Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
In the month of February, the Cabinet approved to build the Vadhavan port at Palgarh district in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs. 65544 crores.
Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said that ports as an industry are allowed in the ecologically sensitive Dahanu taluka area, which includes the Vadhavan in Palgarh district. The port will be developed on landlord model by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be formed with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner.

Notes:
The fossil of Stegodon, a variety of the elephant, was recently discovered near Saharanpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Stegodon is an extinct type of elephant with unique tusks and molars, that was found at an early age in Asia and Africa. The fossil found is claimed to be five to eight million years old and from the Dhok Pathan formation of Siwalik range. More researches are to be carried out in the vicinity of the place.

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.

Notes:
The PM CARES Fund Trust has allocated Rs 1000 crore for the welfare of migrant labourers, to all states and UTs.
The distribution of the fund is based on the formula of 50% weightage for the population as per 2011 census, 40% weightage for number of positive COVID-19 cases and 10% for equal distribution among all the States/UTs. This fund will be deployed for arranging accommodation, food, medical treatment and transportation of the migrants.

Notes:
The Japanese supercomputer, Fugaku has been recently named the fastest super computer in the Top500 list, which ranks the most powerful benchmarked supercomputers in the world.
It is powered by chipsets from Advanced RISC Machines (ARM). This marks the first time an ARM-based supercomputer to ever top the list. It also marks the first time Japan has taken the top place since 2011. It is followed by IBM’s Summit supercomputer and IBM’s Sierra supercomputer.

Notes:
Information Technology firm Intuit India was placed in the top spot in the list of India’s Best Companies to Work for – 2020.
The list is released by Great Place to Work Institute, a global research, consulting firm that helps organisations identify great workplaces. Intuit India is followed by DHL Express (India) and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. Harrisons Malayalam Ltd SBU-B, the first plantation company and Kerala’s first company to feature in the Top 5 list, bagged 4th place.

Notes:
Monaco-based World Athletics has launched ‘Road to Tokyo’, an online tool to track the qualification process for next year’s Olympic Games.
The Tokyo Olympics were postponed in March and is scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The qualification system is adapted to fit in the new dates of the games. The online tool will provide a real time view of each event during the Tokyo 2020 qualification period which ends on June 29, 2021.

Notes:
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched “Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21)”.
The action plan has been launched for 272 Most Affected Districts, on the occasion of “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking”. The Minister of State of Social Justice also released the Logo and Tagline for National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction and awareness videos for Drug Abuse Prevention.

Notes:
The Union Health Ministry had constituted a committee headed by NITI Aayog member V K Paul. As per the recommendations of the committee, the Delhi health department has prepared a new Covid-19 response plan.
As a part of the plan, a serological survey to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the spread of Covid-19 in Delhi began in some parts of the city. The exercise, that will test 20,000 people to find anti-bodies, will be carried out jointly by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Delhi government.

Notes:
The Union Government has announced the launch of Taxable Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020, that will be available for subscription for retail investors from July 1, 2020.
The bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government, replacing the recently withdrawn 7.75% bonds. The interest rate on these bonds will be reset every six months while the initial rate of interest is fixed at 7.15 per cent. The bonds shall be repayable on the expiration of seven years from the date of issue.