Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Russia, that currently holds the BRICS Presidency, hosted the meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS countries.
Though the meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Moscow, owing to Covid-19 restrictions, it was held through video conferencing. The Finance Secretary of India Ajay Bhushan Pandey represented India at the meeting. Possibilities of exploring areas of cooperation in tax matters and response of tax authorities were discussed.

Notes:
Major technology firm Google has launched a new application named ‘Sodar’, to help people maintain social distancing.
The application uses Augmented reality (AR) for this purpose. It creates a visual boundary using the user’s smartphone camera and show who is breaching that distance, on a real-time basis. Earlier, the UN Technology Innovation Labs released a free mobile social distancing app 1point5 which uses Bluetooth signal.

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:
The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has recently recommended the appointment for the top-level position of three public sector banks.
The BBB recommended the appointment of Ashwani Bhatia as the next Managing Director of State Bank of India. Ashwani Bhatia is currently the Deputy Managing Director in SBI. The Board also recommended the appointment of Matam Venkat Rao as the MD & CEO of Central Bank of India and PP Sengupta as the MD & CEO of Indian Overseas Bank.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement from the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry, three more States namely Odisha, Sikkim and Mizoram have recently joined the ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ scheme.
This addition has taken the total number of states and union territories that have joined the scheme to 20. In the three states, the necessary infrastructure work for joining the scheme including upgradation of electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) software have been completed.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has approved further changes to the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Earlier, the Union Minister had proposed that Micro units can have up to Rs 1 crore investments and turnover up to Rs 5 crore while Small units can have up to Rs 10 crore investments and turnover up to Rs 50 crore. The investment limit of a medium unit has been increased from Rs 20 crore to Rs 50 crore and the turn over limit from Rs 100 crore to Rs 250 crore. The Cabinet also approved Rs 20,000-crore fund for stressed entities and equity infusion of Rs 50,000 crore.

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:
As per the recent announcement of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the deep depression in the Arabian Sea has intensified into a cyclonic storm named as Cyclone Nisarga.
It will further turn into a severe cyclonic storm by tonight and cross north Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts between Raigad district and Daman. When the storm crosses the coast, the severe cyclonic storm will have a wind speed of 90-105 kmph. Earlier, the cyclone Amphan hit the state of West Bengal and caused severe damages.

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:
Apex Governing body of men and women’s hockey, Hockey India has recently nominated national women’s team captain Rani Rampal for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Rani Rampal is the first Indian to be named as the World Games Athlete of The Year. She played an important role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019. Hockey India also nominated other players Vandana Kataria, Monika and Harmanpreet Singh for the Arjuna award.