Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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.

Notes:
The World Bank has provided Rs. 1,950 crore loans to the state of West Bengal for tackling COVID crisis and developmental work in the state.
Announcing the news about the loan, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that out of the total loan, Rs. 1,100 crore will be spent for creating Industrial infrastructures and remaining Rs. 850 crore has been allocated for social-Welfare schemes.

Notes:
The QS World University Rankings has been released by global higher education consultancy QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University and Harvard University all being American. Only three Indian institutions namely IIT-Bombay (172nd), IISc Bangalore (185th) and IIT Delhi (193rd) feature among the top 200 in the list, with none in the top-100.

Notes:
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments. India is also a signatory to CITES. It seeks to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
The Environment ministry has issued rules for dealing with the import of exotic species and for assessing scale of possession within the country, as per the CITES agreement. Exotic live species are defined as plants and animals that are moved from their original habitat to a new one by human intervention.

Notes:
Indian-American soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal has won the prestigious World Food Prize. The award is considered to be equivalent to a Nobel Prize in agriculture.
Dr Rattan Lal has been awarded for his contribution in assisting small farmers to improve their soil’s health. This has let the global food supply to increase considerably. He has promoted soil-saving techniques which has benefitted the livelihoods of more than 500 million small farmers.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Gujarat has recently announced that the Phase-2 of the Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana will be completed before 15th of August.
The scheme was launched with an aim of providing adequate drinking water to the state and meet the drinking water and irrigation requirements of Saurashtra and Kutch regions from Narmada river. It is also expected to fill 115 water reservoirs of arid Saurashtra and Kutch region. The first phase of SAUNI Yojana was launched in the year 2016.

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:
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:
International Albinism Awareness Day is observed every year by the United Nations on June 13, across the world. “Made To Shine” is the theme for this year’s observation, to highlight the achievements of persons with albinism worldwide.
Albinism is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited difference present at birth. Albinism results in a lack of melanin in the hair, skin and eyes, causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light.

Notes:
The Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has launched J&K Poultry Policy, 2020, to promote establishment of poultry units.
It has also announced a dedicated allocation of Rs. 50 crore per annum as subsidy, for establishing of broiler/layer farms and other poultry allied activities. The UT is spending about 900 crores spent on importing poultry and its products from outside. Capital investment incentive for access to credit and interest incentive are also provided to commercial poultry farms.