Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2017

Notes:
The Lahugala Kitulana National Park is one of the smallest national parks in Sri Lanka. Despite its land area, the park is an important habitat for Sri Lankan elephant and endemic birds of Sri Lanka. It is home to Endemic toque macaque, Sri Lanka leopard, Indian muntjac, Sri Lankan axis deer, Sri Lankan sambar deer, Indian pangolin, Indian hare, etc.

Notes:
Russian diplomat Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov has been appointed as the head of the newly created United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNCTO) and will hold the title of Under-Secretary-General. The Under-Secretary-General will provide strategic leadership to United Nations counter-terrorism efforts, participate in the decision-making process of the United Nations and ensure that the cross-cutting origins and impact of terrorism are reflected in the work of the United Nations. The purpose of the UNCTO is to strengthen counterterrorism efforts of 36 UN-funded programs under the ambit of a variety of UN agencies, 12 inter-agency working groups, Interpol and the World Customs Organisation (WCO). Currently, Voronkov is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna.

Notes:
Carla Fendi (79), the Italian luxury fashion designer, has passed away in Rome, Italy. She played a key role along with her four sisters in developing and expanding her parents’ small leather workshop, transforming the business into a global luxury fashion brand.

Notes:
The book titled ‘Hope in a challenged democracy; An Indian narrative’ has authored by Dr. Ashwini Kumar, the renowned lawyer, author and veteran parliamentarian. The principal themes of the book are firstly on the incestuous relationship between wealth and power’ and its impact on the credibility and moral authority of the government and secondly on an insufferable atmosphere of intolerance. The book was launched by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on April 10, 2017.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently expanded the Oversight Committee (OC) from 2 to 5 for faster bad loan resolution in the banking sector. The three new members are M.B.N. Rao, Y.M. Deosthalee and S. Raman. According to the reconstituted structure, the 5-member OC will be led by a chairman and work through multiple benches to approve various cases of restructuring referred by banks. Pradeep Kumar has been appointed as the chairman of the OC. With the expanded mandate, the OC will be responsible for approving cases of restructuring under the central bank’s S4A (Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets) as well as for resolving stressed cases where the aggregate exposure of the banking industry is above Rs 500 crore.

Notes:
Desh Bandhu Gupta (79), the founder and chairman of pharmaceutical major Lupin Ltd, has passed away on June 25, 2017 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He founded Lupin in 1968 and created a global pharmaceutical major with a presence in over 100 countries. Today, Lupin is the 4th largest generics pharmaceutical player by market capitalisation in the world.

Notes:
The United Nations’ (UN) International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on June 26 across the world to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. The day also observes to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. The 2017 theme is “Listen First – Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe “. This is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities.

Notes:
The Indian-origin Sikh human rights advocate, Palbinder Kaur Shergill has been appointed a judge at the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster. With this, she has become the first turbaned Sikh woman to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge of Canada. Justice Shergill succeeded Justice EA Arnold-Bailey, who retired on May 31. Justice Shergill has actively represented the interests of the Canadian Sikh community in several cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, including the one dealing with the right of Sikh students to wear the kirpan (ceremonial dagger) in schools.

Notes:
Dr. Srinivas Gokulnath from Maharashtra has created history by becoming the first Indian to complete the 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM) in solo 18-59 age category, which is considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world. He completed the race in 11 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes. Not only Gokunath but another Indian from Maharashtra, Dr Amit Samarth of Nagpur, crossed the finish line at Annapolis on American east coast. Gokunath stood seventh and Samarth was a position below him among the total nine cyclists who finished the race. Christoph Strasser was the winner of the race. RAAM is not a stage based cycle race. It is a continuous cycle race that allows less than two hours of rest per day and is supposed to be finished inside 12 days. The cyclists pedal around 400 km per day.

Notes:
Ankush Dahiya (60kg) from India has won a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Cup boxing tournament by defeating Man Choe Chol of Korea in his category in Mongolia. Beside this, L Devendro Singh (52kg) from India won a silver medal in the boxing tournament in Mongolia.