Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

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:
The Forest Department of Uttar Pradesh has announced that the State has recorded an increase in the population of elephant in its wildlife division.
The elephant census in Uttar Pradesh was conducted in collaboration with the forest officials of Uttarakhand. As per the recent data, the count of elephants reached 352 in the state. The previous operation in the year 2017 recorded only 232 elephants.

Notes:
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a Product Application & Development Centre (PADC) setup by Indian Oil, jointly with the Chief Minister of Odisha at Paradip, Odisha.
The Centre has been set up at Paradip with a capital expenditure of Rs 43 crores. It has been equipped with latest polymer testing and processing equipment. PADC, Paradip is also recognized as a research centre by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology.

Notes:
United States’ Space agency NASA has recently announced that its headquarters located in Washington DC would be renamed after Mary W. Jackson.
She is the agency’s first African American female engineer. As per the website of NASA, Mary W. Jackson (1921-2005) might have been the only black female aeronautical engineer in the agency. She served NASA for more than two decades and authored or co-authored 12 technical papers before she retired in 1985.

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:
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated Battery Swapping Facility Quick Interchange Service (QIS) at Chandigarh.
Indian Oil Corporation has signed an agreement with a mobility firm to set up infrastructure for Electric vehicle through Battery Swapping model across Indian Oil Retail outlets. Using the technology, the charging time would be upgraded, thereby increasing the operational hours.

Notes:
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released its first report on “Money laundering and illegal wildlife trade”.
In the first global report, illegal wildlife trade has been described as a ‘global threat’, which also has links with other organised crimes like slavery, drug trafficking and arms trade. As per the report, the illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to USD 23 billion a year. It also highlighted that legislative changes were necessary to apply the laws to illegal wildlife trade-linked offences.

Notes:
Economist and former Indian Administrative Service officer N K Singh is the Chairperson of the 15th Finance Commission.
Recently, the Finance Commission has decided to form a group to develop a mechanism to incentivise states for carrying out the agricultural reforms, that were announced as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package. The group consists of Finance Commission member Ramesh Chand, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal and Agriculture, Research and Education Secretary T Mahapatra.

Notes:
The electoral commission of the East African country Malawi has declared opposition alliance leader. Lazarus Chakwera, as the winner of the country’s presidential re-election.
The result of the previous May 2019 election has been declared invalid by the constitutional court, over allegations of irregularities. Lazarus Chakwera secured the required majority defeating the incumbent President Peter Mutharika, who has been in power since 2014.

Notes:
The 36-year-old Indian umpire Nitin Menon recently became the youngest member of the International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel of Umpires.
He replaced England’s Nigel Llong for the upcoming 2020-21 season. Nitin Menon has officiated in three Tests, 24 ODIs and 16 T20Is. He is only the third from India to enter the prestigious group after former captain Srinivas Venkatraghavan and Sundaram Ravi. Michael Gough of England (40), had been the youngest in the current panel.