Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The Central Government has initiated a consultation process for formulation of a new national Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020).
To formulate this policy, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) have jointly initiated a decentralised process. This is the 5th Science and Technology policy of the country.

Notes:
Social networking giant Twitter has recently appointed Patrick Pichette, a former chief financial officer at Google as the next chairman of its board.
This is the first time in the history of Twitter that an outsider is presiding over the board. Patrick Pichette served as the lead independent director of Twitter since the end of 2018. He is to replace Omid Kordestani in leading the directors as Chairman. Investors have been urging for appointing outsiders to preside over boards.

Notes:
The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of External Affairs have jointly launched a new initiative named SWADES.
SWADES stands for Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support. Since many Indian citizens are returning under Vande Bharat Mission, this scheme aims to conduct a skill mapping exercise of the qualified people. The information will be shared with the companies for suitable job opportunities in the country.

Notes:
Veteran Bureaucrat and 1999-batch IAS officer, Brajendra Navnit has been appointed as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India (PRI) to the World Trade Organisation for a period of three years.
He had been the Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office prior to this appointment and will be posted at the Permanent Mission of India (PMI) to the WTO in Geneva. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also gave a nod to the appointment of IRTS officer Anwar Hussain Shaik for the post of Counsellor, at the PMI to WTO, Geneva for three years.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India recently announced that it would set up a Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) of Rs 500 crore.
The fund has been created to promote the digital payment ecosystem across the country including deployment of Point of sale (PoS) infrastructure. The Reserve Bank made an initial contribution of Rs 250 crore, while the remaining fund will be provided by the card issuing banks and card networks.

Notes:
Hyderabad International Airport received the highest Platinum Recognition in the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2020.
The airport owned and operated by the GMR group, has won the recognition in the 15-35 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category. ACI Asia Pacific announced the result to promote best environmental practices, efficient water management practices and to minimise the aviation sector’s impact on the environment.

Notes:
‘Global Economic Prospects report’ is the flagship report of World Bank. As per the latest report released, India’s economy is estimated to contract by 3.2% in the current fiscal year 2020-21. The report also expects the Indian economy would grow at 3.1% in the next fiscal year.
In the earlier report released in April, the GDP growth rate for this fiscal year was predicted at 1.5%-2.8% growth. The growth of next year was also earlier predicted at 6.1%. The report also highlighted that global economy will contract by 5.2% in 2020.

Notes:
As per the statement of the Indian Railways, the best ever safety record has been created during April 2019 – March 2020.
There has been no fatality of any railway passenger in any train accident during this period. This feat has been achieved for the first time since 1853, when the Indian Railway system was introduced in the country. About 1274 Manned Level Crossings have been eliminated in 2019-20, which is also the highest ever. More than 1000 bridges were rehabilitated and rails were renewed.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has recently approved Cow-Slaughter Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 by amending Cow slaughter act, 1955.
The amendments seek to protect cows and prevent crimes related to cow slaughter. The ordinance has also inserted an imprisonment provision of up to 7 years for physical damage to cow and fine up to Rs 3 lakh for cases related to cow slaughter.

Notes:
Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) is a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The CPSE was seen in news as it has recently released a tender that invited agencies to provide solutions and services related to fact verification and detection of misinformation on social media platforms. BECIL seeks to empanel the agencies and it has also announced that the bidding firms should be able to identify the geo-location of the source of the news.