Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2018

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 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on June 26 to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. The theme for 2018 is: “Listen First – Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe”. It is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities. It is marked to raise awareness against drug abuse and illegal drug trade. According to the UNODC, nearly 200 million people are using illicit drugs such as cocaine, cannabis, hallucinogens, opiates and sedative hypnotics worldwide.

Notes:
Yousaf Saleem, who belongs to Lahore, has been sworn-in as the first-ever visually impaired judge of Pakistan. He was among 21 judges who took the oath to be sworn in as a civil judges on June 26, 2018. Yousaf is the son of a charted accountant and is visually impaired by birth. He has four sisters and two of them are also visually impaired. His sister Saima Saleem became first visually impaired civil servant in 2007 and is currently serving with Prime Minister Secretariat while the other sister is a university lecturer.

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:
The Maharashtra government has constituted a committee to study issues related to the development of a 1,000-MW floating solar power plant at Ujani dam in Solapur district. The committee will be headed by Satish Chavan, the Director (Commercial) of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL). Beside this, the committee will also study the environmental impact of the project and monitor the month-wise water level of the dam. Ujani dam is an earthfill cum Masonry gravity dam located near Ujjani village of Madha Taluk in Solapur district. The dam is on the Bhima River, a tributary of the Krishna River, and has a total capacity of 110 TMC.

Notes:
The Raja Lakhamagouda dam is situated at Hidkal village in Hukkeri Taluk of Belagavi district in North Karnataka. It is build across the Ghataprabha River in the Krishna River basin. The dam with the height of 62.48 m and 10 Vertical Crest Gates, impounds a large reservoir with a gross surface area of 63.38 Sq Km, and storage capacity of 51.16 Tmcft. The dam is named after Raja Lakhamagouda Sardesai, philanthropist and Zamindar of Vantamuri.

Notes:
The 12th National Statistics Day (NSD-2018) is celebrated on June 29 at the National level in India with theme “Quality Assurance in Official Statistics” to create public awareness about the importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation, and to acknowledge the contribution of Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation and Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) jointly celebrated 12th Statistics Day and the closing ceremony of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis on 29th June 2018 at Kolkata. On the occasion, Vice President of India released a commemorative coin of Rs 125 and circulation coin of Rs 5 denomination as a mark of respect to Prof. Mahalanobis. The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) at Kolkata, set up by Prof. Mahalanobis in 1931, and was declared an autonomous “Institute of National Importance” through an act of Parliament in 1959.

Notes:
On June 29, Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, launched a mobile application “ReUnite” in New Delhi to track and trace missing and abandoned children in India. The app is multiuser where parents and citizens can upload pictures of children, and provide detailed description like name, birth mark, address, report to the police station, search and identify missing kids. The photographs will not be saved in the mobile phone’s physical memory. Amazon Rekognition, web facial recognition service, is being used to identify missing kids. The app is available for both Android and iOS.

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:
‘IPledgefor9′ Achievers Awards were given recently to individuals and teams of doctors from the private sector and States for their exemplary services, outstanding support of institutions and commitment from support partners in achieving PMSMA’s objectives of safe motherhood to every woman in the country. These awards were established to celebrate individual and team achievements and acknowledge voluntary contributions for PMSMA in states and districts across India.