Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2018

Notes:
Dharampal, the Sarpanch of Godikan village panchayat in Haryana, has passed a ‘No Toilet No Bride’ resolution to ensure the safety and well-being of its womenfolk. The move is aimed at ensuring the security of their daughters in addition to hygiene. With this move, the Godikan panchayat has become the first panchayat in the country to marry off girls only to families who have a toilet in their house. The village apparently was inspired by the super hit Hindi movie starring Akshay Kumar – ‘Toilet-Ek Prem Katha’. Godikan panchayat has already been declared an Outdoor Defecation Free (ODF) panchayat.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal of setting up of a committee to lay down standards for metro rail systems in the country. The committee will be headed by E Sreedharan, who is also known as the ‘Metro Man’. The aim of this move is to cut costs in the construction and operation of metro rail systems in the country and bring them under the Make in India umbrella. Besides recommending standardisation norms for various components, the Sreedharan committee will also suggest ways to indigenize metro components that are currently imported. The standards, once finalised by the committee, will be mandatory for all metro projects coming up with central assistance. Elattuvalapil Sreedharan is a retired Indian Engineering Service (IES) officer who has served as the managing director of Delhi Metro from 1995 to 2012. Currently, metro projects with a total length of 370km are operational in eight cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi and Mumbai.

Notes:
The Punjab government has launched a new scheme ‘Paani Bachao, Paise Kamao’ to check depletion of underground water. Under this scheme, farmers will get monetary benefit for less use of tube well. The purpose of the scheme was to ensure that farmers use the power with restraint to pump out water from earth. They said every detail regarding the usage of power and the money transferred into account of farmer would be given to him on phone. Initially farmers for Bambiwal, Khusropur, Kukar Pind, Aladinpur and Kot Khurd village of Bambiwal feeder and Malsian, Dabri, Lasuri, Nawajipur, Mullewal Khaira and Mulewal Gharnian under Nawajipur feeder were entitled for this scheme.

Notes:
Screenwriter Supriya Kelkar has authored the book “Ahimsa”, which will be published in India in August 2018. Her debut novel will sheds light on the Indian freedom movement, which is inspired by her great-grandmother’s experience working with Mahatma Gandhi. In 1942, after Gandhi ji asked one member of each family to join the non-violent freedom movement, 10-year-old Anjali was devastated to think that her father will risk his life for the country. But he’s not the one joining. Anjali’s mother was. As the family got more and more involved in the cause, Anjali gives up her privileges and confronts her prejudices to ensure her little contribution to the movement is complete. “Ahimsa”, published by Scholastic India, is essentially about female empowerment and overcoming one’s internal struggles and giving up one’s biases.

Notes:
According to data on language released by the Union government as part of Census 2011, Hindi is the most spoken language in India. As per data, the percentage of Indian population with Hindi as their mother tongue has risen to 43.63% from 41.03% in 2001. Bengali has taken the second spot, followed by Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Gujarati. Urdu is the 7th most spoken language in India, while Sanskrit was the least spoken of the country’s 22 scheduled languages. Out of unscheduled languages, the most spoken language was Bhili or Bhilodi, native to Rajasthan with 1.04 crore speakers and is followed by Gondi with 29 lakh speakers. According to Census authorities, mother tongue is defined as the language spoken in childhood by the person’s mother to the person or, where the mother has died in the person’s infancy, the language mainly spoken in the person’s household during childhood.

Notes:
Forward Rani Rampal has been named as the captain of India’s 18-member squad for the prestigious 2018 women’s hockey World Cup tournament, which is slated to begin in London on July 21. Indian team has been placed in Pool B alongside hosts and world no.2 England, world no.7 USA and world no.16 Ireland. India’s defence will consist of Sunita Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Deepika, drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur and Reena Khokhar. In the midfield, Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz, Monika, Neha Goyal, Navjot Kaur and Nikki Pradhan will hold fort.

Notes:
The United Nations’ (UN) International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is observed every year on June 26 to speak out against the crime of torture and to honor and support victims and survivors throughout the world. The day is an opportunity to call on all stakeholders including UN Member States, civil society and individuals everywhere to unite in support of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been victims of torture and those who are still tortured today.

Notes:
Currently, Maharashtra has total five Unesco World Heritage Sites and this number is highest among all states and UTs in India. The sites include Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves, Elephanta Caves, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco buildings of South Mumbai. The last one was included on 30 June, 2018.

Notes:
In June 2018, Odisha government entered into a collaboration with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), an intergovernmental body under United Nations. RIMES has 48 member nations among Asia Pacific and Africa Region and is aimed at automating risk management, advisory generation and dissemination. This body had evolved in the aftermath of 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami due to efforts of African and Asian Countries.

Notes:
India has moved up one place from 36 in 2016 to 35th spot in 2018 on JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) aided by improvement in market fundamentals, policy reforms, and liberalization of FDI. The report covers 100 markets and is based on 186 indicators divided into six areas –performance measurement, market fundamentals, governance of listed vehicles, regulatory & legal frameworks, transaction process and environmental sustainability.