Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
World Sickle Cell Day is observed globally on 19 June every year. This year is the 40th year of observance of the day by the Sickle Cell Society.
The UN General Assembly recognised sickle cell disease as a public health problem and one of the world’s foremost genetic diseases. If someone has the Sickle Cell disease, the red blood cells become hard and look like a sickle. It restricts the movement of oxygen carried by the red blood cells.

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:
The Finance ministry has recently proposed restrictions on pension fund investments from any of India’s bordering countries, including China.
Foreign Direct investment (FDI) in pension funds, that are regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is fixed at 49 per cent under the automatic route. Till now, government permission is mandatory only for investments coming from Bangladesh and Pakistan. The draft guidelines make government permission mandatory for all bordering countries.

Notes:
Indian Government’s think tank NITI Aayog in collaboration with International Transport Forum (ITF) will launch the “Decarbonising Transport in India” project on 24 June.
The project seeks to promote low-carbon transport system for India. Since 2008, India has been a member of ITF, which is an intergovernmental organisation for transport policy. The project is part of the “Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies” (DTEE) family of projects. India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco are the present participants of DTEE.

Notes:
According to the latest report by the economic wing of State Bank of India (SBI), India’s per capita income (PCI) is to decrease by 5.4 per cent in 2020-21.
The main reason for this dip is due to the effect of Covid-19 pandemic. The report also revealed that this decline in PCI is higher than the nominal GDP decline of 3.8 per cent. The states that would witness the maximum hit in PCI would be Delhi, Chandigarh, and Gujarat with 15.4 per cent, 13.9 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively.

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.

Notes:
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology has started working on queries on privacy of the Aarogya Setu application.
The Chairperson of the Parliamentary committee on IT is Shashi Tharoor. He said that despite challenges in organising meeting, the committee has started functioning. Data security of the application and the imposition on using the app would be focussed in the meeting.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has recently approved a six-month extension to the commission appointed to examine sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes.
The Commission is headed by retired Delhi High Court Chief Justice G. Rohini. As per the extension, the commission will submit its report by January 31, 2021. The commission had been formed initially in October 2017. It was looking into the issues of communities that were not getting the benefits of reservation.

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.