Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Leo Varadkar, the leader of the Fine Gael Party, will become the new Prime Minister of Ireland after defeating his rival Simon Coveney with 60% of votes. Varadkar will become the first gay Prime Minister and will also be the country’s youngest ever leader. He will succeed Taoiseach Enda Kenny as leader of the centre-right party in June 2017.

Notes:
India has been ranked 37th out of 103 nations in the 2017 global Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), according to a new report by the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative. The OPHI is an economic research centre at the Oxford University, led by Professor Sabina Alkire. The 2017 global MPI has covered 76% of the world’s population, living in 103 countries. The index measures the nature and intensity of poverty, based on the profile of overlapping deprivations each poor person experiences. It aggregates these into meaningful indexes that can be used to inform targeting and resource allocation and to design policies that tackle the interlinked dimensions of poverty together.

Notes:
Ananya Vinay (12), the 6th-grader from California, has won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee competition by successfully spelling “marocain” in the final round at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland on June 1, 2017. She won $40,000 in cash among other prizes. Ananya is the 13th consecutive Indian-American to win the bee and the 18th of the past 22 winners with Indian heritage, a run that began in 1999 with Nupur Lala’s victory.

Notes:
Nepali-Hindi film Ralang Road will represent India at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic, which is scheduled to be held from June 30 to July 8, 2017. It will be after 13 years that an Indian film will compete with other international films at this film festival. Ralang Road tells the stories of four people living in the Himalayan countryside. The film explores cultural immigration and lifestyles in a complex social setup. The film is directed by Karma Takapa and produced by HumanTrail Pictures.

Notes:
The Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Fazilka District of Punjab. The formation of sanctuary relates to a unique success story of wildlife conservation in which people of Bishnoi community united themselves for protecting the Black Buck which is regarded as a sacred animal by them. It is also the State Animal of Punjab. It is home to several varieties of flora and fauna viz. Albizia lebbeck, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachata indica, A. tortilis, Wild Boar, Blue Bull, Porcupines, Hare, Jackal, etc.

Notes:
The United Nations is hosting its first-ever World Oceans Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States from June 5, 2017. The 5-day conference is co-hosted by the Governments of Fiji and Sweden with theme “Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14”. The purpose of the conference is to find solutions to some of the toughest problems facing the oceans — that includes coral bleaching, plastic pollution, overfishing and rising sea levels. It also includes measures to protect coastal and blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrass, and coral reefs, and wider interconnected ecosystems, as well as enhancing sustainable fisheries management, including to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield.

Notes:
Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Nepali Congress President, has been sworn-in as the new Prime minister of Nepal at Rashtrpati Bhawan in Kathmandu, Nepal. Deuba has taken the charge of prime minister for the 4th time. He first became PM in 1995 and later in 2001 and 2004. The 2017 Election for new prime minister was held due to resignation by the CPN (Maoist Centre) Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal from the post of prime minister. Dahal had resigned on May 24 as per the power sharing understanding with the coalition partner Nepali Congress.

Notes:
J P Nadda, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, has launched “Skill for Life, Save a Life” initiative in New Delhi to promote skill development in the health sector. The purpose of the initiative is to upscale the quality and quantity of trained professionals in the healthcare system. Under this initiative various courses are planned in specific competencies for healthcare professionals as well as for general public.

Notes:
Sachin Tendulkar has joined UNICEF’s ‘Super Dads’ campaign that highlights the critical role played by fathers in children’s early development. The campaign features stars from the world of entertainment and sport including David Beckham, Novak Djokovic, Mahershala Ali, Lewis Hamilton and Hugh Jackman. The UNICEF campaign will celebrates Father’s Day and highlights the importance of love, play, protection and good nutrition for the healthy development of young children’s brains. The heart-warming videos and photos of celebrity dads in the campaign will be coupled with stories of super dads from across the world, including those who are doing their best to raise their children in extremely difficult circumstances.

Notes:
Montenegro has officially become the 29th member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at a ceremony in Washington, United States on June 5, 2017. The purpose of NATO is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. The headquarters of NATO is located at Brussels, Belgium.