Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The state government of Uttarakhand has recently launched a scheme called ‘Mukhya Mantri Swarojgar Yojana’, to provide loans to the migrant workers amid Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the scheme, Uttarakhand government will provide loans worth ₹25 lakh in the manufacturing sector and ₹10 lakh in the service sector. The migrant workers who are returning to the state are eligible to apply for the loans, that will be provided by nationalised banks, scheduled commercial banks and co-operative banks.

Notes:
Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) is the largest electronic system-based power trading exchange of India and it is regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. IEX platform provides physical delivery of electricity and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
IEX has recently launched its Real-Time Electricity Market (RTM) platform. The objective of the platform is to help the DISCOMs plan their power requirements. The trade in electricity is carried out through half-hourly auctions i.e. 48 daily sessions.

Notes:
The Union government has notified the income-tax return (ITR) forms for the assessment year (AY) 2020-21 for individual, professional and corporate tax payers.
For the first time, the form separately captures information on cash deposits exceeding ₹1 crore, expenditure on foreign travel exceeding ₹2 lakh and electricity expenses exceeding ₹1 lakh. It was earlier announced that the taxpayers may avail the benefits of investments in tax-saving instruments for an extended period up to June 30. Deadline for filing returns was also extended from July 31 to November 30.

Notes:
The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Based on the recommendation of CACP, the Union Cabinet fixes the minimum support price (MSP).
Recently, the government raised the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy marginally by Rs 53 per quintal to Rs 1,868 per quintal for the 2020-21 crop year. It also hiked the rates for oilseeds, pulses cereals and commercial crops. This is expected to give 50-83 per cent higher return over the cost of production to farmers.

Notes:
The Union Government has recently launched Kisan Credit Card campaign to help dairy farmers.
The Government will provide Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to about 1.5 crore dairy farmers who belong to Milk Unions and Milk producing Companies. The drive seeks to provide KCC to the farmers within the next two months before July 31, under a special drive. The special drive to provide KCC is part of the Prime Minister’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat package.

Notes:
Major technology company Microsoft has announced the launch of a programme named “Microsoft for Agritech Startups”.
The programme is to focus on the start-ups that are committed to driving transformation in agriculture. The programme seeks to assist start-ups in building industry-specific solutions, access to deep technology and markets. The selected start-ups can also get access to Azure FarmBeats, an aggregation platform available in Azure Marketplace.

Notes:
International Sex workers day is celebrated on June 2, every year across the world, to highlight the plight of sex workers.
On the same day in the year 1975, hundreds of sex workers gathered in the Church Saint-Nizier in France, to sensitise people about their exploitative living conditions and to demand an end to police harassment. The Odisha Human Rights Commission has directed the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation commissioner to provide ration and other assistance to sex workers in Bhubaneswar.

Notes:
The global innovation mapping and research company StartupBlink has recently released its annual Ecosystem Rankings Report.
As per this year’s report, India has been ranked at 23rd place out of 100 countries. In the last year’s report, India was placed at 17th rank. The report collects local data of every country to rank their start-up ecosystem based on the quality of start-ups and business environment. The United States was placed at the top spot. Only four Indian cities were ranked in the top 100 start-up cities list.

Notes:
The state government of Andhra Pradesh has handed over a financial assistance of Rs 10,000 to help auto and taxi drivers affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
The assistance has been delivered under the YSR Vahana Mitra scheme, that was originally launched in the year 2019, to provide an annual allowance of Rs 10,000 to auto and taxi drivers to meet insurance premium, license fees and other recurring expenses. This allowance has been advanced by four months.

Notes:
Veteran bureaucrat Rajeev Topno, a 1996 batch IAS officer who had been serving as the private secretary to the Prime Minister, has been appointed as senior advisor to the Executive Director (ED), World Bank.
As per the Personnel Ministry order issued, five other officers have been appointed to various posts abroad. This includes the appointment of Ravi Kota as Minister (Economic) at the Indian embassy in Washington; Lekhan Thakkar as Counsellor (Economic) at the Indian Embassy in Beijing; H Atheli, as Advisor (Director-level) to the ED of the ADB among others.