Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Indian Railways has recently created a new benchmark as it has successfully operated first Double Stack Container Train in electric zone.
The train has been run in high rise Over Head Equipment (OHE) electrified sections, as per the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative and will also promote the mission of Green India. This operation has been commenced from Palanpur and Botad stations in Gujarat.

Notes:
As per the recent statement from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Custom (CBIC), Customs duty on bamboo imports by agarbatti manufacturers has been hiked from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.
This is expected to encourage use of domestic bamboo by all industries. Earlier, only the large agarbatti manufacturers were able to import bamboo at lower rate. But due to the reduction in import, farmers as well as MSME agarbatti manufacturers would be benefitted. Moreover, uniform rate will help to prevent misuse and rate related disputes.

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 Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh has launched a mobile based application named ‘Ghar Ghar Nigrani’.
The app aims to undertake house to house surveillance in the state till eliminating the pandemic. This new initiative is to be implemented by the Health Department of the state with the help of ASHA workers/Community Volunteers. It will ensure early detection and testing of the people for Covid-19, thereby preventing community spread.

Notes:
International Albinism Awareness Day is observed every year by the United Nations on June 13, across the world. “Made To Shine” is the theme for this year’s observation, to highlight the achievements of persons with albinism worldwide.
Albinism is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited difference present at birth. Albinism results in a lack of melanin in the hair, skin and eyes, causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light.

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:
As per the official confirmation, the US Open tennis championships will be held as scheduled in the month of August.
The championships will be held without spectators, in Queens, New York from August 31 to September 13. The New York Governor Andrew Cuomo formally gave approval to the event. There was uncertainty around the tournament, as the location is the epicentre of Covid-19 crisis in the US. Safety procedures and sanitation protocols would be followed.

Notes:
US President Donald Trump signed an act to authorise sanctions against Chinese officials over the mass incarceration of Uighur Muslims and other minorities.
The legislation requires the US administration to determine which Chinese officials are responsible for the arbitrary detention, torture and harassment of the minorities. Then, the U.S would freeze any assets held by the officials in the country and would also ban their entry into the U.S. As per some activists, over one million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims are being homogenised in China.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly has recently elected Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir to be its president. He is the first Turkish national to head the General Assembly.
This decision has been taken ahead of the 75th General Assembly in September. Volkan Bozkir is serving as the head of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. He had also served as Turkey’s Minister of European Affairs and Chief Negotiator. He would assume office in September 2020 and hold the post for one year.

Notes:
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has recently launched India’s first mobile lab for COVID-19 testing to promote last mile testing access in rural India.
The Infectious Disease Diagnostic Lab (I-LAB) has been launched with the support of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, under the COVID command strategy. This mobile lab will be deployed in the remote and inaccessible parts of the country. It can perform 25 RT-PCR tests and 300 ELISA tests per day.