Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The 4th BIMSTEC Summit-2017 will be held in Nepal, which is likely to be announced in the 17th session of BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) that has started at Kathmandu, Nepal on February 2, 2017. In the meeting, delegates of member countries will review the progress made by BIMSTEC and recommend future course of action to strengthen regional cooperation among the group. The BIMSTEC was founded in 1997 and is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. These are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Notes:
The apex aviation security agency, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has suspended the license of budget carrier IndiGo’s aviation security training facility for alleged lapses in the examination system conducted by it. The training academy is run by IndiGo’s parent company “InterGlobe Aviation”. Following the suspension of licence, IndiGo would have to outsource the training programme, which would result in additional cost for the carrier.

Notes:
India will host the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs (NSAs) to discuss action against the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation. This was decided at the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) which recently concluded at Kathmandu, Nepal. This marked an important step forward to realize the action oriented agenda for BIMSTEC agreed by the leaders at their Retreat hosted by Prime Minister Modi in Goa in October 2016.

Notes:
The 11th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition – Aero India 2017 – will be held at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru, Karnataka from February 14. In the 5-day event, 72 aircrafts, beside 270 Indian and 279 foreign companies will participate. Exhibitors from US, Russia, Israel, Germany, Singapore, UAE, South Korea and Australia will participate. The aerobatic teams participating in the show are Indian Air Force Sarang Team, the Indian Air Force Surya Kiran Team, the Scandinavian Air Show Team from Sweden and the Evolvkos Aerobatic Team from UK.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has observed its 3rd National Deworming Day (NDD) on February 10 to tackle worm infections among pre-school (anganwadi) and school-age children across India. The aim of the NDD is to reach every child, regardless of their socio-economic circumstance. It is the world’s largest deworming programme that covers 340 million children under-19 years of age across 36 states/ UTs. The deworming programme is India’s commitment to a comprehensive national response to the public health threat posed by worms.

Notes:
The International Condom Day (ICD) is observed every year on February 13 to promote the use of condoms as a means of preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The 2017 theme is ‘Always in Fashion’.

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:
Tarak Mehta (87), the popular Gujarati writer and noted play writer, has recently passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The famous humorist was best known for his column “Duniya Ne Undha Chasma” in Mumbai based Gujarati news weekly “Chitralekha”. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2015. His weekly column first featured in Chitralekha news weekly in March 1971. He has written around 80 books on various pressing issues. The popular comic television serial ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ is a television adaptation of Padma Shri Taarak Mehta’s column ‘Duniya Ne Undha Chasma’.

Notes:
Internationally acclaimed author Neil Gaiman has been appointed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador to raise awareness about the plight of forcibly displaced people and to generate much needed funds. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.

Notes:
The book “Lincoln in the Bardo” has been authored by George Saunders, the Folio prize-winning author. The novel is a tale of death and beyond that captures the grief of Abraham Lincoln over the death of his 11-year-old son Willie while the Civil War raged on in the United States of America (USA). The book draws a parallel line between the lives of Willie’s ghost and a similar uncertain state of Lincoln, after the boy’s death. In simple words, the novel is a confrontation with the mysterious beyond the inevitable death, a question that has haunted humankind, and the way death can bring even the head of a nation to his knees.