Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2021

Notes:
As a measure to mitigate the distress caused due to COVID 19 pandemic, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in India have announced to provide financial assistance to individuals in the form of unsecured loans up to a limit of Rs 5 lakh.
This is a part of the three new loan products introduced by the PSBs to provide financial support to vaccine manufacturers, hospitals/dispensaries, pathology labs etc.

Notes:
Tianzhou-2, or “Heavenly Vessel” is China’s cargo spacecraft which carried supplies, equipment and propellant to the space station which is being developed by China. It has successfully docked itself to the module Tianhe, which is a part of a space station.
The spacecraft was launched from earth using the Long March-7 Y3 rocket.

Notes:
The combined net profit of all the listed companies in India has moved up by 57.6% in FY 21 to Rs.5.31 trillion.
The Corporate Profit to GDP ratio in India stood at 2.63% in FY 21 which is an all-time high in the last 10 years. Although the sales and revenue of many firms were low due to nationwide lockdown, higher profitability was achieved mainly due to decline in raw material prices and input cost.

Notes:
Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT Ropar) has developed India’s first IoT-based temperature logger named AmbiTag. It records real-time ambient temperature during the transportation of perishable products, vaccines as well as body organs and blood.
The device is shaped as USB device and it continuously records the temperature of its immediate surroundings from -40 to +80 degrees in any time zone. Presently available devices record data only for 30-60 days while this device can record for 90 days in a single charge.

Notes:
China has reported the first human infection of a rare strain of bird flu known as H10N3. The case has been confirmed in a 41-year-old man, by China’s National Health Commission.
This bird flu variant is supposed to be low pathogenic, which means it causes relatively less severe disease in poultry. No other case of this infection has been reported in the world.

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:
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:
The rate of global unemployment in the year 2022 is estimated to be 5.7% by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
ILO has estimated that nearly 205 million unemployed people would exist around the world, which is higher than the 2019 level of 187 million. Further the ILO has stated that 108 million more number of workers have been categorized as poor or extremely poor.

Notes:
The US administration headed by President Joe Biden has proposed to suspend the oil and gas leases at Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This decision has been welcomed by environmentalists and Arctic tribals.
This move is reversal of the lease brought about by earlier US administration by President Trump.

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.