Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2021

Notes:
Tiananmen Square is located in central Beijing, China. In May 1989 more than a million young Chinese crowded in the square for a protest in favour of greater democracy.
As a repressive measure, Chinese troops and security police stormed through Tiananmen Square and fired extensively on the protesters. At least 300 were killed and more than a 1000 arrested. This incident is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Recently, Hong Kong organisers lost appeal to hold Tiananmen vigil.

Notes:
Marine mucilage or “sea snot” is reported to have accumulated along the coast of Turkey. The sea snot is a thick jelly-like layer of slime which is formed by the population explosion of microscopic plants called phytoplankton.
Some Researchers believe that the increase in sea surface temperature due to climate change, has led to this effect while few others see over-fishing as the root cause.

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:
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19’ was launched to provide personal accident cover of Rs. 50 lakh to all healthcare providers.
Recently, a new system for approval of claims has been introduced. The District Collector will certify that the claim is in accordance with SoP of the Scheme and on the basis of this certificate, Insurance Company will approve and settle the claims within a period of 48 hours.

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:
India’s Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan completed his tenure as Chairman of WHO Executive Board on June 02.
During the 149th session of the WHO Executive board, Harsh Vardhan announced that Dr Patrick Amoth, Acting Director-General for Health, Ministry of Health of Kenya has been appointed as the Chair of WHO Executive Board.

Notes:
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities including cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar.
According to the recent index, food prices in May were 4.8% higher than April. This is registered as the biggest monthly rise since October 2010. The prices was also 39.7% higher than this time last year, May 2020.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the E-100 pilot project in Pune to mark the World Environment Day.
This project aims to set up a network for production and distribution of ethanol across the country. The Prime Minister released the ‘Report of the Expert Committee on Road Map for ethanol blending in India 2020-2025’. He also said India is resolved to meet target of 20 % ethanol blending by 2025.

Notes:
The State Horticulture Ministry of Himachal Pradesh announced that the Government will test the use of indigenously developed ‘Anti-hail guns, to help horticulturists facing crop damage due to hailstorms.
An anti-hail gun is a machine which generates shock waves to disrupt the growth of hailstones in clouds. The gun is fired by feeding explosive mixture of acetylene gas and air into its lower chamber, which releases a shock wave.

Notes:
Square Inc, which belongs to the Twitter owner Jack Dorsey, has announced that it would invest 5 million to build an open-source, solar-powered bitcoin mining facility.
In this regard, Square Inc has announced a partnership with Blockchain technology company Blockstream Mining and the proposed facility would be constructed at one of Blockstream’s sites in the USA.