Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has sought special proposals from Amazon for selling masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits.
Since a huge market has been formed for masks across the world particularly among all fashion brands, several Indian players have started exporting non-medical and designer masks. The exporters are also exploring measures of getting international certifications needed to export to other countries.

Notes:
The Union Government has created the Micro Irrigation Fund with the corpus of Rs. 5000 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
Under the fund, NABARD will provide the amount to states on concessional rate of interest to promote micro-irrigation. Moreover, the annual allotment of Rs. 4000 crore has been made under the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY- PDMC). The scheme focuses on improving water use efficiency through micro Irrigation techniques.

Notes:
The forest department of Uttarakhand has dedicated a biodiversity park in Haldwani to the people of state and country.
The park is named as the ‘Sarv Dharm Vatika’, which spans over 18-acre area with 40 different sections and 479 plant species associated with all religions. It also possesses living fossils and a soil museum, that displays the earth from tropical, subtropical, temperature and alpine zones. It also has Jurassic garden with various living plant families of the Jurassic period.

Notes:
The United States has confirmed General Charles Q. Brown Jr. as the Chief of the Air Force of the country.
Charles Q. Brown is currently serving as the four-star general and is the first African-American to hold the position. The General recently opened up about his experience with racism in the United States. The Senate has unanimously confirmed the General for the post with full vote.

Notes:
As per the recent report from the State Forest department, the population of Asiatic lions in Gujarat’s Gir forest has increased by almost 29 per cent.
The exercise also found that the area inhabited by lions has increased by 36 per cent from 22,000 sq km in 2015 to 30,000 sq km in 2020, which is an increase of 36%. The increase of Asiatic lion population is possible due to the participation of local community. The Environment Ministry said that a land project being undertaken will further help in the conservation of Lions.

Notes:
The Union Defence Ministry has recently extended the delivery period for all existing capital acquisition contracts with Indian vendors by four months.
As per the Defence Minster, ‘force majeure shall be applicable for a period of four months i.e. 25th March 2020 to 24th July 2020’. A force majeure refers to unexpected circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract. This step has been taken because of supply chain crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Notes:
The United States President Donald Trump has issued an executive order authorising sanctions against individuals involved in an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo can block assets in the U.S. of ICC employees involved in the probe and also block their entry into the U.S. The investigation was held to find whether the U.S. forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan. While Afghanistan is a member of ICC, U.S. is not a member.

Notes:
The lower house of Nepal parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha passed bill to include India’s territories of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand in its new map.
Nepal’s upper house of parliament has also endorsed proposal to update its political map that includes the Indian territories. However, India has claimed that the updated map is not based on historical facts and evidence and that the move is violative of the current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues.

Notes:
A 500-year-old ancient temple of Lord Vishnu that was submerged in Odisha’s Mahanadi river during 19th century has reappeared after 15 years.
The river is said to have been submerged due to change of course of the river. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage’s archaeological survey team visited the village in Nayagarh district and said that the top of the Gopinath Dev temple was visible due to the reduction in the water-level of the river.

Notes:
Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements the ‘Assistance to Disabled persons for purchasing / fitting of aids / appliances’ (ADIP) scheme through its Public sector enterprise, Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO).
Recently, a virtual ADIP Camp for free distribution of assistive aids and devices at Block level for Divyangjans under the ADIP scheme was organized at Firozpur District in Punjab. This is the first camp being organized by the ALIMCO after opening of lockdown with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).