Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has partnered with TCS iON to offer free online “Career Skills Training” on its National Career Service (NCS) portal.
This scheme is to be implemented under the Ministry’s National Career Service (NCS) project, which provides several employment related services. This course also includes soft skills required by several industries. The training module is available to the registered job-seekers in both Hindi and English.

Notes:
The Tata Group has recently signed a partnership agreement with the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) of Thiruvananthapuram for commercial production of Covid-19 testing kits.
The kits to be produced are based on Reverse Transcriptase Loop-Mediated Amplification (RT-LAMP) technology for Covid-19 detection. The kits provide results in a lesser time against the conventional method. Earlier, Tata Sons had partnered with CSIR- Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology to produce CRISPR-based COVID test kits.

Notes:
Global credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has currently degraded India’s foreign currency and local currency long-term issuer ratings to Baa3.
The agency had previously rated India’s ratings as Baa2. The reason for the downgrade of ratings was the high challenges to be faced by the policy-making institutions in enacting and implementing policies for sustainable growth in the country. Moody’s had upgraded India’s ratings to Baa2 in November 2017.

Notes:
American private space company SpaceX has recently launched 60 new internet satellites into orbit using Falcon 9 rocket.
Only before some days, billionaire Elon Musk owned SpaceX has sent two NASA astronauts to International Space Station, thereby becoming the first private firm to send astronauts to space on Falcon-9 rocket. This is the 8th batch of satellites and the total number of Starlink constellation of satellites is 482, as of now.

Notes:
The legislature of Hong Kong has recently approved a bill that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.
In Hong Kong, the pro-democracy camp sees the anthem bill as an infringement of freedom of expression whereas the pro-Beijing majority said the law was necessary to show appropriate respect for the anthem. If one intentionally abuses the “March of the Volunteers” anthem, he might face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Notes:
Union External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar launched the country’s ‘Panchsheel’ principles for its campaign to secure an elected seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
The Panchsheel (Five Principles) includes Samman (respect), Samvad (dialogue), Sahyog (cooperation), Shanti (peace) and Samriddhi (prosperity). The elections are scheduled to be held on June 17, this year. India is the only endorsed candidate of the Asia-Pacific Group. Once selected, this would be the 8th term for India at the UNSC.

Notes:
As per the joint release issued by the Permanent Mission of India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) is urged to play a responsible role and to ensure the protection of vulnerable lives, amidst the current uncertain times.
Eight countries including India, responded to a release issued by OHCHR. It is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations that works to promote and protect human rights.

Notes:
Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has re-constituted its Commodity derivatives advisory committee.
As per the recent notification, the 17-member committee would be chaired by retired IAS officer Ashok Dalwani. The committee examines issues related to contract designs and new products in the segment and advises on matters related to delivery mechanism and warehouses. The panel includes members from BSE, NSE, NCDEX NITI Aayog, NABARD among others.

Notes:
As per the recent notification of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, a one cm green sticker, providing registration details will be affixed in all BS 6 compliant motor vehicles.
The order is expected to come force from October 1, 2020. Last year, it was announced that all motor vehicles will be fitted with tamper-proof, high security registration plates (HSRP). This green strip will be fixed at the top in the HSRP on the inside of the windshield. This is in addition to the light blue sticker for petrol or CNG and orange sticker for diesel vehicle.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force has designed, developed and inducted a transportation system named Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT).
ARPIT will be utilised to evacuate critical patients with infectious diseases including COVID-19 from high altitude and remote places. The cost of this indigenously designed system is Rs 60000, as compared to the imported air evacuation system priced at several lakhs. As of now, the Indian Air Force is inducting 7 ARPITS.