Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is observed every year on June 14 to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood. Every pint of blood donated can save more than 3 lives. Thus, if you began donating blood at age 18 and donated every 90 days until you reached 60, you would have donated 30 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 500 lives. The 2017 theme “Give Blood. Give Now. Give Often” focus on blood donation in emergency situations.

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The Union Health Ministry has launched an Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight (IDCF) across the country to reduce child deaths due to diarrhoea. Through this initiative, the Ministry will mobilize health personnel, State Governments and other stakeholders in controlling the disease, which is one of the most common childhood illnesses. During the IDCF, the awareness campaign on hygiene and promotion of ORS and Zinc therapy will be conducted at state, district and village levels. Nearly 12 crore under five children will be covered during the programme. As per an estimate, 1.1 million children die every year in India out of which about one lakh death occur due to this disease. Diarrhoea can be prevented with safe drinking water, sanitation, breastfeeding and appropriate nutrition.

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India has topped the global remittance-receiving list of 2016, as per the latest United Nations report ‘One Family at a Time’. As per the report, Indians working across the globe sent home $62.7 billion US dollars in 2016, followed by China ($61 billion), Philippines ($30 billion) and Pakistan ($20 billion). The ‘One Family at a Time’ study by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) stated that about 200 million migrants globally sent more than $445 billion dollars as remittances in 2016 to their families. Remittance flows have grown over the last decade from $296 billion in 2007 to $445 billion in 2016. It has risen at a rate averaging 4.2 per cent annually. The study is the first-ever of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the period 2007-2016. The report has made several recommendations for improving public policies and outlines proposals for partnerships with the private sector to reduce costs and create opportunities for migrants and their families to use their money more productively.

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The Sikkim government has signed MoU with the British Council to increase quality of education in the state. The purpose of the MoU is to support the aims and aspirations of the young people of Sikkim through collaborative projects in the area of English, education and skills by strengthening the capacity of the teachers and other professionals, working with youth in the state and support its cultural economy. The programme also include capacity building in teaching, learning and research pedagogy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Social Science teachers from undergraduate colleges and universities in Sikkim by UK higher education experts along with internship of young faculties at relevant UK Universities.

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The 2017 G7 Environment Ministers Meetings was held in Bologna, Italy on June 11-12. The meeting was attended by the Environment Ministers of US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan and the Commissioners of the European Union for Environment and Climate. The meeting discussed various issues ranging from climate change to sustainable development and litter at sea. In it, the ‘5 year Bologna Roadmap’ was adopted, which focuses on important issues such as resource efficiency indicators, citizen involvement, awareness on food waste and economic analysis of the efficient use of resources.

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Gaitri Issar Kumar, the joint secretary in the President’s Secretariat and a 1986 batch IFS officer, has been appointed as the India’s new Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union (EU) which has its headquarters in the Belgian capital of Brussels. Beside this, Reenat Sandhu and Ajit Vinayak Gupte have been named as the India’s new Ambassador to Italy and Denmark.

Notes:
Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, the renowned litterateur from Arunachal Pradesh, will be conferred with the 5th edition of Bhupen Hazarika National Award-2017 in a ceremony at Srinagar, Jammu & Kaskmir in September 2017. The award was instituted by Pune-based social organization Sarhad in 2012 and is conferred on a person every year who has rendered an outstanding work at the national and international level. It consists of Rs. 51,000, a memento and a certificate.

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India has been ranked 60th out of 130 nations on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017. The 2017 index highlighted the continual improvement of India in terms of investment, tertiary education, quality of its publications and universities, its ICT services exports and innovation clusters. Among India’s neighbors, Sri Lanka has acquired 90th spot, Nepal 109th, Pakistan 113th and Bangladesh 114th spot. The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden and the Netherlands. The theme of the 2017 Index is “Innovation Feeding the World” that focuses on innovation in agriculture and food systems. The index is co-authored by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

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The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on June 17 to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels. The 2017 theme is “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future”.

Notes:
Helmut Kohl (87), the former German Chancellor, has passed away in Oggersheim, Germany on June 16, 2017. Kohl, who led the centre-right Christian Democrats, was the longest-serving German chancellor of the 20th Century. As Germany’s leader for 16 years, Kohl is remembered for reuniting the country and for making a huge political and economic contribution to Europe’s integration. Kohl is credited with bringing East and West Germany together after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Together with his French ally President Francois Mitterrand, he was responsible for the introduction of the Euro.