Current Affairs - June 11, 2020 Current Affairs

World Accreditation Day was observed on 9th June. The day is celebrated every year to highlight and promote the role of accreditation in trade and economy.

The Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune developed "ANANYA" water based disinfectant spray with nanotechnology assisted formulation. This can be used by the general public and healthcare workers and can be used for individual and large scale purposes.

Warship builder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd delivered the 'ICGS Kanaklata Barua' on 9 June. It is the fifth and final ship in the series of Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. Also, it is the 105th vessel delivered by the Defence PSU shipyard based on the banks of the river Hooghly.

Massive fire broke at a natural-gas oil well in the Baghjan oil field of Assam. The oil well has been leaking gas since last 14 days following a blowout on May 27, 2020. The oil well is owned by the Oil India Limited (OIL). National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, Indian Air Force and the Army have been deployed for their assistance in the firefighting operations.

S&P Global Ratings predicted that Indian economy will shrink 5% in FY21 and the fiscal stimulus worth 1.2 percent of GDP will not be enough to provide significant growth support. In a report on emerging markets titled 'Financial Conditions Reflect Optimism, Lockdown Fatigue Emerges" highlighted that the services sectors have been severely affected.

New Zealand is the latest addition to the list of Coronavirus free countries as the country declared itself free from COVID-19 on June 8. So far, a total of nine countries have been declared as COVID-19 free. These countries are New Zealand, Tanzania, Vatican, Fiji, Montenegro, Seychelles, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and St Kitts and Nevis.

Fitch Ratings stated that India's economy is forecast to grow with a sharp growth rate of 9.5% in 2021 if the country avoids further deterioration in financial sector health.

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen (Germany), the Sonneberg Observatory, the University of Gottingen, the University of California, and NASA ( National Aeronautics and Space Administration) led by MPS, have discovered a new planet named KOI-456.04 & its host star called Kepler-160 by using Kepler Space Telescope. Scientist have mentioned these two newly discovered planet and its host as "mirror image" of our own planet and sun.

On 8th June 2020, Renjith Kumar, Engineer from Kerala and Indian Entrepreneur based in Virginia is honoured with NASA's highest form of recognition for a non-governmental individual "NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal" for his service to NASA through executive leadership, engineering contribution, technical excellence and customer satisfaction.

On the request of Indian Government, Lieutenant General-level talks were held between India and China at the Border Personnel Meeting Point in Maldo in the Chushul sector, on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. The meet was held to restore status quo as on April 2020 end, which was affected by border standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020. The Indian delegation was led by Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, Commander of 14 Corps, while the Chinese side was headed by Major General Liu Lin, Commander of the Tibet Military District.

The Embassy of India and the Central Level Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Education, Nepal signed 7 MoUs for re-building 56 higher secondary schools. Included areas in the MOU for the reconstruction of schools are located in Gorkha, Nuwakot, Dhading, Dolakha, Kavrepalanchowk, Ramechhap and Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal.

On June 9, 2020 Flipkart-owned digital payments platform PhonePe along with ICICI Lombard, the non-life insurance company launched 'first of its kind' travel insurance, domestic multi-trip insurance to provide a stress-free travel experience to customers by covering risks associated with all modes of travel within the country (road, rail and air within the country) from the time a customer leaves home, till the time of return.The cost of the insurance is Rs 499/year.It provides 365-day protection & covers all modes of transport.

The International Weightlifting Federation has recently cleared Indian weightlifter K Sanjita Chanu from the doping charge due to the non-conformities in handling of her samples. The decision came on the recommendation of World Anti-Doping Agency. Chanu has asked for an apology and compensation for the trauma she has endured.

Former Union Water Resources Minister(2000 to 2004) Arjun Charan Sethi passed away at 79 due to his brief illness in a private hospital at Bhubaneswar. He is an 8-time member of parliament from Bhadrak Lok Sabha constituency. He was born on 18 Sep 1941 & hails from Bhadrak, Odisha.

Athletics Integrity Unit banned Gomathi Marimuthu, 31-year-old athlete from Tamil Nadu who won the gold medal for 800m in the 2019 Asian Championship, in Doha, Qatar for 4years from 17th May 2019 to 16th May 2023 after testing positive for banned substances. The titles, rankings, points and prizes won by Gomathi from 18th March 2019 to 17th May 2019 will be forfeited and her results will be annulled.

The Washington based multilateral lender, World Bank in its latest edition of the Global Economic Prospect June 2020 analytical chapters reports states that India's growth is contract by 3.2%(so growth is -3.2%) for FY20-21 .It was lower from 4.2% which forecasted in FY2019-20 at the end of March 2020. The growth forecast is 9 percentage lower than the GEP forecasts from January 2020 when the growth was projected as 5.8%. But it also highlights that country's growth is expected to be 3.1% for the FY 2021-22.

According to the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, the World Bank has granted loan worth of Rs. 1,950 crore to the state for tackling coronavirus situation and developmental work. Out of the total amount, Rs. 1,100 crore will be allocated for creating Industrial infrastructures and the balance Rs. 850 crore will be spent for various Social-Welfare schemes.

A group of Indian Institute of Technology -Guwahati students has developed a mobile application called "Flyzy" for seamless and contactless air travel. The aim of the mobile app is to provide contactless boarding, keeping in mind the easier baggage drop, manageable parking, better shopping experience.

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi researchers claims to have developed a technology for making high-efficiency masks using waste pet bottles. The researchers have filed a patent for the waste plastic bottles derived filter membrane technology based on electrospinning.

Recykal, a digital technology company in the waste management space collaborated with United Nations Development Programme and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd for Project Prithvi, a joint initiative for developing sustainable plastic waste management practices in the country.