Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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 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:
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:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, a Rs 50,000 crore dedicated programme to create job opportunities for millions of migrant workers who returned home during the lockdown imposed due to Covid-19.
It was launched from Telihar village of Bihar’s Khagaria district. The scheme is expected to run in mission mode for 125 days across 116 districts in six states namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha. Twelve different ministries or departments will be engaged in implementing the programme.

Notes:
The United States Senate has named that veteran Indian-American scientist Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan as the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
NSF is a top American body, that promotes fundamental research in non-medical fields of science and engineering. The 58-year old Scientist is the Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Arizona State University, at present. He is to replace France Cordova as the 15th Director of the NSF. He is also the second Indian-American ever to be nominated for the position.

Notes:
The Rajya Sabha consists of not more 238 members representing the States and Union Territories, and 12 members nominated by the President. Each member is elected for a term of six years.
In the recent elections to 19 seats in 10 states, BJP won eight and Congress won four seats. The current strength of Rajya Sabha goes up to 244, of which BJP has 86 members and the National Democratic Alliance NDA’s tally is expected to cross 100. The Congress has 41 members while others have 27.

Notes:
The Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani is the world’s ninth richest billionaire on the Forbes Real-time Billionaires List.
With a net worth of $64.6 billion, he is ahead of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The market capitalisation of Reliance Industries (RIL) crossed the Rs 11-trillion mark recently. The company also announced itself net debt free while it had net debt of Rs 1.61 trillion in March 2020. In the same month, Ambani was ranked 21st on Forbes’ annual billionaire list.

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 annual Ambubachi Mela at the Kamakhya temple in the state of Assam has begun, but without devotees.
The traditional rituals would only be performed in the Kamakhya temple, located atop of Nilachal Hills and is regarded as one of 51 Shakti Peeths. This is the most awaited festival among the devotees usually attracts more than 25 lakh visitors has been cancelled this year. The temple was shut for visitors since March 20, due to the Covid-19 induced restriction.

Notes:
A Japanese broadcaster had reported that the Ishigaki City assembly in Okinawa, in Japan, had passed a bill to change the name of the administrative area covering the islands to Tonoshiro Senkaku from Tonoshiro.
China has recently said that it reserved the right to respond to the city’s decision to rename the area that includes remote islands claimed by both China and Japan. The disputed islands are known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. It also warned that Japan should not interfere in Beijing’s internal affairs.