Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Bano Qudsia (88), the renowned Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright, has recently passed away in Lahore, Pakistan. She was born in November 1928 in Ferozepur, India and migrated to Pakistan after partition. Among her prominent writings include Aadhi Baat, Aatish-i-zer-i-paa, Aik Din, Amer Bail, Asay Pasay, Chahar Chaman, Chhotaa Sheher Baray Log, Footpath ki Ghaas, Hasil Ghaat and Hawa Kay Naam.

Notes:
Mohit Ahlawat (21) from Delhi has become the first batsman in the world to score a triple century in a T20 match at a level. He achieved this feat in a local T20 tournament at Delhi’s Lalita Park, playing for Maavi XI against Friend’s XI. Mohit’s unbeaten 300 run innings came off just 72 balls and was laced with a staggering 39 sixes and 14 boundaries. In professional cricket, the highest individual score in T20 cricket belongs to Chris Gayle, who made 175 runs in just 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The highest individual in international cricket is 156 that Aaron Finch smashed in 63 balls for Australia against England.

Notes:
Sir Peter Mansfield (83), MRI pioneer and Nobel laureate, has recently passed away in London, England. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2003, along with late US chemist Paul Lauterbur, for discovering Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MIR), a technique used by medical specialists to generate images of the human body’s anatomy. MRI uses magnetic fields, radio waves and field gradients to detect damage such as cancer, in various parts of the body.

Notes:
The 11th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition – Aero India 2017 – will be held at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru, Karnataka from February 14. In the 5-day event, 72 aircrafts, beside 270 Indian and 279 foreign companies will participate. Exhibitors from US, Russia, Israel, Germany, Singapore, UAE, South Korea and Australia will participate. The aerobatic teams participating in the show are Indian Air Force Sarang Team, the Indian Air Force Surya Kiran Team, the Scandinavian Air Show Team from Sweden and the Evolvkos Aerobatic Team from UK.

Notes:
Veteran journalist T V Parasuram (93), a former correspondent of the Press Trust of India (PTI), has recently passed away in United States. He began his stint in the US as the PTI correspondent at United Nations in the 50s. The veteran journalist, who won a Harvard Niemen Fellowship in journalism, served as the correspondent for The Indian Express for two decades till his retirement at age 58. Parasuram then became the PTI’s Washington correspondent till he quit journalism at age 82. He was a regular at the press conferences of US presidents during his over five-decade stay in America. He authored two books, ‘A Medal for Kashmir – a first hand account of the Indian Army’s operations in 1947-48 in Jammu and Kashmir – and ‘India’s Jewish Heritage’.

Notes:
Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured with the 4th National Yash Chopra Memorial Award-2017 on February 24. The award commemorates the director-producer by honouring excellence in various spheres of cinema like acting, music etc.

Notes:
India has been ranked 143rd in the 2017 Economic Freedom Index (EFI). The annual index was released by a conservative US political think tank “the Heritage Foundation”. It measures the degree of economic freedom in the countries of the world. The 2017 index is topped by Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand, respectively. Among South Asian countries, only Afghanistan (163) and Maldives (157) were ranked below India. Nepal (125), Sri Lanka (112), Pakistan (141), Bhutan (107), and Bangladesh (128) surpassed India in economic freedom.

Notes:
The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has won the prestigious International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17 for the best overall presentation of its 2015-2016 annual report. The EDII is an autonomous and not-for-profit national resource institute for entrepreneurship education, research, training and institution-building. The Mercury Awards, founded in 1987, promote excellence, quality and performance in the various fields of public relations. The award entertains participation from agencies, associations, corporations, government agencies, nonprofit groups, and organizations from around 80 countries worldwide every year.

Notes:
The book “Feroze: the Forgotten Gandhi” has been authored by Swedish journalist Bertil Falk. The author brings together his 40-year old research in this biography of Feroze Gandhi. The book not only fleshes out what is generally known about Feroze Gandhi, but places him at the heart of the freedom struggle. It also busts some myths about Feroze’s controversial origin, his personal life, his importance as a politician and his relationship with his wife Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.This book takes you towards the origin of the concept of freedom in independent India.

Notes:
The ‘Working Group on Migration’ headed by Partha Mukhopadhay has recently submitted its report to the Union Government, which was constituted by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in 2015. The Working Group has recommended that the Protocols of the Registrar General of India (RGI) needs to be amended to enable caste based enumeration of migrants so that they can avail the attendant benefits in the States to which migration takes place. It also recommended that migrants should be enabled to avail benefits of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the destination State by providing for inter-State operability of PDS. The Group suggested that the hugely underutilized Construction Workers Welfare Cess Fund (CWWCF) should be used to promote rental housing, working Women Hostels etc., for the benefit of migrants.