Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The unmanned submersible of China “Haidou-1” has dived to a depth of 10,907 metres at the world’s deepest ocean point.
Haidou-1 has set the record by submerging under the Pacific Ocean surface of the Mariana Trench, the deepest area in the world. During the deep-sea diving operation, it has also collected samples from the deep sea and high-definition images of the geological environment.

Notes:
The chief of the United Nations Antonio Guterres has recently announced that nearly 49 million more people are likely to fall into extreme poverty this year due to the COVID-19 crisis.
He has also announced that every percentage point drop in the global GDP would result in stunted growth in hundreds of thousands of additional children. The UN has also urged the countries to act immediately to ensure global food security. More than 820 million people are hungry and 144 million children under the age of 5 are stunted.

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 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:
The state government of Haryana has announced that it would construct 1,000 water recharge bores in underground water deficient areas of the state.
The programme seeks to recharge underground water with rainfall. Announcing this programme, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that 90 percent of the cost of the bore project will be borne by the government and the remaining 10 percent by the farmers.

Notes:
The Coral Triangle Day is held every June 9 across the world. Coral Triangle is the ocean spread across 6 countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste, also called the “CT6” countries.
The day is celebrated by all countries which are benefitted by the rich marine resources of the Coral Triangle. It is also one of the 3 great ecological complexes in our planet, along with the Congo Basin and the Amazon Rainforest.

Notes:
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has submitted a mid-term report to the United Nations on the human rights situation in the country.
This is the first time NHRC is submitting the report mid time, in which is highlighted the policies of the government on climate change, rights of women, children, disabled and the elderly. NHRC also informed that the Government of India is actively considering the proposal of a Universal Basic income (UBI).

Notes:
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has become the first construction sector organisation to go fully digital.
NHAI has launched ‘Data Lake and Project Management Software’, a cloud-based and artificial intelligence-powered big data analytics platform. With this launch, the entire project workflow of NHAI has been transformed to that based on online portal. The system will also predict the financial impacts of different alternatives.

Notes:
Veteran Urdu poet Anand Mohan Zutshi Gulzar Dehlvi recently passed away at the age of 93, in New Delhi.
The poet was earlier infected by Coronavirus and was undergoing treatment. Though he returned home after recovering from Covid-19, he has passed away. He was the editor of ‘Science ki Duniya’, the only science magazine published by the government in Urdu from 1975. He also played an instrumental role in opening Urdu schools across India.

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.