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:
Recently, the Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel has laid the foundation stone of the India’s first centre of excellence for differently-abled sportsmen at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Center of Excellence is proposed with an estimate of over Rs 50 crore. It will have world class facilities where para athletes can train for various international competitions including Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. It will also act as a classification center for para athletes. The Center will also hold seminars, educational programmes and workshops throughout the year with the help of International Paralympic Committee. Approx 50 differently-abled sportspersons (boys & girls) between age group 8-12 will be imparted training in Athletics, Swimming and power lifting at the training centre. The entire project will be constructed by CPWD in coordination with various experts and consultants having full accessibility as per the norms of IPC.

Notes:
The Haryana government has recently constituted a 5-member to resolve the problems of those agitating for reservation and other issues in the state. The committee will be headed by Chief Secretary D S Dhesi. As stated by the government, any organization, section of the society or an individual could submit their viewpoint and suggestions to the committee in writing or orally. The committee will try its best to resolve their issues under the ambit of the Constitution and different decisions and directions given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard.

Notes:
The 4th Rollball World Cup will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 17 to 23, 2017. Approx 700 competitors from 45 countries are expected to participate in the tournament. It is the largest-ever event in any field where such a huge number of countries will be participating in any Asian Country. The International Rollball Federation (IRBF) is a body which is associated with International Rollball. This game was created by Raju Dabhade of Pune City, India and is also the Secretary of the IRBF. Rollball is a game played between two teams of 12 players. Out of 12, only 6 players are allowed to play on court at a time. This game is played on skates.

Notes:
Gujarat has become the first Indian State to establish cashless system for distribution of food grains. The beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) will need to carry only Aadhaar cards for getting their food grain in Gujarat. This will help in establishing the identity of beneficiaries, help in stopping the leakages of grain at shop level and above all eradicate corruption in the Public distribution System (PDS). Beside this, the Gujarat government completed the target of installing Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) in 17,250 Fair Price Shops (FPS) much before March 31. With this, a consumer will also be able to get his Rail, air and bus ticket reserved at the Fair Price Shops (FPS) itself. A beneficiary can pay his mobile bill, a farmer can deposit crop insurance premium, LIC premium etc. at these centres.

Notes:
Ajay Tyagi, a 1984 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed the new chief of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Currently, Tyagi is an additional secretary at the finance ministry’s economic affairs department and will succeed U.K. Sinha, who retires from the post on March 1, 2017. The chairman of SEBI receives a consolidated pay package of Rs 4.5 lakh per month.

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:
The 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held at Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Sairopa, Himachal Pradesh from February 11th to 12th. The fest was held in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and would be attended by prominent conservationists, including Dr George Schaller and Dr A J T Johnsingh, The festival feature a media workshop on environmental journalism, discussions on natural and cultural heritage of the Himalayan region and a heritage walk. Notably, GHNP was given UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2014 in recognition of its outstanding significance for bio-diversity conservation.

Notes:
A solenoid is defined as a cylinder-shaped coil consisting of many circular turns of insulated copper wire placed closely together. The magnetic field inside the solenoid is represented by parallel straight field lines, signifying a uniform magnetic field throughout its interior. Both statements correctly describe the structure and field properties of a solenoid.

Notes:
The Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal has recently launched TAMRA mobile application and portal to ensure transparent award of statutory clearances for mining operations. TAMRA stands for “Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augmentation”. The portal covers block-wise, state-wise and mineral-wise information of the blocks to be auctioned, monitors various statutory clearances, and also highlights the additional resources generated through e-Auction. In case of delay in obtaining any clearances, TAMRA will send triggers to the concerned authority so that the remedial steps can be taken immediately by those responsible.