Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has formed committee to improve standards of corporate governance of listed companies. The committee under the chairmanship of Uday Kotak, chief of Kotak Mahindra Bank, will submit the report within a period of 4 months. The committee would make recommendations to SEBI on ensuring independence in spirit of independent directors and their active participation in functioning of the company and steps for improving safeguards and disclosures pertaining to related party transactions. Besides, the panel would suggest measures for addressing issues faced by investors on voting and participation in general meetings and ways for improving effectiveness of board evaluation practices.

Notes:
Nepali-Hindi film Ralang Road will represent India at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic, which is scheduled to be held from June 30 to July 8, 2017. It will be after 13 years that an Indian film will compete with other international films at this film festival. Ralang Road tells the stories of four people living in the Himalayan countryside. The film explores cultural immigration and lifestyles in a complex social setup. The film is directed by Karma Takapa and produced by HumanTrail Pictures.

Notes:
Indian wild card Nitin Kumar Sinha has won the boys singles title at the 2017 HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championship. He defeated Malaysian player Christian Didier Chin in a final match held at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge – Balewadi, in Pune. In girls singles final, Mihika Yadav defeated top seed Mahak Jain in two straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The championship is the second highest tournament anywhere in the world after the junior grand slams and provides top Indian players a chance to compete against their global counterparts as well as earn valuable ITF points to build on their overall international ranking.

Notes:
The World Bank (WB) in its latest report “Global Economic Prospects (GEP)” has projected India’s GDP growth rate at 7.5% in 2018 and 7.7% in 2019. As per the report, the World Bank has also projected a strong 7.2% growth rate for India in FY 2017 against 6.8% growth in 2016, as India is recovering from the temporary adverse effects of demonetisation. However, World Bank has maintained its forecast for global growth in 2017 and 2018 unchanged at 2.7% and 2.9% respectively, as manufacturing and trade are picking up and confidence is improving.

Notes:
India’s first-ever Rural LED Street Lighting Project will be implemented by the Government of India (GoI) in Andhra Pradesh (AP). The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power will retrofit10 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights in Gram Panchayats of 7 districts in AP. This is the first project for rural LED street lighting in the country under the GoI’s Street Lighting National Project (SLNP). In the first phase, the replacement will be undertaken in gram panchayats of the districts of Guntur, Prakasham, Nellore, Kurnool, Kadapa, Ananthapur and Chittoor. This replacement drive in rural areas will help the gram panchayats to cumulatively save approximately 147 million units of electricity annually and lead to reduction of 12 crore tonnes of CO2. The entire upfront capital cost of this project is being funded by French Development Agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Notes:
Dr. Sharad Kumar Jain has assumed the additional charge of Director General (DG) of National Water Development Agency (NWDA) under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Presently, he is working as Scientist G with National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee. Jain succeeds S. Masood Husain who has moved over as Member (WP&P), Central Water Commission.

Notes:
India has been ranked 45th out of 63 countries in the IMD’s world competitiveness rankings 2017. The list is compiled by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management and Development (IMD)’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC). Hong Kong has topped the list, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark. The IMD measures how well countries manage all their resources and competencies to facilitate long-term value creation.

Notes:
J P Nadda, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, has launched “Skill for Life, Save a Life” initiative in New Delhi to promote skill development in the health sector. The purpose of the initiative is to upscale the quality and quantity of trained professionals in the healthcare system. Under this initiative various courses are planned in specific competencies for healthcare professionals as well as for general public.

Notes:
Veteran journalist Vinod Dua will be honoured with the RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement (LTA) in Journalism for 2017 by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on June 7 in Mumbai in recognition of his extensive and versatile contribution in different formats and subjects. The awards are part of the National RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism and instituted by the Mumbai Press Club. Star India is the Presenting Partner for the Mumbai Press Club RedInk Awards. The Hindu Group and Facebook are the media partners.

Notes:
Raj Kamal Jha, the Chief Editor of The Indian Express, has been bestowed with the RedInk Award for the ‘Journalist of the Year’ 2017 for providing exemplary stewardship over the last couple of years to the newspaper; and for pulling it back from an aimless drift to focused reporting and restoring what it has always been known best for—investigative journalism. The award was presented to him by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on June 7 in Mumbai. The awards are part of the National RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism and instituted by the Mumbai Press Club (MPC) to raise the bar of news and feature writing in India and to encourage fair play and high ethical standards in media.