Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has partnered with the Common Service Centre (CSC) to enable the pensioners submit Digital Jeevan Pramaan (Life Certificate).
As per the statement of the Labour Ministry, around 65 lakh pensioners can submit their life certificate through over 3.65 lakh CSCs. Every year, the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) pensioners need to submit their life certificates to continue to draw pension, as the life certificate will remain valid for one year from date of submission.

Notes:
Technology Major Amazon banned Police from using its facial recognition software “Rekognition”, for a year, amid the nation-wide protests in the United States.
The use of facial recognition systems has faced criticism for incorrectly identifying people with darker skin. Though law enforcement agencies use facial recognition only to identify suspects, the critics say it can be misused. Earlier, IBM revoked its facial recognition software. Microsoft also joined the companies in banning Police use its recognition software.

Notes:
The state government of Andhra Pradesh has recently launched a financial assistance scheme called ‘Jagananna Chedodu’.
The scheme aims to provide direct cash transfer of Rs 10,000 into the bank accounts of each of 2,47,040 beneficiaries every year. The beneficiaries include barbers, washermen and tailors. The government has also released Rs 247.04 crore for the implementation of this scheme.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched an Integrated Flood Warning System called ‘IFLOWS-Mumbai’.
The warning system has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It would relay alerts of possible flood-prone areas at 6 to 72 hours in advance. After Chennai, Mumbai is only the second city to get such system.

Notes:
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has constituted an Expert Advisory Committee to advise Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) related to COVID-19 management in Delhi.
The committee would advise on the challenges being faced in Delhi, suggest measures to develop medical infrastructure and to integrate measures of multiple agencies for effective curbing of Covid-19. The committee has Director General of ICMR and Director of AIIMS are among the members of the committee.

Notes:
Veteran Urdu poet Anand Mohan Zutshi Gulzar Dehlvi recently passed away at the age of 93, in New Delhi.
The poet was earlier infected by Coronavirus and was undergoing treatment. Though he returned home after recovering from Covid-19, he has passed away. He was the editor of ‘Science ki Duniya’, the only science magazine published by the government in Urdu from 1975. He also played an instrumental role in opening Urdu schools across India.

Notes:
As per the recent report of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India received $51 billion of foreign investments in 2019.
With $51 billion, India was the world’s 9th largest recipient of foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2019. This rank was released in the flagship report of UNCTAD titled ‘The World Investment Report 2020’ released recently. Last year, India managed to attract 42 billion dollars of FDI with the rank of 12. India’s market will continue to attract market-seeking investments, UNCTAD said.

Notes:
Lieutenant General R M Vohra, a war hero of the 1971 war, recently passed away at the age of 88, after being contracted by COVID-19.
He was a Lieutenant Colonel in command of 4th Horse, the most feared tank regiments of Indian Army. He destroyed 27 enemy tanks which stopped his tanks from crossing the Basantar river. The Lt General was later awarded a Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) and his regiment was awarded the Basantar battle honour.

Notes:
India is ranked 43rd on the annual World Competitiveness Index compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD).
It has retained the same 43rd rank obtained in the previous edition. In the 2020 list that ranks 63 nations, Singapore has retained its top spot. It is followed by Denmark and Switzerland. However, the United States moved down from 3rd place to 10th place. While India improved in high-tech exports, foreign currency reserves etc, it degraded in areas like exchange rate stability, real GDP growth.

Notes:
Former Supreme Court Judge D K Jain has been reappointed as the Ethics Officer and Ombudsman of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
D K Jain was appointed as the first ever Ombudsman and was later appointed as the Ethics Officer in addition. His term had ended on February 29 this year, but his appointment has been renewed for one more year. Due to the Covid pandemic, the Ombudsman will be conducting hearings virtually.