Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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:
TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India) recently organised a webinar titled “Van Dhan: Tribal Start-ups Bloom in India”.
As per the Managing Director of TRIFED, the target of TRIFED is to expand the current coverage of 8,000 SHGs to 50,000 Van Dhan SHGs. The number of tribal gatherers is also to be made three times to 10 lakhs, through the Covid19 relief plan of the Tribal Affairs Ministry. TRIFED website was commissioned for a trial run.

Notes:
Indian software major, Infosys signed on to ‘The Climate Pledge’, an initiative by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Global Optimism founder and former United Nations climate chief Christian Figueres.
The initiative seeks to fast-track the transition to a low carbon economy. Infosys also announced that it will make its business net zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the deadline set out by the Paris Agreement. US-based Verizon and British firm Reckitt Benckiser also signed on the climate pledge.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took over the powers to regulate HFCs from the National Housing Bank (NHB) in August 2019.
Recently, RBI proposed to modify the rules of housing finance firms, which includes the formal definition of housing finance as “financing, for purchase/ construction/ reconstruction/ renovation/ repairs of residential dwelling unit”. RBI also proposed to classify HFCs as systemically important HFCs and non-systemically important HFCs.

Notes:
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining, to open coal sector of India to private players.
The Ministry of Coal in association with FICCI launched the process of auction under the provisions of Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. The auction is expected to invite Rs 33,000 crore of capital investment in the country over next five to seven years.

Notes:
The 19th Great June Uprising Day was observed in the capital of Manipur, Imphal and other places of the state.
On June 14, 2001, the Union government signed the amended ceasefire agreement inserting the words “without territorial limits”. Several people of Manipur protested against the agreement and nearly 18 of them laid down their lives for the unity of the state. On the Great June Uprising Day, the state commemorates the 18 people.

Notes:
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has recently recommended former skipper IM Vijayan for the country’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.
The 51-year-old legendary player served as the India striker. Since he made his debut in the early 90s, he had scored 40 goals in 79 matches for India. He was also awarded the prestigious Arjuna award in 2003. Six Indian footballers including Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri have earlier won the Padma Shri award.

Notes:
Technology major Facebook has recently acquired Swedish mapping technology company Mapillary, as per official sources.
Mapillary crowd-sources the images, collects pictures contributed from smart phones and other types of cameras. It then uses computer vision technology to stack them together into a real-time 3-D map. This technology is expected to support Facebook products under development like augmented reality glasses and virtual reality headsets.

Notes:
The UN Agency for refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has released its Annual report on displacement.
As per the report, nearly 80 million people were forcibly displaced by the end of 2019 globally. The main reason for displacement has been war, violence, persecution and other emergencies. This count is almost double the total figure of the past decade. The report also revealed that an additional 11 million people were newly displaced in 2019 alone.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, in association with Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and a private firm has developed low-cost diagnostic kits for Covid-19.
The Viral Transport Media (VTM) kits have two transport media for collecting swabs. These unique formulation of the transport medium helps in preserving the viability of viruses for up to 72 hours at refrigerated temperatures. The institution has also developed RT-PCR kits, and RNA isolation kits. Large scale production of these kits has commenced for deploying across the state and the country.