Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the Provisional Estimates of National Income for the financial year 2019-20.
As per the data, the Indian economy grew by 4.2 percent in the year 2019-20, as compared to the 6.1 percent growth in 2018-19. This GDP growth rate is said to be the lowest in past 11 years. Also, during the January-March (final) quarter of the year 2019-20, the growth rate of GDP fell to 3.1%. The Per Capita Income (real) had a growth of 3.1 percent during 2019-20, as against 4.8 per cent in the previous year.

Notes:
Goa is the smallest state of India, by are and the fourth-smallest state by population. It recently celebrated its statehood day on May 30.
In 1961, Indian Army invaded and annexed Goa, Daman and Diu into the Indian union, through Operation Vijay. After that, Goa along with Daman and Diu, was categorised as a centrally administered Union territory of India. On 30 May 1987, the union territory was split and Goa was made the 25th state of India and Daman and Diu remained as a UT.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement of the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the state is to develop 800 km roads as Herbal roads in the state.
The Herbal roads will have medicinal trees on both sides, including Peepal, Neem, Sehjan and other important herbal trees. The state’s Public Works Department will implement the project and rain water recharging system on the roads.

Notes:
California-based American aerospace manufacturing and space transportation services firm SpaceX has become the first private company to send astronauts into space.
The firm is owned by the tech-billionaire Elon Musk. The Crew Dragon spacecraft of SpaceX carried two astronauts of NASA Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station (ISS). Earlier, this feat has been achieved by the governments of the United States, Russia and China. The US halted to use its own shuttles nine years ago.

Notes:
Bobby Joe Morrow, veteran athlete from the United States, recently passed away at the age of 84. The sprinter had won three gold medals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Bobby Morrow won the 100 and 200 meters in Melbourne Olympics and was a crucial part of the winning 400 relay team of the US and helped the relay team set a world record. He was honoured as “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated. He won the AAU’s James E. Sullivan Award and was also inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.

Notes:
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) was launched by the Agriculture Ministry under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) in 2015. It was launched with an aim to promote organic farming among small and marginal farmers.
Recently, the NITI Aayog organised an online High-level Roundtable, which was attended by several national and international experts and policy makers. It aims to boost agroecological and natural farming practices in India. The Agriculture Minister said that PKVY covered 7 lakh hectares and 8 lakh farmers.

Notes:
The large group of asteroids that share the Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun are commonly called as Trojan asteroids or Jupiter Trojans. The trojans follow the same orbit of planet but stay either around 60 degrees ahead or 60 degrees behind along the orbit.
Recently, a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii and Queen’s University Belfast have found that 2019 LD2 is the first known Jupiter trojan asteroid to have a comet-like tail. It was first discovered in June 2019 by the ATLAS system funded by NASA. But it could not be observed then, as it passed behind the sun.

Notes:
During April, the state of Punjab launched an operation to contain the outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19) named ‘Mission Fateh’.
Recently, the Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh has launched a month-long drive to spread awareness about COVID-19 pandemic under Mission Fateh. This campaign will expand the coverage of the original mission beyond the frontline workers to include all general public of the state in fighting the crisis. Various awareness programmes are to be held across the state.

Notes:
World Health Organisation has launched a new initiative called COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), along with Costa Rica.
The pool was initially proposed in the month of March by the President of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado. As of now, thirty countries and several global partners have joined the initiative. The pool seeks to make all vaccines, tests, treatments and other health technologies developed to fight COVID-19, accessible to all.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers recently fixed the minimum percentage of local content in public procurement of 55 chemical and pesticide products.
This step is a part of the government’s effort to boost domestic manufacturing and the Make-in-India programme. As per the new norm, the minimum local content has been fixed at 60 per cent for 2020-21, 70 per cent for 2021-23 and 80 per cent during 2023-25. Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had revised the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017 for implementing this norm.