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:
Tasneem Aslam, an Indian student belonging to Kerala has received United Arab Emirates (UAE) 10-year Golden Visa under the exceptional student category.
The student is permitted to stay in the UAE till the year 2031. This visa is one of the most coveted documents, which is given to prominent global personalities for merit and academic credentials.

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:
Leading rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has pegged India’s GDP growth at 9.3% for the financial year 2021-22. It has further estimated India’s GDP growth at 7.9% for FY23.
The agency has stated that India’s economic activity would be affected by reimposition of lockdown measures along with investment behavioural changes, but the same would not have deep impact on the economy as that during the first wave.

Notes:
Oil sector PSUs in India namely Indian Oil, HPCL, BPCL, GAIL and IGL have come together into a Cooperation Agreement for promotion and development of SATAT Scheme.
SATAT stands for Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation, which was launched on 01.10.2018 to set up Compressed Biogas production plants and make CBG available in the market.

Notes:
The computer networks of world’s largest meat supplier JBS have been hacked and the firm has fallen trap to ransomware attacks. This has forced the company to shut its operations in Australia, Canada and the US.
A ransomware attack involves hacking of computer networks and threatening to cause disruption or delete files unless a ransom is paid.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister has approved the Model Tenancy Act, whose draft was first released in the year 2019. The Union Government has requested all states to enact this law by fresh / amendment legislations.
The model act proposed for a rent authority to regulate renting of premises. This aims to protect the interest of landlords and the tenants.

Notes:
The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the Seed Minikit Programme by distributing kits of higher yielding varieties of seeds to farmers.
It aims to introduce new varieties of seeds to the farmers and helps in increasing the seed replacement rate. The mini kits are being provided by the National Seeds Corporation (NCS), NAFED and Gujarat State Seeds Corporation and wholly funded by the Union through the National Food Security Mission.

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:
David Diop has become the first French writer to win the International Booker Prize, as he was selected for the prestigious award in 2021.
His second novel, At Night All Blood is Black, was translated by the US author and poet Anna Moschovakis. The book was inspired by his Senegalese great-grandfather’s silence about his experiences in First World War.