Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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:
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:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that a commission to look at racial equality in the UK will be established.
The proposed body would look at all forms of inequality in employment, health outcomes, academics, criminal justice system and all aspects of life. This announcement has been given after protests have been undertaken after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

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.

Notes:
Two Indian firms namely ZestMoney and Stellapps feature in the new list of Tech Pioneers released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The 100 firms selected as pioneers will be invited to participate at World Economic Forum workshops, events and high-level discussions. Zestmoney offers affordable credit as an alternate to traditional way of finance. Stellapps, is a farm-to-consumer dairy technology solutions company.

Notes:
South Korea recently said that North Korea has blown up the inter-Korean liaison office building, that is located north of the Korean border.
This serious incident followed the recent degradation in the relations between the two countries. North Korea has earlier threatened to engage in military action at the border with South Korea. The two countries jointly set up a liaison office at Kaesong in North Korea in 2003. The Kaesong Industrial Complex is a joint industrial zone operated by both North Koreans and South Koreans.

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:
India has been recently elected as the non-permanent member of UN Security Council for 2021-22, along with Ireland, Mexico and Norway. India’s term is to begin from January 2021.
Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members, out of the 10 total seats, for a two-year term. In the recent election, India won 184 votes out of 192 valid votes cast. Previously, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Council for seven terms.

Notes:
India, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council recently, will serve as its president for the month of August, 2021.
India, Norway, Ireland, Mexico and Kenya were elected as the non-permanent members of the 15-nation-UNSC for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021. Tunisia will begin 2021 as the President of the Council in January. It will be followed by each of the members in turn for one month, as per the English alphabetical order of the name of member states.

Notes:
World Refugee Day is observed annually on June 20, to create awareness of the situation of refugees across the world.
The theme of this year’s observance is “Every Action Counts”. On December 4, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided that June 20 would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol protect the refugees, who are present throughout the world.