Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The 16th edition of the IAAF World Championships will be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom (UK). In it, Russia will remain suspended after athletics’ governing body voted to extend their suspension from international competition for state-sponsored doping. Though, some Russians may be able to compete under a neutral banner, if they can satisfy testing criteria.

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:
The ‘Parents’ Worship Day’ (or ‘Matru-Pitru Diwas’ ) is celebrated every year by the Chhattisgarh government on February 14 at all schools in the state to teach ‘Bharatiya sanskriti’ to students.

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 IATA is a trade association of the world’s airlines. It is headquartered at Montreal, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

Notes:
The Haryana government has made it mandatory for all private schools to install solar systems in order to make them self-sufficient in managing their energy needs. A special grant at the rate of Rs 20,000 per kilowatt will be given to the schools for installing solar power plants. The electricity generated from the solar power plants at schools during the summer vacations in June and July would be added to the grid, the record of which would be maintained through net metering. The schools would be required to pay only for the electricity consumed in excess of that generated by the solar power plants.

Notes:
Haji Abdul Salam (69), the senior Congress leader, has recently passed away in Imphal, Manipur. He was the first Manipuri Muslim to be a member of Rajya Sabha from Manipur. He was representing Manipur State in the upper house of Parliament of India for the second term of 2014-2020.

Notes:
Thiruvananthapuram has topped the list of Indian cities in the urban governance ranking of the 4th edition of Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS)-2016. The survey conducted by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, which evaluated 21 cities across 18 states. Pune stood at 2nd position followed by Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The ASICS highlighted inadequacies in urban governance that could affect public service delivery and quality of life. Janaagraha recommends changes in planning laws to address the issues challenging the efficient planning of the cities.

Notes:
The book “The Secret Diary of Kasturba” has been authored by Neelima Dalmia Adhar. It’s an imaginary chronicle of the life of Kasturba, the wife of Father of Nation “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”. The book is written in a diary form with Kastur penning her experiences in Porbandar where she was born on April 11, 1869- six months before the birth of Mohandas Gandhi who was born in neighbourhood on October 2, 1869 and, early life with young Mohandas, her days in Africa and Mohandas’s rise as a mass leader. The book tries to tell the world what it meant to Kasturba to be wife of Mahatma Gandhi.

Notes:
Dr. Lalji Singh, who served as dDirector of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), has been selected for ‘SERB Distinguished Fellow’ award by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Government of India. The SERB has instituted ‘Distinguished SERB Fellowship Award’ to support research of eminent scientists active even after superannuation. The award carries an amount of Rs. 60,000 per month and a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh. The research grant is for three years and is extendable for a further two years. Currently, Lalji Singh runs the ‘Genome Foundation’, a non-profit company in Hyderabad.