Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has recently released a report titled ‘Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region’.
As per the first edition of the report released this year, the average surface air temperatures over India could rise by up to 4.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, in a worst-case scenario. This estimate is provided as compared to the period between 1976 and 2005. The report also revealed that under an intermediate scenario, the country’s average temperature could rise by up to 2.4°C.

Notes:
Russia is to conduct a military parade in Moscow on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of their victory in the Second World War.
The Defence Minister of Russia has invited an Indian contingent to take part in the Victory Day Parade scheduled to be held on June 24, 2020 in Moscow. It was originally scheduled on the occasion of the Victory Day – May 9, but later postponed due to Covid-19. India is sending a 75-member Tri-Service contingent to participate in the parade.

Notes:
The Union Sports Ministry is set to establish Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCE) under the flagship Khelo India Scheme.
One KISCE will be identified in each state and union territory, to create a strong sporting ecosystem in the country. In the first phase, the Ministry has identified the sports facilities in eight states out of the 15 proposals, to be converted to KISCEs. The eight centres will be given a grant and the government will extend a Viability Gap Funding, for upgradation.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took over the powers to regulate HFCs from the National Housing Bank (NHB) in August 2019.
Recently, RBI proposed to modify the rules of housing finance firms, which includes the formal definition of housing finance as “financing, for purchase/ construction/ reconstruction/ renovation/ repairs of residential dwelling unit”. RBI also proposed to classify HFCs as systemically important HFCs and non-systemically important HFCs.

Notes:
According to the BP Statistical Review released recently, India’s energy consumption in 2019 was third largest behind China (141.70 EJ) and US (94.65 EJ).
While World primary energy consumption rose to 583.90 Exajoules (EJ), India’s consumption increased 2.3 per cent to 34.06 EJ. The growth was lower than 5.2 per cent in 2018. It also said that India was second biggest growth driver of primary energy consumption in the world, behind China, in 2019.

Notes:
India, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council recently, will serve as its president for the month of August, 2021.
India, Norway, Ireland, Mexico and Kenya were elected as the non-permanent members of the 15-nation-UNSC for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021. Tunisia will begin 2021 as the President of the Council in January. It will be followed by each of the members in turn for one month, as per the English alphabetical order of the name of member states.

Notes:
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs signed a MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), to engage SIDBI as the Implementation Agency for PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi).
The scheme aims to provide a working capital loan up to Rs 10000 to street vendors, who have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. The loan is repayable in monthly instalments in 1-year tenue. On prompt payment, a subsidy of 7% per annum is also provided.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs along with FICCI and two private healthcare institutes organised a webinar titled ‘National Sickle Cell Conclave’, to mark World Sickle Cell Day.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda addressed the webinar and announced that the government has launched a new portal with registration facility, information about the disease and various government initiatives undertaken. The Ministry has initiated ‘Action Research’ project for helping SCD patients. A report titled ‘Stepping out of the shadows – Combating Sickle Cell Disease in India’ was released.

Notes:
BMW India, the Indian arm of the Luxury car maker BMW Group has recently named Vikram Pawah as its President.
He is to continue to serve in his present role as Chief Executive Officer of BMW Group Australia and New Zealand. The previous President and Chief Executive Officer Rudratej Singh suddenly passed away in the month of April. Pawah has been engaged with the BMW Group from the year 2017.

Notes:
A bailey bridge located nearly 50 kilo meters from the Sino-India border has recently collapsed, when a truck carrying a JCB machine was crossing.
The bridge is located in the state of Uttarakhand, which collapsed on increasing the weight over its capacity. The 40-feet-long bridge was built in the year 2009. As the bridge collapsed, about 15 border villages of Johar Valley have been cut off. It is estimated to take 15 days to construct a new bridge.