Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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:
The Chief of World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has recently addressed a virtual press conference.
During the conference, he said that the world is in a new and dangerous phase, as the virus outbreak is accelerating around the world with 1.5 lakh cases a day. The WHO chief also urged all countries to remain extremely vigilant, till the outbreak is contained.

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:
Veteran Social worker Vidyaben Shah passed away recently at the age of 98, at her residence in Delhi.
She was regarded as the pioneer in the field of child welfare, as she established the first Bal Bhavan in Rajkot during 1940s. She also served as the president of the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW). She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992 and received the National Award for outstanding services in the field of child welfare in 1986.

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.

Notes:
China recently announced that it will join the United Nations (UN) Arms Trade Treaty. China’s top legislative body voted to adopt a decision on joining the treaty.
Under the treaty, the member countries ought to keep records of international transfers of weapons. The members should also prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations. Earlier, the United States had rejected to join in the treaty, which has been designed to control the flow of weapons into conflict zones.

Notes:
The state government of Rajasthan has signed a tripartite agreement with the Power Grid Corporation of India and the Educational Consultants India for establishing of smart classrooms.
The initiative has been taken to promote online education during the COVID-19 lockdown. As many as 100 schools are selected for setting up smart class rooms. The schools situated in remote areas and the recently selected government schools to be converted into English medium schools will be given top priority.

Notes:
Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has been named the nodal agency of the new 10000-bed Covid Care Centre at Chattarpur, New Delhi.
The Home Ministry had nominated ITBP as nodal agency to provide a team of doctors and other medical professionals to this centre. 2000 bed facility is to be made operationalised this week. It will be further expanded to over 10000 beds. This would be the largest single Covid Care Centre in the country.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved an ordinance to bring Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and multi-state cooperative banks (MSCBs) under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India.
As on date, there are nearly 1,540 UCBs and MSCBs in India with deposits of nearly ₹5 lakh-crore. In February, the Cabinet had approved an amendment to the Banking Regulation Act to strengthen cooperative banks, after the PMC Bank crisis. This step is expected to protect the depositors of the cooperative banks.

Notes:
The world’s first yoga university outside India has been launched in Los Angeles, United States. It has been named ‘The Vivekananda Yoga University (VaYU)’.
The University has been jointly launched during a virtual event held at the Consulate General of India in New York, as part of the 6th International Yoga Day celebrations. The first Chairman of the University is Indian yoga guru Dr. H R Nagendra. It would offer programmes that combine scientific and research approaches to the Indian practice of yoga.