Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year by the United Nations, to encourage awareness and environmental protection.
The theme of World Environment 2020 is ‘Celebrating biodiversity’. The day will be hosted in Colombia in partnership with Germany. It is reported that about one million species facing extinction, as of now. In India, Housing & Urban Affairs Ministry releases series of advisories during a programme ‘Saving Biodiversity through Effective Waste Management’.

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.

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:
UN celebrates six separate language days to raise awareness of the history, culture and development of each of its six official languages – English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French.
June 6 is celebrated as the UN Russian Language Day, which is also the birthday of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The poet is considered as the father of modern Russian literature. Some of his popular literary works include novel titled “Eugene Onegin” and his poem titled “The Bronze Horseman”.

Notes:
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR has partnered with Atal Innovation Mission, AIM to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors.
Under the Letter of Intent signed, the two institutions would support world class start-ups and promote innovation and research in the MSME industry through CSIR incubators and ARISE initiative of AIM. They will also work together on new models of innovation like CSIR Innovation parks.

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:
Former Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden has formally obtained the nomination of the Democratic Party for the upcoming U.S Presidential elections.
The 77-year-old leader had served as the 47th U.S Vice President from 2009 to 2017 during the presidency of Barack Obama. In the elections to be held on November 3, Joe Biden will challenge the incumbent President and Republican Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election.

Notes:
Former Indian footballer from the state of Kerala, Hamza Koya recently passed away after contracting Covid-19.
The veteran sportsperson had represented Maharashtra at the Santhosh Trophy. He was also a member of the national team in Nehru trophy. Though he was given plasma therapy treatment, he passed away at the age of 61.

Notes:
Former World rapid champion from Russia, Daniil Dubov has clinched the USD 150,000 Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge chess title.
The 24-year-old player won his compatriot Sergey Karjakin and Chinese No. 1 Ding Liren in last two matches. He gained victory over the American Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura in the final match 3-2. Dubov became the grandmaster at his 14th year and became a World rapid champion in the year 2018.

Notes:
World Oceans Day is celebrated across the world on June 8, every year. The day is observed to encourage people to celebrate oceans and take steps to protect ocean health.
The theme of World Oceans Day 2020 is “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”. Canada proposed the concept for World Oceans Day in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In December 2008, the United Nations designated June 8 as World Oceans Day for the oceans.