Current Affairs Quiz - 27th June, 2018 - Current Affairs MCQ

President of India, Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the Udyam Sangam-2018 in New Delhi. It is a step forward towards consolidating the convergence and synergy of all the government initiatives relating to MSME Sector. The President of India launched the Solar Charkha Mission which will cover 50 clusters and every cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans. The Mission has been approved by the Government of India for which the MSME Ministry will disburse subsidy of Rs. 550 crores to the artisans. A portal of the Ministry of MSME called "Sampark" was also unveiled by the President.

To help deliver passports to applicants at their residence, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched the "mPassport Seva" mobile application on the occasion of 'Passport Seva Divas'. She also scrapped the marriage certificate's compulsion, required for obtaining passports. In total, there are 260 working passport centres, which will be expanded to all Lok Sabha constituencies in the near future.

India has extended a $100 million line of credit to Seychelles to allow it to build its defense capabilities and purchase weapons from India. The two nations also signed six Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), including in the area of infrastructure development in Seychelles, cyber security and white-shipping arrangement that would enable the two countries to exchange data regarding identity and movement of non-military commercial vessels. As promised by PM Modi during his visit there in 2015, India also gifted the 2nd Dornier aircraft to Seychelles ahead of its National Day on June 29, 2018.

The Maharashtra government has set up a committee to study issues related to the development of a 1,000-MW floating solar power plant at Ujani dam in Solapur district. The committee will be headed by the Director (Commercial) of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), Satish Chavan. Among other things, the committee will study the environmental impact of the project and monitor the month-wise water level of the dam.

Russian billionaire and scientist Igor Ashurbeyli officially declared himself as the leader of the world's first space nation 'Asgardia'. Ashurbeyli's brainchild Asgardia aims to be an independent space nation, with its own government, currency, justice system and calendar. Focused towards establishing a permanent settlement on the moon in 25 years, Asgardia already has 2 lakh citizens. About Asgardia:- Asgardia, also known as the Space Kingdom of Asgardia, is a proposed and self-proclaimed nation in outer space. Capital - Asgardia-1 (satellite) Administrative center - Vienna, Austria Purported currency - SOLAR (proposed) Membership - 199,000.

Senior bureaucrat S Ramesh has been appointed as chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes. He succeeded Vanaja N Sarna. Ramesh, a 1981 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), is at present the member in the board, mandated with the responsibility of implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Lawrence Haddad, who is a British economist and food policy researcher, and Dr David Nabarro, who has worked with the World Health Organization and United Nations on health and hunger issues, were named the 2018 World Food Prize recipients in a ceremony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington. The World Food Prize was awarded this year to two men who have dedicated their careers to improving the availability of nutritious food for pregnant women and children in an effort to reduce the effects of malnutrition in developing countries.

Sixteen-year-old Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary set a new world record on the way to winning a gold medal in the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. Saurabh shot a total of 243.7 in the 10m air pistol event in the ongoing International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) tournament. In the women's 25m pistol final, Manu Bhaker was fifth with 19 hits and Devanshi Rana was eighth with five. With 8 gold medals, 1 silver and 5 bronze, India continued to top the medal standings.

According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey on women's issues, India is the world's most dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour. The list of the 10 countries ranked as the most dangerous for women by the survey, conducted between March 26 and May 4:- 1. India 2. Afghanistan 3. Syria 4. Somalia 5. Saudi Arabia 6. Pakistan 7. Democratic Republic of Congo 8. Yemen 9. Nigeria 10. United States.

The 2018 ICC Women's World T20 championship will be held in the West Indies from November 9 to 24. This is the first standalone ICC women's event in the shortest format of the game. India will begin their campaign against New Zealand on the opening day. The 10-team tournament, featuring three-time champions Australia and reigning winners England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and defending champions the West Indies, plus two qualifiers, will be played across three venues in the Caribbean. The finalists of the World T20 Qualifier in the Netherlands from July 7 to 14 will add to the line-up of the November tournament.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on June 26 to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. The theme for 2018 is: "Listen First - Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe". It 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. It is marked to raise awareness against drug abuse and illegal drug trade.

The 222nd meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) was held under the chairmanship of Union Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar at New Delhi. The Central Board approved the proposal for insertion of Paragraph 68HH in EPF Scheme, 1952 provisioning Advance from the fund to a member who ceases to be in employment for a continuous period not less than one month. Under this proposal, a member can avail 75% of the total fund (including employee as well as employer share) standing to the member's credit with interest thereon. The Central Board approved the proposal to continue SBI Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund as ETF manufacturer for investment in ETF by EPFO for the tenure of one year.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an agreement between India and Denmark on Cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation- The objective of the Agreement is to encourage, develop and facilitate co-operation between India and Denmark in fields of common interest within Science, Technology and Innovation. It also sogns an MoU that aims to develop bilateral cooperation in the field of Animal Husbandly and Dairying for the purpose of broadening the existing knowledge base on dairy development and institutional strengthening.

Ten new Swachh Iconic Places of the country came up with the thorough action plans for raising their sanitation standards to exemplary levels. The plans were formulated at a two-day consultation in Hyderabad held between Central and State Government agencies, local administrations and the Trusts of the iconic places. Over 100 delegates from across the country attended the consultation. All the 30 Swachh Iconic Places, selected so far under the Swachh Bharat Mission, also resolved to make their sites completely free of plastic.

A total of 20 countries, including India, announced contributions to the 2018 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees. In March, India announced it will increase its annual contribution to the UNRWA from USD 1.5 million to USD 5 million (INR 34.09 crore) from 2018-19 for a period of three years. Sweden will contribute USD 250 million over four years, the UK USD 51 million and the UAE USD 50 million among other donors. Commissioner-General of UNRWA - Pierre Krahenbuhl.