Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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:
International Everest Day is celebrated on May 29, across the world every year. On the same day in the year 1953, Tenzing Norgay of Nepal and Edmund Hillary of New Zealand had successfully scaled the Mt. Everest.
The mountaineer duo were the first human beings to achieve the prestigious feat. Nepal decided to observe the day as International Everest Day since the climber Edmund Hillary passed away in the year 2008.

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:
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated Indian cricket star Rohit Sharma for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Other stars including Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Deepti Yadav have been shortlisted by the BCCI for the Arjuna Award. The period of consideration for the awards is between January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019. Rohit Sharma has been named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2019.

Notes:
The Union Government has launched a national programme for the youth, called “Responsible AI for Youth”. It has been developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT in collaboration with Intel India, with support from Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L). It aims to equip young students with new generation technology.
A dedicated portal for Artificial Intelligence, which will be a platform for all AI related developments in India, was also launched to mark the first anniversary of the second tenure of the government. It has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT and NASSCOM.

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:
Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS), the Delhi based laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a disinfection unit named Ultra Swachh.
It is a multi-purpose unit, which can be used to disinfect a wide range of objects and materials including Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), fabrics among others. The system is compliant with international standards of personal and environmental safety. The system will be available in two variants namely Ozonated Space and Trinetra Technology

Notes:
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently had a discussion with the French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly.
The Minister later announced that France has assured timely delivery of the Rafale fighter aircraft, made by Dassault Aviation company, despite challenges arising out of COVID-19 pandemic. The leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation between India and France and discussed matters of mutual concern regarding COVID-19 and regional security.

Notes:
Veteran diplomat Gaitri I. Kumar has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom.
She is a 1986 batch Indian Foreign Service officer and is presently serving as the Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. Gaitri I. Kumar is to replace Ruchi Ghanshyam who just retired. In her 3-decade long career, the diplomat has served in many Indian missions including in Paris, Kathmandu, Lisbon and Geneva.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu released the standard operating procedure for the salons, beauty parlours and spas, when they resume their service after the lockdown.
As per the rules, the mentioned service providers will have to maintain a record of the name, phone number, address and Aadhaar number of the customers as a preventive measure against Covid-19. It would also facilitate contact tracing. Other sanitation procedures were also provided for resuming.