Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

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 Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is co-hosting the Second Gateway of India Geo economic Dialogue with Gateway House in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 13-14, 2017 . This is India’s premier geo-economics conference on the theme ‘Where Geopolitics meets Business’ focused on building synergies between business and foreign policy. There will be panel discussions covering topics like Sovereign Funds, Global Taxation and Digital Economy.

Notes:
India’s first dedicated Heliport, built by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL), will be inaugurated by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju at Rohini area of New Delhi on February 28, 2017. It consists of terminal building having a capacity of 150 passengers, 4-hangers with parking capacity of 16 helicopters and nine parking bays. The helicopter services shall enable citizens to fly in and out of Delhi to nearby areas in choppers. The heliport will also be used for operating services for disaster management, emergency medical services, law and order surveillance as well as a centre for the skill development of pilots and engineers. Rohini heliport will also promote regional air connectivity through helicopters in the northern region.

Notes:
C K Mishra, the secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has recently launched “Saathiya Resource Kit” and “Saathiya Salah” Mobile App for adolescents as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program. The kit and app will help peer educators (Saathiyas) to act as a catalyst for generating demand for the adolescent health services and imparting age appropriate knowledge on key adolescent health issues to their peer groups.

Notes:
India’s GDP growth rate has been projected to 7% for FY17, as per latest survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In its Economic Survey of India (ESI), the Global think-tank has stated that demonetisation may have impacted short term growth but the long term effects would include important gains going forward. It suggested that India should bring down corporate tax rate from 30% to 25%. Beside this, OECD has also estimated India’s GDP growth rate to 7.3% for FY18 and 7.7% for FY19. The OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

Notes:
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:
The book “Lincoln in the Bardo” has been authored by George Saunders, the Folio prize-winning author. The novel is a tale of death and beyond that captures the grief of Abraham Lincoln over the death of his 11-year-old son Willie while the Civil War raged on in the United States of America (USA). The book draws a parallel line between the lives of Willie’s ghost and a similar uncertain state of Lincoln, after the boy’s death. In simple words, the novel is a confrontation with the mysterious beyond the inevitable death, a question that has haunted humankind, and the way death can bring even the head of a nation to his knees.

Notes:
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has been ranked at 8th among top 10 in Times Higher Education 2017 list of world’s best small universities. The list is topped by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (United States), followed by Ecole Normale Superrieure (France), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (South Korea) and Ecole Polytechnique (France). According to Times Higher Education (THE), to be eligible for the Best Small Universities rankings, the institutions must appear in Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2016-17, teach at least four subjects, and have fewer than 5,000 students. The Best Small Universities in the World for 2017 highlights that small universities provide high student satisfaction and good working relationships between students and their professors.

Notes:
Prof. Ronald Drever (85), a pioneer in the field of gravitational waves, has recently passed away in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). He was one of the co-founders of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors that detected the gravitational waves emited by the merger of a binary black hole pair.

Notes:
The United Kingdom (UK) will host the 25th edition of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018 after a gap of over 20 years. The Commonwealth Summit is held in every two years and the position of Commonwealth Chair-in-Office will be transferred at the 2018 summit from the Prime Minister of Malta to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who will hold the post until the 26th CHOGM expected in 2020.