Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

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:
India has recently signed MoU with United Kingdom to ease restrictions on number of scheduled flights. The limits on flights from key Indian cities including Chennai and Kolkata have been scrapped and the MoU will allow for a greater range of flights for passengers while providing a boost to trade and tourism for the UK and India. The agreement has also opened all destinations in the UK for Indian carriers for code share flights and reciprocally the UK carriers can also operate code share flights to any International Airport in India, through domestic code share arrangements.

Notes:
The book “Welcome to Nowhere” has been authored by acclaimed children’s writer Elizabeth Laird. This is a book about war and its consequences. Through book, author tells the story of 12-year-old Omar, his parents and four siblings, all of who are caught in the crossfire as civil war rages over Syria. Laird references real-life events and gives you great characters, heartwarming moments and even occasional humour.

Notes:
John-John Dohmen of Belgium has won the 2016 FIH Male Player of the Year award by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at the gala FIH Hockey Stars Awards Ceremony in Chandigarh, India on February 23, 2017. Beside this, Naomi van As of Netherland has been named as 2016 FIH Female Player of the Year award.

Notes:
Kalinga Lancers has won the 5th edition Hockey India League (HIL) tournament by defeating Dabang Mumbai by 4-1 in Chandigarh. Uttar Pradesh Wizards claimed the bronze medal. In the encounter between the two losing semi-finalists, UP Wizards beat Delhi Waveriders 5-4. Dabang Mumbai’s Florian Fuchs was named the Player of the Tournament.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently constituted an inter-disciplinary standing committee on cyber security to review the threats inherent in the existing and emerging technology. The 11—member committee headed by Meena Hemchandra, Executive Director of RBI, will study adoption of various security standards and protocols, interface with stakeholders and suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience. The committee has been formed on the recommendations of the expert panel on Cyber Security and Information Technology Examination.

Notes:
Tarak Mehta (87), the popular Gujarati writer and noted play writer, has recently passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The famous humorist was best known for his column “Duniya Ne Undha Chasma” in Mumbai based Gujarati news weekly “Chitralekha”. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2015. His weekly column first featured in Chitralekha news weekly in March 1971. He has written around 80 books on various pressing issues. The popular comic television serial ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ is a television adaptation of Padma Shri Taarak Mehta’s column ‘Duniya Ne Undha Chasma’.

Notes:
Amjad Hussain B Sial, a senior Pakistani diplomat, has become the new Secretary-General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He succeeded Arjun Bahadur Thapa of Nepal. Sial has 33 years of experience in Pakistan’s Foreign Service. He has also served at SAARC Secretariat as director in Kathmandu. The Secretary-General tenure is of three years and is the head of the SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The SAARC Secretariat coordinates and monitors the implementation of activities, hosts meetings, and serves as a channel of communication between the Association and its member states as well as other regional organizations.

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.

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.