Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Achyut Kashinath Sinai Usgaonkar, former Goa Minister passed away recently, at the age of 92, due to age-related ailments.
Achyut Usgaonkar was a leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the oldest regional party in Goa. He served as a cabinet Minister from 1977 to 1979. Before that, he also served as the deputy speaker of Goa during the government of Dayanand Bandodkar, the first chief minister of Goa.

Notes:
Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro announced that his book titled ‘Klara and the Sun’ will be released in March 2021. He is a British novelist born in Japan.
The theme of the book is ‘what does it mean to love’. This is the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. His previous literary works have earned several prestigious awards including the Booker Prize. He has also won the highest honorary awards from France and Japan.

Notes:
The Government of India has proposed to appoint two transaction advisors for assisting the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in preparing the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India.
In the Union Budget 2020, Finance Minister proposed that the government will sell a part of its holding in LIC through an initial public offering. This IPO is expected to be the largest ever in the country and the advisors are asked to submit their bids till July 13.

Notes:
India’s first listed stock exchange Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has featured among the world’s 10 largest exchanges in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all companies listed on its platform.
As per the latest data from the World Federation of Exchanges, BSE stands at the tenth place in the list, with a market capitalisation of USD 1.7 trillion. The list is topped by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with a valuation of USD 19.3 trillion. It is followed by Nasdaq with a market capitalisation of USD 13.8 trillion.

Notes:
Plantation of Kharif, or summer-sown crops has raised 40% year-on-year, supported by the strong start of the monsoon season.
The increase in planting has been led by oilseeds particularly groundnut, which has been sown in a large area of Gujarat. Total oilseeds area is about eight times more than that of last year. Total area under cultivation has also increased to 13.13 million hectares, from 9.42 million hectares a year ago.

Notes:
The United Nations designated June 21 as International Day of Yoga by passing a resolution on December 11, 2014, during the 69th session of the General Assembly.
The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated in the year 2015, across the world. This year, the celebration marks the 6th International Yoga Day. The United Nations theme for this year is ‘Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home’.

Notes:
The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) is a regional body comprising nine countries. It is an associate member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The members of EAG include Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. Recently, Indian officials attended the virtual 32nd special EAG plenary meeting through video-conferencing, under the aegis of the Financial Action Task Force.

Notes:
The Department of Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry has recently announced that there is no objection to the proposal of contributions from individuals or institutions towards the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The proposal has been accepted based on the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The NDRF was constituted under the same act and it supplements SDRF of a state, when adequate funds are not available in SDRF in case of a severe disaster. The central government may constitute a fund to be called the NDRF for meeting any severe disaster.

Notes:
World Olympic Day or the International Olympic Day is celebrated across the world on June 23. It was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894.
The objective of celebrating the Olympic Day was to promote participation in sports and games across the globe, regardless of age, gender, or other abilities. This year, the world’s largest 24 hour digital-first Olympic workout is organised, to celebrate the day virtually. The campaign is named ‘Stay Healthy, Stay Strong, Stay Active with the #Olympicday Workout On 23 June’.

Notes:
According to the new study published in the Astronomical Journal, the researchers have detected the exoplanet HIP 67522 b.
The exoplanet appears to be the youngest hot Jupiter ever found. It also orbits around a well-studied star that is about 17 million years old. This means that the hot Jupiter is only a few million years younger probably. As most known hot Jupiters are more than a billion years old, this is likely the youngest hot Jupiter.