Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Uranium is primarily used in electricity generation through nuclear power plants. It also finds application in the field of medicine (radioisotope production), defence (nuclear weapons and armor-piercing projectiles), and in early photography processes. Thus, all four fields listed utilize uranium in various capacities.

Notes:
Altamas Kabir (68), the former Chief Justice of India (CJI), has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on February 19, 2017. Justice Kabir was the Chief Justice at Supreme Court for a brief period of nine months in 2012-13. As the Chief Justice, he was part of the Supreme Court Bench which heard the case of the two Italian marines in 2013. He would be remembered for the gentle yet firm nature with which he handled court work as well as his administrative job as the head of India’s judicial system.

Notes:
The Maharashtra government has approved Rs. 250-crore cloud seeding programme to produce adequate rain because of droughts over the Vidarbha region. The programme would be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. It will be the first controlled experiment to quantify the extent to which clouds form water drops large enough to make rain. For their experiment, weather scientists will fly will fly two aircraft and spray dry ice and silver iodide on 100 clouds and compare them with 100 unseeded clouds. Ground radar will track the clouds and verify which ones contributed rain and by how much. The programme will account for the natural variability of the monsoon.

Notes:
The Hungarian drama film “On Body and Soul” has won the Golden Bear Award at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin it also won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESC) Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The film is directed by Hungarian writer-director Ildiko Enyedi.

Notes:
Sumit Mullick, the 1982 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as new Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He succeeded Swadheen Kshatriya, who was due for retirement on 31st of January, but was given a month’s extension. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as the Chief Protocol Officer in the General Administration department. He had earlier served as the Divisional Commissioner of Amravati and worked as Secretary of School Education. He was also Secretary to the Governor.

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 10th edition of International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) will be held in New Delhi from March 7th to 9th, 2017. The 3-day ICEGOV conference will be organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in collaboration with United Nations University and UNESCO. The key purpose of the conference is to explore how digital government can lead to digital empowerment by local knowledge. The conclave will focus on the use of technology to transform relationships between government and citizens, businesses, civil society. It will bring together academia, governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to share the insights and experiences in theory and practice of digital Government. The programme also includes digital exhibition and special events highlighting the Indian experience and achievements in digital governance.

Notes:
The Ministry of Power is hosting the 13th Executive Committee (ExCo) Meeting of the International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) at powergrid corporate center in Gurugram, Haryana from March 6, 2017. This is the first-ever ISGAN ExCo Meeting in India. In the 3-day event, a total of 36 representatives from 18 countries viz. Germany, Korea, Norway, Russia, South Africa, US and UAE, etc., has participated. The purpose of the meeting is to improve the understanding of smart grid technologies, practices and promote adoption of related enabling government policies.

Notes:
The book “From Inside the Steel Frame: The Memoirs of an Administrator” has been authored by Dr. Ashok Pandey, a retired IAS officer. This is an account of his journey from a small village in Bihar to the corridors of powers in Delhi.

Notes:
Iran has successfully test fired naval strike ballistic missile “Hormuz 2”, which is intended to hit moving targets at sea with high precision and has a range of nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles).