Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2018

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Indian star cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been honoured with the ‘Most inspiring icon of the year for Social Welfare’ award by the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival (DPIFF) for his exemplary contribution in the field of social welfare. Yuvraj, who was a member of India’s 2011 World Cup winning squad, was diagnosed with cancer (mediastinal seminoma) shortly after the World Cup. After successfully completing his chemotherapy cycle in the United States, Yuvraj returned to India in 2012 and made his international comeback in a Twenty20 match against New Zealand. Post his diagnosis, Yuvraj launched the YouWeCan foundation to fight Cancer by spreading awareness about the aggressive disease.

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The Somasila Dam is built across the Penna River near Somasila in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. The reservoir impounded by the dam has a surface area of 212.28 km2 with live storage capacity of 1.994 km3.

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Tata Motors Ltd.  has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Government of Maharashtra for deployment of 1000 Electric Vehicles (EV) across its range of passenger and commercial vehicles in the State. The company also partnered Tata group company, Tata Power Ltd to set up of EV Charging Stations in the State. The MoU will boost the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 in accelerating the adoption of Evs in Maharashtra.

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has launched a new Ensemble Prediction Systems (EPS) to provide probabilistic weather forecasts up to the next 10 days. According to IMD, these new systems shall improve upon deterministic forecasts that are prone to high margins of error. These systems also use a higher resolution 12 km grid scale, instead of the 23 km resolution that has been in use till now. The forecast related to the intensity of the weather will also be more accurate and colour coded. The new model has been developed jointly by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting. With this new model, India joins the US with a model that predicts with a 12 km resolution. Only the ‘European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast’ has a better 9-kilometer resolution. Better forecasts lead to better management agriculture and water resources. It also helps promote tourism, solar and wind energy.

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On June 1, the Union Ministry of Culture has launched a new scheme called ‘Seva Bhoj Yojna’ with a total outlay of Rs. 325 Crores for Financial Years 2018-19 and 2019-20. The scheme seeks to reimburse the Central Government share of CGST and IGST so as to lessen the financial burden of such Charitable Religious Institutions who provide Food/Prasad/Langar (Community Kitchen)/Bhandara free of cost without any discrimination to Public/Devotees. The Charitable Religious Institutions such as Temples, Gurudwara, Mosque, Church, Dharmik Ashram, Matth, etc. which have been in existence for at least 5 years before applying for financial assistance/grant and who serve free food to at least 5000 people in a month and such institutions covered under Section 10 (23BBA) of the Income Tax Act or Institutions registered as Society under Societies Registration Act ( XXI of 1860) or as a Public Trust under any law for the time being in force of statuary religious bodies constituted under any Act or institutions registered under Section 12AA of Income Tax Act shall be eligible for grant under the scheme.

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Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh L Mandaviya launched the ‘Jan Aushadhi Suvidha’- the Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) in New Delhi on June 4, 2018. The affordable sanitary napkins will become available at over 3600 Janaushadhi Kendras functional in 33 States/ UTs across India. Jan Aushadhi Suvidha comes with a special additive, which makes it biodegradable when it comes in contact with oxygen after being discarded. The average price of sanitary napkins available in the market today is around Rs 8 per pad, whereas the cost of SUVIDHA napkins is Rs 2.50 per pad.

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On June 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched Financial Literacy Week (FLW-2018) across the country with Customer Protection as its main theme. The event will focus on creating awareness among customers of banks about financial products and services, good financial practices and going digital. It will give out four consumer protection messages including ‘know your liability’ for unauthorised electronic banking transaction and good practices for a safe digital banking experience. Among various messages, customers will be told through banners and posters that in case of unauthorised digital transaction if bank is informed within 3 days, the liability of the account holder is zero. Resolution of complaint is to be done by the bank concerned within period not exceeding 90 days from the date of receipt of the complaint.

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Veteran producer Pippa Harris has been appointed as the new chairperson of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for a period of 2 years. She will succeed Jane Lush. Prior to this post, she was the deputy chair of BAFTA. Harris is best known as having established Neal Street Productions, which she set up with Sam Mendes and Caro Newling in 2003 and continues to run its film and TV division with Nicolas Brown. In the past, Harris has served as the head of drama commissioning for the BBC where her commissions included “The Lost Prince”, “State of Play” and “Daniel Deronda”.

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Sanjana Ramesh has won the ‘Most Valuable Player’ (MVP) award at the Basketball Without Borders Asia 2018, which featured 66 campers from 16 countries from the Asia-Pacific region. Her compatriot Vaishnavi Yadav won the ‘Girls Grit Award’ in the camp. The camp got underway with the girls championship game between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. Coached on the sidelines by Ruth Riley and Sakshi Sheoran, the Lynx defeated the Liberty 20-13.

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Ecuadorean foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa has been elected President of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a mainly ceremonial title that nonetheless carries a high profile and important procedural functions. Espinosa defeated Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras by 128 votes to 62, with two abstentions. Espinosa will become the fourth woman ever to hold the UNGA presidency and the first since Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, from Bahrain, in 2006-2007. Espinosa will assume the position in September at the start of the 73rd UN General Assembly. It is rare to have a contested election for the position, which is normally filled by consensus without a vote. It was the turn for Latin America and the Caribbean to nominate the assembly president based on a preset geographical rotation. The previous women leaders of the Assembly were India’s Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in 1953; Liberia’s Angie Elisabeth Brooks in 1969 and Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain in 2006.