Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The World Bank has provided Rs. 1,950 crore loans to the state of West Bengal for tackling COVID crisis and developmental work in the state.
Announcing the news about the loan, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that out of the total loan, Rs. 1,100 crore will be spent for creating Industrial infrastructures and remaining Rs. 850 crore has been allocated for social-Welfare schemes.

Notes:
India’s leading digital payments platform PhonePe has partnered with ICICI Lombard to launch the first-of-its kind domestic multi-trip insurance cover.
This comprehensive insurance cover has been exclusively made available for the users of PhonePe. It provides affordable annual insurance cover for unlimited trips. Under this feature, there is no need to insure every trip separately unlike traditional insurance products.

Notes:
The QS World University Rankings has been released by global higher education consultancy QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University and Harvard University all being American. Only three Indian institutions namely IIT-Bombay (172nd), IISc Bangalore (185th) and IIT Delhi (193rd) feature among the top 200 in the list, with none in the top-100.

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:
World Day Against Child Labour is celebrated on 12 June, every year. This year, the theme of the World Day against Child Labour 2020 is ‘COVID-19: Protect children from child labour, now more than ever’.
The event focusses on the impact of child labour crisis. Due to the prevalent Covid-19 pandemic, this is conducted as a virtual campaign. It is being organized jointly with the Global March Against Child Labour and the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture (IPCCLA).

Notes:
The International Football Federation FIFA has released its global FIFA ranks recently. Belgium retained its top spot in the list.
Belgium is followed by France and Brazil. The fourth and fifth positions are occupied by England and Uruguay respectively. Indian football team has retained the 108th spot in the ranking. The Covid-19 pandemic has remained an obstacle to the staging of international matches and the ranking remains unchanged.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik had earlier announced that the state would provide an incentive of Rs 2000 per migrant after successful completion of quarantine period.
Recently, the proposed incentives have been paid to 1,10,080 people, as per the Health and Family Welfare Department of the state. For this incentive disbursal, ₹19.03 crore have been spent from the Chief Minister Relief Fund.

Notes:
The Chief Minister of Gujarat has recently announced that the Phase-2 of the Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana will be completed before 15th of August.
The scheme was launched with an aim of providing adequate drinking water to the state and meet the drinking water and irrigation requirements of Saurashtra and Kutch regions from Narmada river. It is also expected to fill 115 water reservoirs of arid Saurashtra and Kutch region. The first phase of SAUNI Yojana was launched in the year 2016.

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:
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.