Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2020

Notes:
The state government of Tripura is launching an initiative named ‘Ektu Khelo, Ektu Padho’, to promote learning process of school students.
The proposed scheme is to be started from June 25, for students up to class 8. As per the state’s guidelines, assignments will be sent to students on mobile phones every morning, and feedback on their performance is to be collected in the afternoon. In the state, as many as five lakh students study in 4,733 government schools.

Notes:
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of Maharashtra launched ‘Mission Zero’ rapid action plan to combat Covid-19.
Under the action plan, as many as fifty dispensary vans will cover various parts of Mumbai for 2-3 weeks to carry out a preliminary examination of patients. As per the data of the Ministry of Health and Family welfare, Maharashtra stands at the top spot with maximum number of people affected by Covid-19 in the country.

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 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has recently launched an endowment fund.
The ‘IIM Ahmedabad Endowment Fund’ has been launched with an initial commitment of Rs 100 crore from 10 founding alumni. It aims to raise Rs 1,000 crore over a period of five years. The fund, which is to be managed by an independent committee including initial alumni contributors, will help in promoting growth of the institute.

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:
As per the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, India is the first country in the world which is controlling Desert Locust through Drones.
Under Make in India initiative, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW), Agriculture Ministry has indigenously developed a vehicle mounted Ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayer for locust control. After Ministry of Civil Aviation approved conditional exemption for Drone operations for locust control, trials were conducted in Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh).

Notes:
Researchers from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun have traced the paleoclimatic history of the Indus River in Ladakh Himalaya, by using geometric data from overlapping gravels of channel fills.
WIHG is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology. The researchers have studied the discharge when the river experienced an increase in land elevation, due to the deposition of sediment and incision. Their study has been published in the journal titled Geomorphology.

Notes:
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has launched a first of its kind initiative to explore sandalwood and bamboo tree plantation.
The statutory body that functions under the MSME Ministry has begun a drive with plantation of 500 saplings each of sandalwood and bamboo at its Nashik training centre. The plantation process aims at monetization of the property. KVIC has procured sandalwood saplings from Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), Uttar Pradesh and Bamboo saplings from Assam.

Notes:
As per the recent announcement from the Home Ministry, serological survey will be carried out in Delhi.
The national capital has seen a huge spike in the number of Covid-19 positive cases. The serological survey will be carried out jointly by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Delhi Government. Training on using Aarogya Setu & Itihaas apps will be given by NCDC trainers to the district teams.

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.