Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
Anish Kapoor, the well-known Indian-origin British sculptor, has won the prestigious $1 million Genesis Prize 2017 by Israel for his commitment to Jewish values. Kapoor’s work include ‘Turning the World Upside Down’ at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, ‘Cloud Gate’ in Chicago’s Millennium Park and the ‘Orbit’ in London. The Genesis Prize is also regarded as Jewish Nobel Prize and is given annually to those who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and/or the State of Israel.

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 world’s first Braille Atlas for visually impaired persons has been launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences. The special edition of the “Atlas for Visually Impaired (India)” in English Braille has been prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) under the Department of S&T. The Atlas priced at Rs.600 and has 20 maps that cover themes such as physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects such as river system, natural vegetation, Metropolitan cities, roads, food and cash crops. The Atlas will be distributed free of cost to various schools across India for educating the students with visual challenges.

Notes:
Sodium-ion batteries offer higher energy density, lower risk of thermal runaway compared to lithium-ion batteries, and sodium is abundant in nature. The Earth’s crust contains 2.9% sodium versus 0.01% lithium. Cost of sodium extraction is lower, and sodium is found in seawater and soda ash. They are non-flammable and suitable for diverse applications.

Notes:
David Robert Jones (69), an English singer, songwriter and actor, has recently passed away in New York City, United States. He was posthumously honoured with five Grammy Awards in various categories viz. Best Alternative Rock Album, Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical), and Best Recording Package for Blackstar, and Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for the album’s title track at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards-2017.

Notes:
The ‘Mile Banche Madhya Pradesh (or Let us read together) programme has been held in all government schools of Madhya Pradesh. As part of the programme, over 1.26 lakh volunteers including MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan besides pensioners, mediapersons, homemakers and other professionals played the role of a ‘teacher’ for a day in government-run schools on February 18, 2017. They read out a portion of any Hindi book. Along with this, they motivate children to read out any portion of their interest from any other book.

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The 9th edition of BRICS Summit will be held in Xiamen city, China from September 3 to 5, 2017. The theme of this year’s event is ‘BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future’.

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

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Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards. Kohli led India to 9 wins out of 12 Tests in the year gone-by. Apart from this, Englishman Ben Stokes won the Test Batting Performance of the Year for his incredible counterattacking innings of 258 runs off 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town.

Notes:
Raymond Kopa (85), the French football legend, has recently passed away in Paris, France. He was one of the best attacking midfielders of all time. Kopa is best remembered for a series of superb performances for France that helped his country to third place in the World Cup finals of 1958. But he was also a key member of the great Real Madrid side that won the European Cup three years running in 1957, 1958 and 1959.