Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel and All India Foot ball Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel has launched the official mascot “Kheleo” for FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on February 10, 2017. The clouded leopard “Kheleo” is a vulnerable wild cat whose habitat extends from the Himalayan foothills to mainland Southeast Asia. Kheleo will participate in numerous activities in the run-up to the first-ever FIFA tournament to be hosted by India, which will be played from 6 to 28 October 2017. In it, India will showcase its ability to organize and execute global sporting events.

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:
Bhau Jambhuwantrao Dhote (83), the former Member of Parliament (MP) from Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency, has recently passed away in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. He was known for his demands of a separate state for Vidarbha. Dhote won his first election to Lok Sabha in 1971 from Nagpur as a Forward Bloc nominee. Later in 1980, he joined Congress and won the Nagpur seat on the Congress ticket. After leaving Congress he founded Vidarbha Janta Congress party in 2002. He was elected to Maharashtra Assembly five times. Due to his active participation in various movements for separate Vidarbha and farmers and his aggressive speeches, he was also known as the Lion of Vidarbha.

Notes:
The Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has launched mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’ for digital payments for its’ bank customers on its 75th Foundation Day. Besides this, OBC has also launched two new cards – ‘Oriental Premium card’ is a RuPay based Platinum international debit card with airport lounge access and the other card- ‘Oriental Prepaid Card’ is a RuPay card for individuals and corporates. Apart from this, it has also launched two MSME schemes – ‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and Restaurants’. Oriental Sanjeevani is a specialised scheme for doctors for setting up new hospitals and clinics. The other scheme is for individuals, proprietors, companies etc for setting up new hotels, restaurants, lodges, motels etc.

Notes:
The National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from February 22. The event is hosted by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board from Feb 22nd to 26th and the focal theme is “Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”. The present edition of the event comprises an array of programmes including conference, exhibition, capacity building workshops and Children’s Biodiversity Congress.

Notes:
Kerala is set to become the first Indian state to have a public registry of sex offenders. This has been stated by the Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam in the budget session. The public registry will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in the public domain. Apart from this, the governor listed a slew of other measures to tackle crime against women in the state. These include setting up a separate department to exclusively look at women’s issues, setting up a relief fund for victims of sex crimes, increasing the representation of women in police force by up to 15% and ensuring each panchayat has a lady police officer.

Notes:
The dance festival ‘Brahan Natyanjali 2017’ has started at ancient Big temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu from February 24, which will continue till March 2. More than 600 artistes from all different parts of the world will take part in the festival, being organised by the Brahan Natyanjali Foundation. Besides Bharatanatiyam, ‘Kathak’, ‘Odissi’, ‘Mohiniyattam,’ and Kuchipudi would also be performed. Classical dancers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Manipal, Guruvayur and countries like Dubai, Australia, England and Malaysia would be among those taking part in the fest.

Notes:
Sumit Mullick, the 1982 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as new Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He succeeded Swadheen Kshatriya, who was due for retirement on 31st of January, but was given a month’s extension. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as the Chief Protocol Officer in the General Administration department. He had earlier served as the Divisional Commissioner of Amravati and worked as Secretary of School Education. He was also Secretary to the Governor.

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.