Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Global ratings agency Fitch Ratings has estimated that India’s economy would bounce back with a steep growth rate of 9.5 per cent in the next fiscal year.
Earlier, Fitch ratings had forecasted that the GDP growth of India would contract at 5 percent in the ongoing fiscal year starting April 2020. It has also highlighted that 9.5 % growth is possible only if the country avoids further deterioration in financial sector health.

Notes:
Spain has recently granted professional status to women’s football. As per the Spanish federation, the top two women’s football divisions in Spain have gained professional status.
This decision is expected to promote the development of these competitions which were considered amateur football, until now. The sports council of the country also accepted the change in status for the competitions and it will also be valid for men’s and women’s futsal competitions of the country.

Notes:
The Union Government has recently constituted an Empowered Group of Secretaries to facilitate investment in the country.
The committee, which is to be headed by the Cabinet Secretary, will identify potential investors and help in accelerating investment in key sectors of the economy. The committee will also recommend specific incentive packages for both domestic and foreign investors. The 7-member empowered group has CEO of NITI Aayog along with secretaries of DPIIT, Commerce, Revenue and Economic Affairs as its members.

Notes:
India’s foreign exchange reserves crossed the half-a-trillion mark for the first time in the week ended June 5.
As per the recent data from the Reserve Bank of India, the forex reserves increased by $8.22 billion the week, which made the overall reserves cross the USD 500 billion mark to reach USD 501.70 billion. A huge rise in the Foreign Current Assets (FCA) is the main reason for the rise in reserves. The reserves stood at USD 493.48 billion in the previous week.

Notes:
The World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14, every year across the world. The day is celebrated to raise awareness about the need for safe blood and blood products.
On this day, general public and other institutions thank blood donors. The theme of ‘World Blood Donor day 2020’ is – Safe blood saves lives. In the year 2005, the World Health Assembly designated this date to thank blood donors and encourage more people to donate blood. It also calls governments to provide resources for blood collection.

Notes:
The insolvency regulator IBBI has reconstituted the Advisory Committee on Corporate Insolvency Resolution and Liquidation process.
This panel would be chaired by Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak. The panel comprising of 13 other members will provide professional support on matters relating to the Corporate Insolvency resolution and liquidation handled by the Board under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.

Notes:
India has recently launched its first nationwide gas trading platform called Indian Gas Exchange (IGX).
The first online delivery-based exchange has been launched by the Indian Energy Exchange, a power trading exchange regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. IGX will be incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Energy Exchange. The platform is powered by technology from global exchange GMEX.

Notes:
“World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought” is celebrated on June 17, every year across the world.
UN General Assembly declared June 17 as the specified World Day, to promote public awareness of the issues of Desertification and Drought. This year, the theme is “Food.Feed.Fibre: Sustainable production and consumption.” The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification leads the observance.

Notes:
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Embassy, Nepal’s Ministry of Federal Affairs & General Administration and Kathmandu Metropolitan City for the construction of the sanitation facility at the Pashupatinath Temple of Nepal.
The famous temple is also listed under the UNESCO World Heritage site. India has pledged to construct a Rs 2.33 crore sanitation facility at the Temple complex to improve the infrastructure for the pilgrims.

Notes:
India is ranked 43rd on the annual World Competitiveness Index compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD).
It has retained the same 43rd rank obtained in the previous edition. In the 2020 list that ranks 63 nations, Singapore has retained its top spot. It is followed by Denmark and Switzerland. However, the United States moved down from 3rd place to 10th place. While India improved in high-tech exports, foreign currency reserves etc, it degraded in areas like exchange rate stability, real GDP growth.