Test: June 2020 Weekly Current Affair - 3 - UPSC MCQ

India with 12 other countries lead the “Verified” initiative launched by the United Nations on 21st May 2020, to fight the spreading of misinformation about COVID-19 with fact-based accurate information. The initiative is led by the United Nations Department of Global Communication (DGC) with an aim to provide facts about COVID-19 in the digital space. This will provide information on three theme: Science, Solidarity, Solution – to advocate for support to impacted population.

In pursuance of regulation 3 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) advisory committee regulation 2017, the IBBI board has restructured an advisory committee on Corporate Insolvency Resolution and Liquidation process by including four new members. The new 14-member committee, formed in August 2017, will be chaired by Uday Kotak, the Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The Railway Protection Force of Central Railway (CR), Pune division, Maharashtra launched a Robotic ‘Captain Arjun’ (Always be Responsible and Just Use to be Nice) to intensify the screening and surveillance of passengers. It was launched online by Arun Kumar, Director General (RPF), Railway Board in the presence of Sanjeev Mittal, General Manager, Central Railway, among others The BrainChild behind this innovation is Alok Bohra DIG/RPF, Central Railway.

Sushant Singh Rajput, 34-year-old actor committed suicide & found dead at his home in Bandra, Mumbai. He was born on 16th January 1986 in Patna, Bihar. He promoted the Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog which was launched on 8th March 2018. He acted as M.S Dhoni in “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story” in 2016.

India’s first nationwide online delivery-based natural gas trading platform, “Indian Gas Exchange (IGX)” has been launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during an e-ceremony (virtual). It has been launched on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to provide clean, affordable, sustainable and equitable supply of energy to every citizen. Notably, IGX will work as a wholly owned subsidiary of the India Energy Exchange (IEX), which is India’s energy market platform. Headquarters of IGX located in New Delhi.

The Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) of the Government of Uttar Pradesh decided to adopt the scheme of Flatted Factory Model, to ensure the availability of industrial land which means that non-polluting industries can operate in Multistoried buildings.

Airtel Payments Bank launched ‘Suraksha Salary Account’ for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The account will enable the MSMEs & other organisations to make cashless payments & provide financial security to their employees.

In accordance with the weekly statistical data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s foreign reserves crossed the $500 billion mark as the nation had forex reserves of $501.7 billion as of June 5, 2020 a rise of $8.22 billion in a week. India’s forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Deccan Development Society (DDS), Hyderabad Based non-governmental organisation won the Biodiversity award 2020 and a grant of 40000 Euros (approx. Rs. 35 Lakhs) of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for the contribution of DDS women in rehabilitation of degraded lands and to promote biodiversity.

In accordance with the “SIPRI Yearbook 2020-Armaments, Disarmament and International Security” of Swedish think tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), from 2019 there is an increase in the nuclear weapons stockpile of India and China. The number of nuclear warheads in the Indian arsenal pegged at 150 in comparison to the 2019 report (on the basis of 2018) when India had 130-140. Importantly, in April 2020, SIPRI had identified India as the 3rd largest military spender in the world, behind the United States (US) and China.
Following table shows the number of warheads of top rankers (as of January 2020):

India has extended its financial aid by NR (Nepalese rupee) 37.23 million for the construction of the sanitation facility for the pilgrims at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. With this the total outlay of the project reaches Rs 2.33 crore which will be constructed under the Nepal-Bharat Maitri: Development Partnership as a high impact community development scheme by India.

The Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII), leading manufacturer of immunobiological drugs and vaccines signs a new supply agreement with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Vaccine alliance Gavi’s procurement partner to supply Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) to low income countries all over the world.

India has joined the first-of-its-type initiative namely Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) as a founding member to support responsible and human-centric development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this, India became the 15th founding member of GPAI which also include the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU), Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, and Singapore for launch of GPAI. GPAI will be supported by a Secretariat, to be hosted by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France as well as by two Centers of Expertise- one each in Montreal, Canada and Paris.

Almost 45 million people were pushed into acute food insecurity since February 2020 because of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)..

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved a 2nd loan of USD 750 million to India under the bank’s USD 10 billion COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF); this loan is co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to assist India to fight against COVID-19 & its impact on poor. The loan aims to strengthen India’s economic aid for businesses, expand social safety nets for the needy & the health care systems.

In order to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBIs) enforcement mechanism and also to improve its system of recovery of siphoned off money, the SEBI committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Anil Dave has proposed a method of quantification of profit made by the defaulter and loss caused to investors in a 424-page exhaustive report.

Two Indian startups Stellapps and Zestmoney were featured in the List of Technology Pioneers of 2020, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) which consist of pioneers addressing the global issues with advanced technologies.

In accordance with the “World Investment Report 2020” by United Nation’s (UN) trade body, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India has become the 9th largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2019 after receiving $51 billion last year.

According to the 32nd edition of edition of World Competitiveness Index 2020, which ranked performance of 63 economies across the globe, prepared by Switzerland-based International Institute for Management and Development (IMD)’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC), the Indian economy remained at 43rd position this year.

Nobel Prize winner (2017) Kazuo Ishiguro (Japan born british author) will release his new novel ‘Klara and the Sun’ & will be published by Faber & Faber in the United Kingdom, Alfred A. Knopf in the United States and Knopf in Canada on March 2, 2021. This is the first novel by him since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

According to the payroll data of EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organization), an organization tasked to assist the Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund, the formal employment in India saw a 28.6 % increase at 78.58 lakh in 2019-20 as compared to only 61.12 lakh added in 2018-19.

BS Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka announced that Karnataka will observe 18th June 2020, as “Mask Day” to create awareness to the general public on the importance of wearing a mask, using sanitizers, washing hands and maintaining social distancing against COVID-19.

India was elected unopposed for an 8th term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for two years (2021-22) starting January 2021 by gaining 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. Along with India, Mexico, Ireland and Norway were also elected. India was the only candidate for the lone seat from the Asia-Pacific category. India’s overall objective during this tenure in the UN Security Council will be the achievement of N.O.R.M.S: New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System.

In another proposal, housing loans must account for at least 50% of HFCs’ assets of which at least 75% should be towards individual housing loans. HFCs which do not fulfil this criterion will be treated as NBFC – Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICCs) and will be required to approach the RBI for conversion of their Certificate of Registration from HFC to NBFC-ICC. In order to remain working as HFC, they would have to follow a roadmap to make 75% of their assets individual housing loans. The target has been set at 60% by March 31, 2022, 70% by March 31, 2023, and 75% by March 31, 2024.

Volkan Bozkir (69) from Turkey was elected as the president of the 75th United Nations(UN) General Assembly. He is the 1st turkish to hold this post. He will hold the post for 1 year. Volkan Bozkir will succeed Tijjani Muhammad-Bande when the annual session opens on September 15, 2020.