Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
Reliance Industries has recently become the first Indian company to be valued at $150 billion. It also became the first company to be valued at over Rs 11 lakh crore, in rupee terms.
Reliance Industries is among the most valued energy companies in the world, at present. In the last two months, the company raised about Rs 1.69 lakh crore from global investors and a rights issue. As per the company’s release, Reliance had a net debt of Rs 1,61,035 crore as on March 31, 2020 and with these investments, RIL has become net debt-free.

Notes:
Veteran economist and retired IAS officer BPR Vithal Baru passed away recently, at the age of 93, due to age-related ailments.
Vithal Baru had served in several important assignments including Secretary Finance and Planning in the state of Andhra Pradesh from 1972 to 1982 and Member of 10th Finance Commission. He had also been the Chairman of Expenditure Commission, Kerala. He also established the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad.

Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, in association with Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and a private firm has developed low-cost diagnostic kits for Covid-19.
The Viral Transport Media (VTM) kits have two transport media for collecting swabs. These unique formulation of the transport medium helps in preserving the viability of viruses for up to 72 hours at refrigerated temperatures. The institution has also developed RT-PCR kits, and RNA isolation kits. Large scale production of these kits has commenced for deploying across the state and the country.

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:
Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani launched a special campaign titled ‘Empowering the Greater 50%’.
This campaign is an initiative of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and its division FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO). It seeks to create an ecosystem to support women entrepreneurship and empower as many as 1 lakh women in India over the next three years.

Notes:
Ministry of Culture is celebrating International Yoga Day 2020 by organising a campaign titled ‘Namaste Yoga’ from 19th to 21st June, 2020.
Union Minister of State for Culture Prahlad Singh Patel urged everyone to join him for a Surya Namaskar. He also asked them to post their Surya Namaskar videos on social media platforms to create health awareness among all citizens.

Notes:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received a patent for its Liquid Cooling and Heating Garment (LCHG).
The special garment is made up of bio-compatible fabrics and a system for circulating temperature controlling fluid into and out of the garments. This would provide a comfortable temperature to the astronauts wearing it in space. The garments can also be used in other military applications, fire-fighting and in extreme environments in industrial areas.

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.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh Government has started using rail coaches as isolation units for COVID-19 suspected patients.
COVID coaches are deployed at Mau junction in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in a first in the country. Indian Railways is ready to offer as many as 5,231 isolation coaches to the states and the respective zonal railways have converted the coaches as quarantine facilities. After Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh have also been using rail coaches.

Notes:
China has successfully launched the last satellite of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), onboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket.
This BDS system is claimed to be a competitor to the popular Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States. The satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Southwest China. It is the 55th in the family of BeiDou, which means “Big Dipper” in Chinese language.