Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Railways has recently signed MoU with Italy’s public sector rail company Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane Group (FS Group) for technical cooperation in rail sector especially in the areas safety in train operations. The cooperation areas identified in this MoU includes safety audit of Indian Railways and measures required for enhancing safety in train operation, assessment and certification of advanced technology based safety products and systems to Safety Integrity Level (SIL4), training and competency development with focus of safety, modern trends in maintenance and diagnostic etc.

Notes:
The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is observed every year across the world on February 6 to promote the UN’s campaign to raise awareness and educate people about the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and to stop genital mutilation to girls and women. Basically, this day is an awareness campaign to end a harmful practice that violates girls’ and women’s rights. The 2017 theme is “Building a solid and interactive bridge between Africa and the world to accelerate ending FGM by 2030”.

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:
Sodium-ion batteries offer higher energy density, lower risk of thermal runaway compared to lithium-ion batteries, and sodium is abundant in nature. The Earth’s crust contains 2.9% sodium versus 0.01% lithium. Cost of sodium extraction is lower, and sodium is found in seawater and soda ash. They are non-flammable and suitable for diverse applications.

Notes:
Hitting a magnet with a hammer can destroy its magnetic properties and is not recommended. Proper storage is essential to maintain the magnet's effectiveness and magnetism. Hence, only the second statement is correct while the first is incorrect.

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:
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:
India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed 375 million pact for loans and grants to develop 800—km Visakhapatnam—Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the first phase of a planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor. Apart from this, The Asian Development Bank has approved loans comprising a 500 million multitranche facility to build key infrastructure in the four main centers along the corridor — Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amaravati, and Yerpedu—Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh.

Notes:
According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular, any bank branch that refuses to exchange soiled or scribed currency notes from any member of the public will have to pay penalty of Rs. 10,000. Though, a bank may levy a service charge if a person exchanges more than 20 notes, or notes worth Rs.5, 000 per day. The RBI also clarified that such notes continue to be legal tender.

Notes:
The National Conference on Innovation in Educational Administration has started at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi on March 5, 2017. The 3-day conference has organized by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The main purpose of the programme is to recognise innovative ideas and best practices adopted by district and block level education officers for effective management of the educational administrative system at district and block levels. The National Awards for innovation in Educational Administration will be presented by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on March 7. About 150 district and block level education officers from across India and resource persons and faculty of the university will participate in the conference.