Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Top seeded Indian team has won gold medal in the boys’ team event at the 18th Asian Junior Team Squash Championship-2017 by defeating Malaysia by 2-0 in the final in Hong Kong. It’s 2nd time that Indian boys team has won the championship. Earlier in 2011, they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in Colombo.

Notes:
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a former Prime Minister who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship, has become the new President of Somali after winning the 2017 Somali presidential election with 184 votes out of a total of 328. Previously, he was the Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2010 until June 2011 and is the founder and Chairman of the Tayo Political Party.

Notes:
India has been ranked 43rd out of 45 global economies in the 5th edition of Intellectual Property Index (IPI)-2017, as per the latest report titled “The Roots of Innovation” by the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC)’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC). This is the 5th year in a row that India has been ranked at the bottom of the pack in the index. The list is topped by United States, followed by United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Sweden respectively. The GIPC highlighted the need for the government to build upon the positive rhetoric of its IPR policy with the substantial legislative reforms that innovators need.

Notes:
The world’s first Braille Atlas for visually impaired persons has been launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences. The special edition of the “Atlas for Visually Impaired (India)” in English Braille has been prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) under the Department of S&T. The Atlas priced at Rs.600 and has 20 maps that cover themes such as physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects such as river system, natural vegetation, Metropolitan cities, roads, food and cash crops. The Atlas will be distributed free of cost to various schools across India for educating the students with visual challenges.

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:
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:
Shurhozelie Liezietsu (81), the president of Naga People’s Front (NPF), has been chosen as the new Chief Minister (CM) of Nagaland in place of T R Zeliang who resigned on February 19, 2017 under intense pressure from agitating tribal organizations. Shurhozelie, who is not an MLA and belongs to Angami tribe, will now have to seek an election within 6 months. According to an official source, Liezietsu will be sworn-in as the new CM on February 22.

Notes:
Pakistan army has recently launched nationwide military operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’ to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations. The purpose of the operation is to eliminate residual and latent threat of terrorism and to ensure the security of Pakistan’s borders. The Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed Forces as well as other security and law enforcement agencies will continue to actively participate and support the efforts of the Pakistan Army to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently constituted an inter-disciplinary standing committee on cyber security to review the threats inherent in the existing and emerging technology. The 11—member committee headed by Meena Hemchandra, Executive Director of RBI, will study adoption of various security standards and protocols, interface with stakeholders and suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience. The committee has been formed on the recommendations of the expert panel on Cyber Security and Information Technology Examination.

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.