Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Former Indian footballer from the state of Kerala, Hamza Koya recently passed away after contracting Covid-19.
The veteran sportsperson had represented Maharashtra at the Santhosh Trophy. He was also a member of the national team in Nehru trophy. Though he was given plasma therapy treatment, he passed away at the age of 61.

Notes:
World Oceans Day is celebrated across the world on June 8, every year. The day is observed to encourage people to celebrate oceans and take steps to protect ocean health.
The theme of World Oceans Day 2020 is “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”. Canada proposed the concept for World Oceans Day in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In December 2008, the United Nations designated June 8 as World Oceans Day for the oceans.

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:
Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has bagged one of world’s largest solar contract from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
Under the contract, AGEL is to develop 8 GW of solar projects. It has also committed to establish 2 GW of additional solar cell and module manufacturing capacity at a cost of USD 6 billion (₹45,000 crore). With this contract, AGEL will have 15 GW capacity under operation, construction or under contract.

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 IT subsidiary of the Mahindra Group Tech Mahindra has signed a joint declaration with UN Global Compact urging governments to align their COVID-19 recovery efforts with the latest climate science.
The IT firm and business services provider has also reaffirmed its commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and target to increase the renewable source of energy to 50% by 2025. It has adopted a low emission technology path to increase the use of renewable energy from 1.7% in 2016 to 18% in 2020.

Notes:
Social media giant Twitter has recently launched a new test feature named ‘Fleets’ in India, which allows users post messages that would disappear after 24 hours.
This feature is similar to the ‘stories’ feature introduced on Instagram or Facebook. However, Fleets do not have features such as likes, retweets, or public replies. Twitter has introduced the fleets in India after Brazil and Italy. This will be available on the latest version of the Twitter application.

Notes:
A Central Public Sector Enterprise Under Department of Fertilizers, National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has tied up with Industrial Training Institutes located near to its plants to train youth in several trades.
The partnership is expected to upskill the youth and to enhance their employability in heavy industries. NFL becomes first CPSE to start this initiative in Punjab, by signing an MoU with ITI, Nangal. The students will be trained under Dual System of Training Scheme where they will learn both theoretical skills and on-the-job training in Nangal plant.

Notes:
Indian-American soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal has won the prestigious World Food Prize. The award is considered to be equivalent to a Nobel Prize in agriculture.
Dr Rattan Lal has been awarded for his contribution in assisting small farmers to improve their soil’s health. This has let the global food supply to increase considerably. He has promoted soil-saving techniques which has benefitted the livelihoods of more than 500 million small farmers.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the GST Council recently. As per the announcement, for all those with no tax liabilities, there is no late fee for failing to file returns between July 2017-Jan 2020.
For persons with tax liability, the maximum late fee for non-filing of GSTR-3B returns for the same period is Rs 500. This includes all returns submitted during July 1- September 30, 2020. For tax payers with turnover up to Rs 5 crore, the rate of interest for late furnishing of GST returns for February to April beyond July 6, is reduced from 18% to 9% per annum, till this September end.