Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The cabinet of Kerala has given its approval for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi-High-Speed Rail corridor.
Called as the Silver Line project, it aims to cover about 529.45 km in four hours. The implementing agency Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-rail) is a joint venture of the Indian Railways and the Kerala Government. The Cabinet changed the DPR, to skip Mahe of Puducherry in the route. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 63,941 crore. It is expected to be completed in five years.

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:
US space agency NASA has selected Kathy Lueders as its first female head of human spaceflight mission.
NASA has successfully sent two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. In its next mission, it aims to land humans on the Moon by 2024. Kathy Lueders, who is currently the Commercial Crew Program Manager, has been named NASA’s next associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.

Notes:
The Union Government has launched a new healthcare supply chain portal called ‘Aarogyapath’. The portal has been launched by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The objective of the portal is to provide real-time availability of critical healthcare supplies for manufacturers, suppliers and customers. As per the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the public platform can help customers in knowing about critical healthcare supplies.

Notes:
As per the revised clinical management protocols released by the Union Health Ministry, Anosmia (called as Loss of smell) and Ageusia (called Loss of taste) has been added to the official list of COVID-19 symptoms.
These symptoms are being continuously reported by the coronavirus-infected patients before the beginning of respiratory symptoms. Health Ministry also approved use of Remdesivir to treat Covid-19 in moderate stage of criticality and use of HCQ (hydroxychloroquine) to treat Covid-19 in early stages.

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:
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is celebrated on June 15 every year across the world by the United Nations.
The UN General Assembly recognised June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day through its resolution in 2011. The proposal was initiated by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) in 2006. As per a study, 15.7% of people aged 60 years and older were subjected to some form of abuse.

Notes:
Leading payments bank of India, Airtel Payments Bank has recently launched a salary account for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
Named as the ‘Suraksha Salary’ account, it will enable MSMEs and other organisations to make cashless payments. It also provides Hospicash Insurance and Personal Accidental insurance cover. As of now, it is only available to new customers and will be extended to existing account holders soon.

Notes:
India has recently joined the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) as its founding member, along with USA, UK, EU, Australia among others.
Union minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that this multi-stakeholder international partnership will promote responsible human centric development and use of Artificial Intelligence. India has recently launched the National AI Strategy and also launched its dedicated National AI Portal.

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.