Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has become the first construction sector organisation to go fully digital.
NHAI has launched ‘Data Lake and Project Management Software’, a cloud-based and artificial intelligence-powered big data analytics platform. With this launch, the entire project workflow of NHAI has been transformed to that based on online portal. The system will also predict the financial impacts of different alternatives.

Notes:
India’s foreign exchange reserves crossed the half-a-trillion mark for the first time in the week ended June 5.
As per the recent data from the Reserve Bank of India, the forex reserves increased by $8.22 billion the week, which made the overall reserves cross the USD 500 billion mark to reach USD 501.70 billion. A huge rise in the Foreign Current Assets (FCA) is the main reason for the rise in reserves. The reserves stood at USD 493.48 billion in the previous week.

Notes:
India’s leading SUV and farm vehicle maker, Mahindra and Mahindra announced that it is set to exit from its US-based e- bike company GenZe.
As the firm suffered a substantial loss in the March quarter due to losses at foreign subsidiaries, it is also set to give up control of its Korean subsidiary SsangYong. The company said that it will stop investments in the loss-making SsangYong firm. Mahindra and Mahindra is also relooking all its ventures to reduce expenses.

Notes:
Young Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was recently found dead at his residence, at the age of 34. Sushant was known for his acclaimed performances in films such as MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Sonchiriya, Kai Po Che, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! among others.
The policy think-tank of the Indian government, NITI Aayog signed him to promote the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) in the year 2018.

Notes:
Veteran Hockey coach Sreedhar Shenoy from the state of Kerala has recently passed away. He has produced more than 5000 players including Olympian Dinesh Naik.
He played a crucial role in nurturing hockey at the school level in the state. He served as a great coach and tournament organiser of hockey matches. He has trained various national players including P.R. Sreejesh. He was also the coach for the State senior and junior hockey teams.

Notes:
A short film produced by a group from a village of Odisha named ‘Martyapura Re Jamaraj’ (‘Yamaraj on earth’) has won a special jury award at the COVID-19 International Film Festival 2020.
The 13-minute short film directed in Odia language by Stitadhi Rath, seeks to spread awareness about preventive measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in the rural areas. The film uses humour genre to convey the message.

Notes:
The co-founder and chief executive of digital music platform Qyuki Digital Media, Samir Bangara, recently passed away following a motorcycle accident.
Samir Bangara had served as Managing Director (Digital) at Disney India, before joining the start-up firm Qyuki. In 2012, Director Shekhar Kapur and Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman launched Qyuki in Mumbai. Samir also played an instrumental role in the sale of Indiagames firm to Disney.

Notes:
Facebook owned social media major WhatsApp has launched its ‘WhatsApp Pay’ for the first time in Brazil.
Two years ago, WhatsApp began testing the payments service in India, which enables users to send and receive money. However, the plan could not be materialised due to regulatory issues. WhatsApp has designed the payment system with a special six-digit PIN or fingerprint authorisation to prevent unauthorised transactions.

Notes:
‘International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR)’ is celebrated on June 16, every year across the world.
This year, the International Day is observed with the theme of “Remittances are a lifeline”. The United Nations that designated the day, also calls upon governments, private sector companies and the civil society, to maximize the impact of remittances through individuals.

Notes:
An annular solar eclipse would occur on 21 June this year. The annular phase is expected to be visible from some places of the country.
It would be seen as partial solar eclipse from the rest part of the country. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth and blocks the light of the sun from reaching the earth. As a result, the shadow of the moon is cast on the earth. Annular eclipse happens when the moon is farthest from the earth and a ring of fire structure is seen.