Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, accompanied by a high-level delegation arrived in India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Jugnauth is set to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar and Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar.

Notes:
Greek Ace Tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas became the sixth man in the Open Era to defend his title at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
He defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the 2022 edition in straight sets. The victory marked his eighth ATP Tour title and his second Masters 1000 title. He is at present at the rank of World No 5 in the WTA list.

Notes:
The World Bank is reducing its global growth forecast for 2022 by nearly a full percentage point, to 3.2% from 4.1%, as announced by World Bank President David Malpass.
The reason for reduction is due to the impacts from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The biggest component of growth forecast reduction was a 4.1% contraction in the Europe and Central Asia region (comprising Ukraine, Russia and surrounding countries).

Notes:
The United States has become the first country in the world to announce a ban on missile tests against space satellites.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, announced that the debris created by such tests presents a risk to the safety of astronauts and satellites. Many countries including U.S, China, Russia and India have carried out such tests and generated space debris.

Notes:
NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of NPCI, has entered the UAE market by partnering with NeoPay, the payment subsidiary of Mashreq Bank. BHIM UPI service has been made live on NeoPay terminals.
This partnership will offer Unified Payments Interface-based payments for Indians travelling to these regions. This is NPCI’s third such international expansion after Bhutan and Singapore.

Notes:
A group of Indian scientists have discovered a new species of eel named ‘Ariosoma indicum’ from specimens collected from fishing harbours in Kerala and West Bengal.
The newly discovered eel belongs to the Congrid eels group. The term Indicum means that it was found in India. Indian Council of Agriculture Research-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR), Lucknow is working on fish genetic resources for intellectual property protection.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a project to manufacture 9,000 Horsepower (HP) electric locomotives in Dahod district.
He inaugurated projects worth over ₹20,000 crore in Gujarat’s tribal belt Dahod and Panchmahal. India is one of the few countries that make 9,000 horsepower locomotives. The refurbished workshop would manufacture broad gauge electric locomotives for Indian Railways and standard gauge electric locomotives for export market.

Notes:
The 2022 United Nations Chinese Language Day and the second Overseas Chinese Language Video Festival has been held successfully.
“China Chic” was chosen as the theme of UN Chinese Language Day celebrations this year. It is a modern way to promote Chinese cultural diversity among the younger generation and to empower those for whom Chinese is not a first language.

Notes:
Mumbai’s first completely digital bus was recently inaugurated, on the Gateway of India – Churchgate route by the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST).
This is claimed to be the first-ever 100 percent digital bus service in the country, aiming at increasing the digitisation of the bus ticketing system. The bus has a unique tap-in tap-out feature wherein passengers can tap in using their smart card or using the ‘chalo’ app installed on their smart-phones.

Notes:
The Tripura government has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NIXI-CSC Data Services Centre to establish an international standard Data Centre at Indranagar, headquarters of IT Bhavan in the state.
NIXI-CSC Data Services Centre is the joint venture of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and CSE e-governance services Ltd. The company will invest Rs 150 crore for setting up the Data Centre while the state government will provide space.