Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2021

Notes:
The state government of Karnataka has introduced a city sewage surveillance system in Bangalore. This is aimed to track coronavirus at an early stage.
This effort of Karnataka is supported by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and COVIDactionCollab (CAC). CAC is supporting the state by providing training to sanitation workers in collecting samples and analysing them in labs.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has announced additional benefits for workers enrolled under ESIC and EPFO schemes, to remove fear and anxiety about the well-being of their family.
As per the new benefit, in case of an employee’s death due to COVID, all dependent family members of the insured person would be entitled to receive the same benefits as in the case of death resulting from employment injury.

Notes:
New Zealand has entered into an agreement for space exploration with NASA.
With this, New Zealand becomes the eleventh country to sign the Artemis Accord, which is an agreement with NASA to be a part of its plans to send humans to the moon by 2024 and further to Mars.

Notes:
Every year, on 1st of June, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations observes World Milk Day.
This day was first established in the year 2001 to recognize the importance of milk as a global food and to cherish the dairy sector. This year, the theme / prime focus would be on Sustainability in the dairy sector.

Notes:
The National Statistical Office (NSO) released the provisional estimates of annual national income and quarterly estimates.
As per the release, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2020-21. Last quarter, there was 0.5 % growth. The GDP contracted to a record low 7.3 per cent, for the full financial year 2020-21. This was a marginal improvement from the earlier estimate of 8 per cent contraction.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet of the Government of India has approved and ratified a MoU between India and Maldives on cooperation in sustainable urban development.
The MoU would strengthen the bilateral ties and generate employment in urban planning, waste management, housing, green mobility, efficient power systems etc. The MoU was signed in the month of Feb 2021, and would be in force for an infinite time period. The Cabinet also approved an MoU with Japan in the same field.

Notes:
Kerala retained the top spot in the Niti Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index released in the year 2021. India’s overall score across SDGs improved by six points, from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2021
The annual index evaluates the progress of states and UTs on social, economic and environmental criteria. Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu grabbed the second and third spots respectively while Bihar is placed at the last place in the index.

Notes:
China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) has set a new record in the latest experiment.
The experiment achieved a plasma temperature of 216 million Fahrenheit for 101 seconds. The scientists working on the “Artificial sun” project also achieved 288 million Fahrenheit for 20 seconds. The Tokamak device has been designed to reproduce the nuclear fusion process, natural to the Sun and stars.

Notes:
A bipartisan legislation was re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to eliminate the per-country cap on employment-based green card.
This new law is called as the EAGLE Act 2021. Currently, there is a 7% per-country limit on Visa issuance by the United States. If this law is cleared by the Senate, this would benefit a lot of Indian professionals and their family members who wish to immigrate to the country.

Notes:
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot virtually launched the SAGE (Senior-care Aging Growth Engine) initiative.
He also launched the SAGE portal, which can be accessed by the elderly persons for elderly care products and services by select start-ups. The start-ups will be selected on the basis of innovative products and services.