Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The National Productivity Week (NPW) is observed every year from February 12-18 by the National Productivity Council (NPC) to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in India. The 2017 theme is “From Waste to Profits-through Reduce, Recycle and Reuse”. The National Productivity Council (NPC) is an autonomous body under Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry and was established on 12th February 1958.

Notes:
The world’s longest elevated bike path “the winding viaduct”has been opened in the city of Xiamen, China which can handle about 2,023 cyclists with a speed limit of 15 miles per hour. The five-mile long and 16-feet wide bicycle-only pathway can carry 2,023 cyclists per hour, while 300 hire bikes are available for people who do not have bicycles. The architecture firm responsible is Copenhagen-based firm Dissing + Weitling, known for the creation of the Danish Bicycle Snake cycle route.

Notes:
The India Vetiver Network (INVN) has been launched at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The INVN is a not-for-profit scientific network to promote vetiver in India. Vetiver (Indian grass with fragrant root ) has worldwide application to tackle many environmental issues like soil erosion, mitigation of soil and water pollution. The mission of INVN is environmental protection using vetiver.

Notes:
Sandeep Kumar from Haryana has won the gold medal in the 50km category of the National Race Walking Championship-2017 in New Delhi. He clocked 3 hours 55 minutes and 59.05 seconds to win the race and qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships, which is scheduled to be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom.

Notes:
Hassan Ali Khayre, a former aid worker and oil executive, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Federal Republic of Somalia. He succeeded Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. Prior to this appointment, Khayre had never held public office, although over the course of his career he has worked with a range of high-level executives and government officials in various capacities.

Notes:
The World Bank (WB) will provide 63 million loan to India to empower approx 6.8 lakh adolescent girls in Jharkhand under the ‘Tejaswini: Socio-Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women’ project. For this, a financing agreement for International Development Association (IDA) credit of 63 million (equivalent) has recently signed between the WB and the Government of India (GoI). The Tejaswini project will be delivered in 17 districts of Jharkhand. It has three main components — expanding social, educational and economic opportunities; intensive service delivery; and state capacity-building and implementation support. The closing date for the project is June 30, 2021.

Notes:
The National Conference on Innovation in Educational Administration has started at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi on March 5, 2017. The 3-day conference has organized by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The main purpose of the programme is to recognise innovative ideas and best practices adopted by district and block level education officers for effective management of the educational administrative system at district and block levels. The National Awards for innovation in Educational Administration will be presented by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on March 7. About 150 district and block level education officers from across India and resource persons and faculty of the university will participate in the conference.

Notes:
The book “When Breath Becomes Air” has been authored by Indian-American author Dr. Paul Kalanithi. It is a memoir which chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from medical student to neurosurgeon, patient and father before his sad death from cancer while working on this book. Recently, it is in news because the book has been shortlisted for the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize. It is the first posthumously published title to be in contention for the Wellcome Book Prize.The award celebrates fiction and non-fiction works engaged with the topics of health and medicine. Apart from this, Indian-American author Siddhartha Mukherjee is also on the list of the annual prize for his study of genetics and mental health in his book “The Gene: An Intimate History”. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at Wellcome Collection on April 2017.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI) has recently signed MoU with Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) to jointly conduct various initiatives towards the development of the Real Estate Sector for a period of 3 years. The purpose of the MoU is to work towards providing housing for all. Under this MoU, SBI will be a national partner for all CREDAI activities and both will jointly work together for various marketing activities like conclaves, seminars, exhibitions, campaigns and CSR activities as well. CREDAI is the largest real estate association in the country with over 11,500 members.

Notes:
The high level Committee headed by Arvind Panagariya has been formed to examine the working of the regulatory bodies Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) and their governing legislation. Pangariya is theVice Chairman of NITI Aayog.