Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Asim Basu (81), the renowned theatre artiste and director, art director, painter and playwright, has recently passed away in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He was known for his set design work in Ollywood movies and designing Oriya book covers and movie posters. He directed around 200 plays and did stage designing for over 500 plays and was the art director for several Odia films. Some of his major works are Indradhanura Chhai, Dadagiri and apana Banika.

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:
Uranium is primarily used in electricity generation in nuclear reactors. It is also used in nuclear medicine, defence (as armor and projectiles), and historically in photography and ceramic coloring. Uranium-235 is the isotope used in nuclear fission. Major uranium reserves exist in Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh in India; top producers are Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia.

Notes:
V. K. Srinivasan (76), the noted bureaucrat, columnist and director of the Institute of Economic Studies (IES), has recently passed away in Hyderabad. He was known for his candid views and uprightness in the Services, Srinivasan ruffled many feathers in the corridors of power during his career. It resulted in several transfers as well. He served as Collector in Karimnagar and Anantapur districts, and was known for his simple habits.

Notes:
Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, has won the Best Animated Feature Film at the 89th Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The film details the unlikely partnership between a rabbit police officer and a red fox con artist as they uncover a conspiracy which involves the disappearance of predator inhabitants of a mammalian metropolis.

Notes:
The 29th edition of the International Yoga festival has started at Parmarth Niketan along the banks of holy Ganges River in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand from March 1, 2017. The week-long event is jointly organised by the AYUSH ministry, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Parmarth Niketan and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and was inaugurated by the Governor of Uttarakhand K K Paul. Nearly 70 saints, yogacharyas, presenters and experts from more than 20 countries around the world are participating this year at the festival.

Notes:
The Assam government has made Sanskrit education compulsory in all state board schools till Class VIII. Apart from making Sanskrit mandatory, the cabinet also created a post to monitor cleanliness in government-run schools under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Assam government has also decided to appoint a computer teacher in all high schools to provide students access to computer education.

Notes:
The World Wildlife Day (WWD) is observed every year on March 3 to mark the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and to raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora. The 2017 theme is “Listen to the young voices”. The World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people. At the same time, the Day reminds us of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.

Notes:
Raymond Kopa (85), the French football legend, has recently passed away in Paris, France. He was one of the best attacking midfielders of all time. Kopa is best remembered for a series of superb performances for France that helped his country to third place in the World Cup finals of 1958. But he was also a key member of the great Real Madrid side that won the European Cup three years running in 1957, 1958 and 1959.

Notes:
The annual tribal festival ‘Bhagoria’ will be held in Jhabua and four other districts of Madhya Pradesh from March 13, 2017. The week-long festival is organised at different Bhagoria haats (local markets) in Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Khargone and Barwani districts in western Madhya Pradesh. The haat festival is organized in the form of a ‘swayamvar’ or a marriage market where young girls and boys are allowed to choose their partners. Bhagoria Haat Festival has an agricultural significance attached to it, that is, it coincides with the end of harvesting. So some people also celebrate it to mark the completion of harvesting. Foreign tourists also converge in large numbers at these haats to catch a glimpse of the traditional festival.