Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
As per the official confirmation, the US Open tennis championships will be held as scheduled in the month of August.
The championships will be held without spectators, in Queens, New York from August 31 to September 13. The New York Governor Andrew Cuomo formally gave approval to the event. There was uncertainty around the tournament, as the location is the epicentre of Covid-19 crisis in the US. Safety procedures and sanitation protocols would be followed.

Notes:
Indian software major, Infosys signed on to ‘The Climate Pledge’, an initiative by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Global Optimism founder and former United Nations climate chief Christian Figueres.
The initiative seeks to fast-track the transition to a low carbon economy. Infosys also announced that it will make its business net zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the deadline set out by the Paris Agreement. US-based Verizon and British firm Reckitt Benckiser also signed on the climate pledge.

Notes:
The National Centre of Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) has found that the Arctic Ocean has seen the largest decline in the last 41 years due to global warming.
This has led to localised increase in evaporation, air humidity, cloud cover and rainfall. NCPOR noted that this decline in Arctic Sea ice was -13 per cent in July 2019 while it was -4.7 per cent per decade in the last 40 years. The study also noted that if this trend continues, there would be no ice left in the Arctic sea by 2050.

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:
Indian Grandmaster P. Harikrishna is the first Indian to participate in the in the million-dollar Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour that continues with the $150,000 Chessable Masters.
The Chessable Masters is a 12-player tournament which is to be played by the top six players of the world, on the classical ranking list, including Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, China’s Ling Diren and USA’s Fabiano Caruana. The field has been divided into two groups of six players each.

Notes:
The ‘Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020’ was launched by the World Health Organisation, the UNICEF, the UNESCO, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children and End Violence Partnership.
As per the report, half of the world’s children, about a billion are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries and death. Though nearly 88% of the countries have laws to protect minors, only 47% of them strongly enforce the laws.

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:
Every year, on June 19, the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict’ is observed by the United Nations.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 19 June of each year as this special day in the year 2015, in order to raise awareness to prevent conflict-related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence. The day also pays tribute to people who have fought against this crime and laid down their lives. On the same day in 2008, the Security Council resolution condemning sexual violence as a tactic of war, was adopted.

Notes:
World Refugee Day is observed annually on June 20, to create awareness of the situation of refugees across the world.
The theme of this year’s observance is “Every Action Counts”. On December 4, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided that June 20 would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol protect the refugees, who are present throughout the world.

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.