Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
India recently celebrated the 59th National Maritime Day which falls on April 5 every year. This year’s theme is ‘Sustainable Shipping beyond Covid-19’.
The first anniversary of the day was held in 1964 to raise awareness about international trade and economy.  An award ceremony is held to honour those who made important contributions to the Indian maritime industry.

Notes:
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released the Part C of its sixth assessment report. The main finding of the latest IPCC report is that the world must focus on reducing dependency on fossil fuel.
The report mentioned Kolkata in respect of shifting from private to public transport. It highlighted that the urban mobility transitions in Kolkata show interconnected policy as well as institutional and socio-cultural drivers for socio-technical change.

Notes:
Capital markets regulator SEBI constituted a committee for reviewing and making recommendations for further strengthening of governance norms at stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions (MIIs).
The six-member committee will be chaired by G Mahalingam, former whole-time member of SEBI. The other members include MD and CEOs of stock exchanges NSE and BSE, and depositories — NSDL and CDSL among others.

Notes:
As per the official data, India’s trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to USD 192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against USD 102.63 billion in the previous year.
While total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of USD 417.81 billion, imports too rose to USD 610.22 billion, causing a trade gap of USD 192.41 billion.  For the first time, India’s monthly merchandise exports exceeded USD 40 billion, reaching USD 40.38 billion in March 2022.

Notes:
Punjab National Bank has recently made the Positive Pay System (PPS) compulsory for cheque payments worth Rs 10 lakh and above.
Under the Positive Pay System (PPS) developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a customer issuing the high-value cheque has to reconfirm some essential details before clearing. It aims to protect the customers from security threats

Notes:
As per the Forbes Billionaires List 2022, Indian billionaires increased to a record high of 166 from 140 last year, with a combined wealth of USD 760 billion. He ranked at the 10th position on the global list.
Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing director Mukesh Ambani continues to stay on top of the list as the richest Indian with a net worth of USD 90.7 billion. Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk emerged as the richest person in the world.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) during his address at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019.
Madagascar has recently become the 30th country to join the India-backed CDRI. The CDRI is a global partnership that aims to promote the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks.

Notes:
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over the first set of Gaganyaan hardware to the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO).
The PS2 stage is the second stage of the PSLV launch vehicle in which propellants, which can be stored in the Earth are used for propulsion. In October 2021, the heaviest Semi-Cryogenic propellant tank (SC120- LOX) ever fabricated by HAL was delivered to ISRO.

Notes:
World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved a loan of Rs 7500 Cr for the Gujarat government’s Mission School of Excellence project.
Under the Mission School of Excellence project, the state government will spend Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years, to be spent on building new classrooms, smart classrooms, new computer labs and tinkering labs in government and grant-in-aid schools across the state.

Notes:
‘Sarhul Festival’ is the most popular tribal celebration across the state of Jharkhand region. It denotes the beginning of the New Year.
This vibrant festival is celebrated at the beginning of spring every year. This year, it fell on April 4. It is usually celebrated by the tribal communities of the local Sarna religion, especially by the Munda, Ho, and Oraon tribes.