Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Leading social-media platform Twitter has recently launched a dedicated search prompt that will direct people looking for domestic violence-related keywords to authentic information from the Ministry of Women and Child Development and National Commission for Women.
The search prompt will be available on iOS, Android and will be in English and Hindi languages. The prompt will also direct them towards sources of help available on Twitter. This initiative is an expansion of #ThereIsHelp prompt, which was launched to provide information on critical issues.

Notes:
Manila-based Asian Development Bank recently announced that the economy of India would contract by 4% in the financial year 2020-21.
In its earlier outlook released in the month of April, it had estimated that India would grow at 4%. But it has been reduced to -4%. It also projected that the GDP of India would grow at 5.0% in the following year, as compared to 6.2% projected in April. A growth of 0.1% is expected for the whole Developing economies of Asian region.

Notes:
Technology major Facebook has recently acquired Swedish mapping technology company Mapillary, as per official sources.
Mapillary crowd-sources the images, collects pictures contributed from smart phones and other types of cameras. It then uses computer vision technology to stack them together into a real-time 3-D map. This technology is expected to support Facebook products under development like augmented reality glasses and virtual reality headsets.

Notes:
The World’s first Quantum communications satellite, Micius was launched by China in the year 2016. It has pioneered in the field of quantum encryption.
The satellite was seen in news recently, as it sends particles of light to Earth to establish the world’s most secure communication link. This is considered to be a milestone in the research, as long-range secure communication can be obtained without the help of traditional communication satellites. Secure long-distance links such will be the foundation of the future global network called the quantum internet.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set up a Project Development Cell (PDC) to attract more investments into the sector.
It is to be headed by the Joint secretary of MNRE, Amitesh Kumar Sinha, and will help meet the country’s 175 GW target for green energy. The PDC aims to create projects that have all prior approvals for investors to adopt them. DPIIT can also nominate some officials to this body.

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:
Union Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh is to attend the Russian Victory Parade on June 24, to be held at Russia’s capital Moscow.
The Victory Parade is organised to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the victory of Russia in the Second World War. Earlier, it was announced that a Tri-Service 75- Member Indian Military Contingent has reached Moscow to participate in the Victory Parade, along with other invited troops.

Notes:
According to the data from the US Treasury Department, India has become the 12th largest holder of US government securities at the end of April.
Japan stood at the first position by holding securities worth 157.4 billion dollars. It is followed by China at 1.1 trillion dollars and the UK at 368.5 billion dollars. At the end of April, India had an exposure of 157.4 billion dollars.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly designated June 21 as the ‘International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice’.
It considered that the celebration of solstice represents the unity of the cultural heritage across the world. Solstice is an event that occurs when the path of the sun stands still at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction. There are two solstices that occur annually namely the Summer Solstice around June 21 and Winter Solstice around December 21.

Notes:
As per the recent data from Vietnam, the 36th ASEAN Summit will be held via video conference on June 26.
Vietnam is the chair of ASEAN in 2020 and its Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will chair the opening session, plenary session and special sessions on woman empowerment in digital era among other meetings. The 36th ASEAN Summit, which had been scheduled to be held in April, has been postponed to June end due to COVID-19.