Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey, who has been a member of the ICAI since 1985, has become the new President of Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI). Prior to this appointment, Vikamsey was the Vice President of the CA institute in 2016-17. ICAI is the national professional accounting body of India. The affairs of ICAI are managed by a council in accordance with the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988. The council has 32 elected members and eight are nominated by the central government.

Notes:
The 10th edition of International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV-2017) will take place in New Delhi, India from 7th to 9th March 2017. The ICEGOV series brings together academia, governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to share the insights and experiences in theory and practice of Digital Government. The 2017 theme is “Building Knowledge Societies – From Digital Government to Digital Empowerment”.

Notes:
The Kerala government has recently launched the public health program “Aardram” to restructure and revamp the public health system so that government hospitals become more patient-friendly and efficient and deliver optimum level of care. The purpose of the health program is to reduce the high out-of-pocket expenditure on health in the State by upgrading the facilities and infrastructure in public health facilities and thus reduce the dependence on private health facilities.

Notes:
China will build its first national underwater observatory in the disputed South China Sea. Such a platform will reportedly allow the country to keep a check on underwater physical, chemical, and geological dynamics in real time and will also be used for other purposes. The construction work on the platform will be done with the help of Shanghai’s Tongji University and the Institute of Acoustics. By building this underwater observation platform, China will become an active part of the international competition. China has maritime disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea. It claims almost all the waters, which carry a third of the world’s maritime traffic and has huge amounts of oil and natural gas. The waters are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China also contests Japan’s hold over the islands in the East China Sea.

Notes:
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) summit will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 7 with the theme of “Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean”. The summit will discuss ways to strengthen maritime cooperation and fight against violent extremism. Leaders and representatives of the 21 member states and seven dialogue partners of IORA are expected to attend the summit. From India, Vice President Hamid Ansari will attend the IORA Summit. The IORA Summit is expected to provide momentum to the strengthening of cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.

Notes:
Rabi Ray (91), the noted socialist leader and former Lok Sabha speaker, has recently passed away in Cuttack, Odisha. Ray was the Union Minister of health and family welfare in the Morarji Desai ministry from January 1979 to January 1980 and the speaker of 9th Lok Sabha from 1989-1991. In 1991, he was re-elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Kendrapada in Odisha. He was also a former chairman of Common Wealth Speakers Forum.

Notes:
Arvind Padmanabhan (49), the veteran journalist and executive editor with the news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), has recently passed away in New Delhi. Before joining the IANS, he also worked with the Press Institute of India (PTI), The Times of India and TV18. The IANS is a private Indian news agency and was founded by Indian-American publisher Gopal Raju.

Notes:
B.P. Kanungo has been appointed the new Deputy Governor in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of 3 years and will succeed R. Gandhi. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post with effect from the date of taking over the charge i.e. on or after April 3, 2017 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Notes:
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, has recently launched a new scheme “Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)” in New Delhi for developing export linked infrastructure in states with a view to promote outbound shipments. The purpose of the TIES is to bridge the infrastructure gap and provide forward and backward linkages to units engaged in trade activities. The scheme will be implemented from April 1, 2017 and will have budgetary allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years with annual outlay of Rs 200 crore. The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and up-gradation of infrastructure projects with overwhelming export linkages like the Border Haats, Land customs stations, quality testing and certification labs, cold chains, trade promotion centres and export warehousing and packaging.

Notes:
The book “The Sleepwalker’s Dream: A Novel” has been authored by Dr. Dhrubajyoti Borah, the President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Through the book, the author traces the journey of a group of militants towards an elusive freedom and an uncertain future. It is about June, Ron and several other rebels fleeing their hideout in Bhutan after an army attack along with their injured unconscious leader, who is unlikely to survive the ordeal of their journey towards the Assam border.