Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
One of the developing countries in Asia, Vietnam has recently ratified a landmark free trade agreement with the European Union.
The lawmakers in Vietnam’s National Assembly voted to pass the deal known as ‘EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)’. This is described as EU’s most ambitious deal with a developing country. Under the deal, EU will lift 85% of its tariffs on Vietnamese goods and cut the other tariffs over 7 years. Vietnam will lift 49% of its import duties on EU exports and shed the others by 10 years.

Notes:
Allocation of Rs. 1,01,500 crore has been made under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the current financial year 2020-2021.
This is the highest ever provision of funds under the programme. Out of the allocated fund, a sum of Rs. 31,493 crore has already been released in 2020-2021, which is more than 50% of the budget estimate of the current financial year.

Notes:
The World Accreditation Day (WAD) is celebrated on 9th June every year to highlight and promote the role of accreditation in trade & economy.
The theme for World Accreditation Day 2020 is “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”. It is decided by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). Quality Council of India (QCI) organised a Webinar to commemorate the event.

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:
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:
The International Football Federation FIFA has released its global FIFA ranks recently. Belgium retained its top spot in the list.
Belgium is followed by France and Brazil. The fourth and fifth positions are occupied by England and Uruguay respectively. Indian football team has retained the 108th spot in the ranking. The Covid-19 pandemic has remained an obstacle to the staging of international matches and the ranking remains unchanged.

Notes:
Indian Railways has recently created a new benchmark as it has successfully operated first Double Stack Container Train in electric zone.
The train has been run in high rise Over Head Equipment (OHE) electrified sections, as per the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative and will also promote the mission of Green India. This operation has been commenced from Palanpur and Botad stations in Gujarat.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh government has recently signed a concession agreement with GMR Airports for construction of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram.
The proposed place is located in Vizianagaram district, which about 40 km from Visakhapatnam. The concession agreement was signed in the presence of Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The state cabinet had earlier approved the selection of the GMR Group as the developer for Bhogapuram international airport.

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:
As per the recent report of the Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China is developing a nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new land and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft.
The report also highlighted that Indi and China have increased their nuclear capacities over the last year. It said that China and Pakistan have more nuclear warheads as compared to India as China has 320 nuclear warheads and India and Pakistan has 150 and 160 respectively.