Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
India’s first-ever floating elementary school “Loktak Elementary Floating School” has started at Langolsabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok floating village on Loktak Lake in Manipur. The school has been opened under the initiative undertaken by All Loktak Lake Fisherman’s Union with the support of an NGO – People Resources Development Association (PRDA). The school will not only cater to the need of the children but for the illiterate adults as well. The Loktak Lake is referred as the “lifeline of Manipur” as it is highly productive and many lives depend on the lake for endurance. The lake is also an Important Bird Area as it’s a potential breeding site for waterfowl and is a staging site for migratory birds.

Notes:
Kush Bhagat, a second grade student from Hill Spring International School, has been awarded the title of Candidate Master (CM) by World Chess Federation body. The title comes after a range of admirable performances by him, over the span of last 6 months, beginning with his conquest of U-7 Maharashtra State Championship 2016 title to becoming the World Schools Under 7 Blitz champion in Sochi (Russia) and finally his performance, with three gold medals at the first-ever Western Youth Chess Championship 2016 at UAE.

Notes:
Shurhozelie Liezietsu (81), the president of Naga People’s Front (NPF), has been chosen as the new Chief Minister (CM) of Nagaland in place of T R Zeliang who resigned on February 19, 2017 under intense pressure from agitating tribal organizations. Shurhozelie, who is not an MLA and belongs to Angami tribe, will now have to seek an election within 6 months. According to an official source, Liezietsu will be sworn-in as the new CM on February 22.

Notes:
Sandeep Kumar from Haryana has won the gold medal in the 50km category of the National Race Walking Championship-2017 in New Delhi. He clocked 3 hours 55 minutes and 59.05 seconds to win the race and qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships, which is scheduled to be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom.

Notes:
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has won the annual Visitor’s Award for the ‘Best University 2017’. Apart from this, Dr. Deepak Pant from the Central University of Himachal Pradesh won the Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ while the Visitor’s Award for ‘Research’ has been jointly won by Dr. Shyam Sunder from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Prof. Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University. President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Visitor’s Awards at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 6, 2017 as part of the ‘Festival of Innovations’. The ‘Best University’ will receive a Citation and Trophy while winners of Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ and ‘Research’ will
receive a Citation and cash award of Rs 1 lakh. The aim of these awards is to promote healthy competition amongst Central Universities and to motivate them to adopt best practices from around the world in the pursuit of excellence.

Notes:
P K Purwar has been appointed the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). Currently, Purwar is working as Director (Finance) in MTNL, which has been without a full-time CMD since May 31, 2014, following superannuation of A K Garg.

Notes:
The ‘Destination North East-2017’ festival has started in Chandigarh from March 6, 2017 to showcase North East as a potential destination for investment. The main theme of this festival is to highlight the use of appropriate technologies in all sectors of development for North East Region (NER). It will see round table discussions and exhibition stalls showcasing various features of the NER in order to attract investments in tourism, food processing, handlooms and handicrafts, horticulture and floriculture, medicinal & aromatic plants, organic farming and bamboo development. The festival has organised by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Government of India (GoI) and an industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Notes:
Dr. Lalji Singh, who served as dDirector of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), has been selected for ‘SERB Distinguished Fellow’ award by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Government of India. The SERB has instituted ‘Distinguished SERB Fellowship Award’ to support research of eminent scientists active even after superannuation. The award carries an amount of Rs. 60,000 per month and a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh. The research grant is for three years and is extendable for a further two years. Currently, Lalji Singh runs the ‘Genome Foundation’, a non-profit company in Hyderabad.

Notes:
Prof. George A. Olah (89), who won Nobel Prize in chemistry, has recently passed away in California, United States. He won Nobel Prize in 1994 for his groundbreaking research into the unstable carbon molecules known as carbocations.

Notes:
The 2017 National Theatre Festival (NTF) has started at Tagore Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from March 16 and will continue till March 24. The Festival is organised by the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala. The 2017 edition of the festival is dedicated to one of the doyens of Indian theatre, the late Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. This year’s edition will reflect contemporary India’s problems like atrocities against Dalits, issues being faced by women and sexual minorities. There will be a total of 17 plays, from various states, including six from Kerala. The opening play will be Deepan Sivaraman’s ‘The Legends of Khasak’, theatrical adaptation of OV Vijayan’s ‘Khasakkinte Ithihasangal’. A highlight of the festival will be Manipuri play ‘Pebet’, brought out by the celebrated Manipuri theatre group ‘Kalakshetra’, founded by the late theatre person Heisnam Kanhailal.