Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2023

Notes:
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. It is also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan.
Marine debris is litter that ends up in the ocean, seas, and other large bodies of water. A recent study by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) shows that this giant collection of plastic trash has also become home to thousands of marine life, creating a new kind of ecosystem.

Notes:
The Agriculture Production Department of Jammu and Kashmir will launch the Kisan Sampark Abhiyan programme, which seeks to ensure the overall welfare of farmers across the Union Territory. The scheme will cover 3565 panchayats in J&K.
To ensure that the programme is successful, nearly 2400 resource persons have been identified and trained for all districts.

Notes:
Srijana is a two-day national conference on female infertility, which was organised by by All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), under the Ministry of AYUSH on 17th April 2023, at New Delhi.
The conference witnessed participation of many scientists, practitioners and academicians from all over India who shared their success stories and knowledge through Ayurveda.

Notes:
A “civil union” refers to the legal status that allows same-sex couples specific rights and responsibilities normally conferred upon married couples. These civil unions would be accompanied by rights such as inheritance rights, employment benefits to spouses, which are generally conferred upon married couples.
Recently, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, began hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition of same sex marriage.

Notes:
The Global Food Policy Report, 2023 has been released by the International Food Policy Research Institute. According to the report, there is an increased need for investment beyond short-term to build food systems that are more resilient and equitable.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) was established in 1975 and is headquartered at Washington, DC. The institute provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger.

Notes:
Hanuman Plover Bird has been reinstated as species after more than eight decades. This bird is endemic to India and Sri Lanka.
Hanuman Plover Bird was merged with the Kentish plover in the 1930s as both species were considered to be the same.

Notes:
‘Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite’ (TESS) is a space telescope for NASA’s Explorer program, designed to search for exoplanets.
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) recently marked five years in space. Since it was launched in 2018, the satellite has mapped more than 93 percent of the entire sky, discovered 329 new alien worlds and thousands more exoplanet candidates.

Notes:
The Indian Government has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) for the development of hydrogen valley innovation clusters (HVIC) in the country.
According to the DST guidelines, a hydrogen valley is a specific geographic region where hydrogen serves more than one end sector or application.

Notes:
For the first time in the history of the country, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has conducted the first-ever census of water bodies across the nation.
As per the census, 24.24 lakh water bodies have been enumerated in the country, out of which 97.1% are in rural areas and only 2.9% are in urban areas. Top 5 States in terms of number of water bodies are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam.

Notes:
The Hakki Pikki is a tribe predominantly living in Karnataka. According to Census 2011, there are 11,892 Hakki Pikki tribal people in the state.
The Hakki Pikkis are an endogamous community and speak a language called Vaagri Booli. Hakki Pikkis were originally a nomadic tribe who hunted birds and they are named such as the Kannada word for bird is “Hakki”. Recently, as many as 108 Hakki-Pikki community people are said to be stuck in Sudan.