Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The 4th BIMSTEC Summit-2017 will be held in Nepal, which is likely to be announced in the 17th session of BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) that has started at Kathmandu, Nepal on February 2, 2017. In the meeting, delegates of member countries will review the progress made by BIMSTEC and recommend future course of action to strengthen regional cooperation among the group. The BIMSTEC was founded in 1997 and is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. These are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Notes:
Recently, the Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel has laid the foundation stone of the India’s first centre of excellence for differently-abled sportsmen at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Center of Excellence is proposed with an estimate of over Rs 50 crore. It will have world class facilities where para athletes can train for various international competitions including Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. It will also act as a classification center for para athletes. The Center will also hold seminars, educational programmes and workshops throughout the year with the help of International Paralympic Committee. Approx 50 differently-abled sportspersons (boys & girls) between age group 8-12 will be imparted training in Athletics, Swimming and power lifting at the training centre. The entire project will be constructed by CPWD in coordination with various experts and consultants having full accessibility as per the norms of IPC.

Notes:
India will host the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs (NSAs) to discuss action against the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation. This was decided at the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) which recently concluded at Kathmandu, Nepal. This marked an important step forward to realize the action oriented agenda for BIMSTEC agreed by the leaders at their Retreat hosted by Prime Minister Modi in Goa in October 2016.

Notes:
Pathani Patnaik (89), the renowned litterateur, poet, writer and academician, has recently passed away in Cuttack, Odisha. He was the former principal of Christ College and also served as President of Odisha Sahitya Akademi. He had written over 50 books on different aspects of literature, including short stories and poems and also received the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award in 2010 for his autobiography “Jeebanara Chalapatha”.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has recently appointed three part-time non-official directors on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a 4-year term. These are – Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Dr. Ashok Gulati and Manish Sabharwal. This central Board of directors is responsible for governing the affairs of RBI. The board is appointed by the Union Government. There are five official directors — Governor and not more than four deputy governors. Besides, the government nominates 16 non-official directors on the board. Ten are nominated from different fields, two are government officials and one director each from the four local boards.

Notes:
The 3-day International Coin Fair has started at Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from February 13, 2017 and is hosted by District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC). More than 2,500 coins from around 500 regions, including those from the times of empires and princely states will be displayed in this fair. The coins on display will include those from the time of Alexander the Great, to various Mughal, Chera, Chola emperors and Kanishka, besides Persian, Roman and Islamic coins. Additionaly, the coin released by Subhash Chandra Bose during British rule and Somalian guitar-shaped coins, Princess Diana tribute coins, flower-inscribed coins, among other rare pieces, will be the major attractions.

Notes:
Tehmina Janjua has become the Pakistan’s first woman foreign secretary. Currently, Janjua is serving as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva. Janjua will succeed Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in March 2017.

Notes:
The 11th edition of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 will be hosted by England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. Recently, India qualified for Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 by defeating Bangladesh by 9 wickets in a Super Six match in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Eight teams will qualify to participate in the tournament.

Notes:
Banasree Sengupta (71), the renowned Bengali singer, has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. She was known for her mellifluous voice. Some of her hit songs are Aaj Bikeler Dake Tomar Chhithi Pelam, Amar Angey Jaley Rangmoshal, Chhi chhi Eki Kando Korechi, Dur Akashay Tomar Sur, etc. She also lent her voice to Bengali, Hindi, Assamese and Odia films.

Notes:
The Barren Island is located in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is the only confirmed active volcano in South Asia. It is in news because the Barren Island volcano has erupted once again after lying dormant for over 150 years. According to the researchers at Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), the volcano is active and spewing smoke and lava once again. They have sampled the sediments and water in the vicinity of the volcano and recovered coal-like black pyroclastic material representing proximal volcanic eject. These samples will help in deciphering the nature of the present and past volcanic activity in the region.