Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
US President Donald Trump signed an act to authorise sanctions against Chinese officials over the mass incarceration of Uighur Muslims and other minorities.
The legislation requires the US administration to determine which Chinese officials are responsible for the arbitrary detention, torture and harassment of the minorities. Then, the U.S would freeze any assets held by the officials in the country and would also ban their entry into the U.S. As per some activists, over one million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims are being homogenised in China.

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 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 manufacturing know-how of a PPE Suit being named ‘NavRakshak’ has been licensed by National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) to 5 five MSMEs.
The manufacturers are expected to mass produce more than 10 million PPEs per year, to meet the demand of quality PPE kits across the country. This know-how has been developed at the Mumbai-based Innovation Cell of the Institute of Naval Medicine. Intellectual property rights are also to be obtained.

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 think tank of the Union Government, NITI Aayog has advised Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), to use an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured (IDDM) solution for its 4G network.
Earlier, the Government also urged that both BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) must not use Chinese equipment for the 4G services. BSNL has floated a 4G tender and if NITI Aayog’s recommendation is accepted, it could have an adverse impact on global telecom gear manufacturers, from both China and Europe.

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:
Jharkhand is set to become the first state to launch an employment guarantee scheme for urban poor on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The scheme named ‘Mukhyamantri Shramik Yojna’ will guarantee 100 days of work in a financial year for urban unskilled labourers. Under the scheme, if the person doesn’t get work within 15 days of request, unemployment allowance would be given. An urban employment guarantee council would be formed, headed by the Chief Minister and Urban development minister as the vice president.

Notes:
Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the online procurement platform for government bodies, has made the sellers mandatory to mention the ‘country of origin’ while registering all new products.
GeM is a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Besides mandating fresh sellers, the GeM also mandates the sellers who had already uploaded their products to update the ‘country of origin’, with a warning that their products shall be removed if they fail to update.