As promised by PM Modi during his visit there in 2015, India also gifted the 2nd Dornier aircraft to Seychelles ahead of its National Day on June 29, 2018. Both the nations agreed to work together on the Assumption Island project based on each other’s interests. It comes with a good note for India because the deal for an Indian military base in the Island was recently declared as ‘dead’ by Seychelles President Danny Faure.

Notes:
The Ministry of Shipping’s flagship programme for port-led-prosperity ‘Sagarmala’ received the ‘Gold Award’ in infrastructure sector in the recently concluded 52nd Skoch Summit 2018 in New Delhi. The award recognizes the programmes’s contribution to India’s socio-economic transformation and it’s role in propelling fast-track growth and infrastructure development. The Sagarmala Programme also received the ‘Order of Merit’ at the Summit. The Skoch Awards recognize leadership and excellence in accelerating socio-economic changes. These awards have become a benchmark of best practices in India in the fields of governance, infrastructure, finance, banking, technology, corporate citizenship, economics and inclusive growth.

Notes:
For screening cervical cancer, a new Liquid Based Cytology (LBC) technique — Direct to Slide — has launched in Tamil Nadu. The LBC technique would help in detecting cervical cancer during the pre-cancerous stages. In LBC, a soft brush is used to touch the cervix and take cells from the neck of the uterus. This is transferred into a bottle containing a preservative and sent for laboratory analysis. The cell contents are processed on a slide. In the conventional method, the total number of cells collected may not get transferred onto the slide, while in LBC, whatever sample is taken gets transferred onto the slide.

Notes:
According to Mercer’s 24th annual Cost of Living Survey 2018, Mumbai (55) is India’s most expensive city, followed by New Delhi (103) and Chennai (144). Kolkata (182) and Bengaluru (170) are the least expensive Indian cities ranked. As per survey, the factors like instability of housing markets, low inflation, and fluctuating prices for goods and services are impacting the cost of doing business in various cities around the world. This year, Hong Kong is emerged as the most expensive city for expatriates both in Asia and globally as a consequence of Luanda’s drop in the ranking due in part to the downward trend in the city’s housing market. Hong Kong is followed by Tokyo (2), Singapore (4), Seoul (5), Shanghai (7), and Beijing (9).