Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Nepali-Hindi film Ralang Road will represent India at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic, which is scheduled to be held from June 30 to July 8, 2017. It will be after 13 years that an Indian film will compete with other international films at this film festival. Ralang Road tells the stories of four people living in the Himalayan countryside. The film explores cultural immigration and lifestyles in a complex social setup. The film is directed by Karma Takapa and produced by HumanTrail Pictures.

Notes:
Indian wild card Nitin Kumar Sinha has won the boys singles title at the 2017 HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship. He defeated Malaysian player Christian Didier Chin in a final match held at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge – Balewadi, in Pune. In girls singles final, Mihika Yadav defeated top seed Mahak Jain in two straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The championship is the second highest tournament anywhere in the world after the junior grand slams and provides top Indian players a chance to compete against their global counterparts as well as earn valuable ITF points to build on their overall international ranking.

Notes:
The Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Tripura that covers an area of about 389.54 sq km. It is home to animals like elephants, sambar, buffalo, yapping deer, sarow, wild goa, etc. The sanctuary is one of the prominent sanctuaries that speck the bush clad landscapes of Tripura; this sanctuary is a sign of the common legacy of the state and affirms the various Tripura wild life and it is one of the best places of the animal visitors.

Notes:
India has been ranked 45th out of 63 countries in the IMD’s world competitiveness rankings 2017. The list is compiled by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management and Development (IMD)’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC). Hong Kong has topped the list, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark. The IMD measures how well countries manage all their resources and competencies to facilitate long-term value creation.

Notes:
Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Nepali Congress President, has been sworn-in as the new Prime minister of Nepal at Rashtrpati Bhawan in Kathmandu, Nepal. Deuba has taken the charge of prime minister for the 4th time. He first became PM in 1995 and later in 2001 and 2004. The 2017 Election for new prime minister was held due to resignation by the CPN (Maoist Centre) Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal from the post of prime minister. Dahal had resigned on May 24 as per the power sharing understanding with the coalition partner Nepali Congress.

Notes:
Veteran journalist Vinod Dua will be honoured with the RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement (LTA) in Journalism for 2017 by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on June 7 in Mumbai in recognition of his extensive and versatile contribution in different formats and subjects. The awards are part of the National RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism and instituted by the Mumbai Press Club. Star India is the Presenting Partner for the Mumbai Press Club RedInk Awards. The Hindu Group and Facebook are the media partners.

Notes:
K G Karmakar and Gauri Shankar have been appointed as new Independent Directors of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved their appointment to the post on the board of directors of the bank for a period of 3 years. The IPPB has been incorporated as a public sector bank under the Department of Posts with 100% equity of the Government of India (GoI). IPPB will offer demand deposits such as savings and current accounts upto a balance of Rs 1 Lac, digitally enabled payments and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals and also provide access to third party financial services such as insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products, forex, and more, in partnership with insurance companies, mutual fund houses, pension providers, banks, international money transfer organisations, etc.

Notes:
Nepal has recently signed a financing agreement with China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to build 1,200-megawatt Budhi-Gandaki hydroelectric project. The estimated cost of the project is $2.5 billion. This project will be helpful for Nepal, which is facing acute power shortage.

Notes:
India and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) have launched a partnership fund that will support sustainable development projects across the developing world. The fund was launched on the occasion of the World Oceans Day (WOD) at a special ceremony held at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN on June 8, 2017. The India-UN Development Partnership Fund will implement country-level projects that are catalytic towards achieving the 17 sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda. The purpose of the initiative is to reduce poverty and hunger, improving health, education and equality, and expanding access to clean water, energy and livelihoods.

Notes:
Indian-American Raja Chari, a Lieutenant Colonel with the US Air Force, has been chosen for the 2017 NASA Astronaut Candidate Class. He is among 12 new astronauts who will be trained for missions into Earth orbit and to deep space. Chari may become the 3rd person of Indian origin from the US after the late Kalpana Chawla and current NASA astronaut Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams to fly to space. Currently, he is a commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.