Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar have jointly unveiled a new supercomputer called Param Ananta.
It was launched in phase two of the central government’s National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). The supercomputer is capable of offering peak performance of 838 teraflops. With this, India has 15 supercomputers disclosed to the public, with a combined performance capability of 24 petaflops.

Notes:
The second-year anniversary of ‘National AI Portal’ (INDIAai) is celebrated on May 30, 2022. The portal is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and NASSCOM. INDIAai released a book on the basics of AI titled ‘AI for Everyone’.
The portal focuses on promoting a unified AI ecosystem in the country and use AI for economic growth. The portal has a repository of over 1000 articles on AI and several news stories, reports, case studies and videos. It has the databases featuring details of government initiatives and start-ups related to AI.

Notes:
The National Health Authority (NHA) under its flagship scheme of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has launched a public dashboard. It has information on the mission’s progress at state level.
The dashboard will display detailed information on core registries under the mission – Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) numbers, Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Health Facility Registry (HFR).

Notes:
Former State Bank of India Deputy Managing Director Natarajan Sundar has been appointed as the Managing Director and CEO of NARCL (National Assets Reconstruction Company Ltd) as MD & CEO.
NARCL is the joint initiative of Public and Private Sector Banks, and is expected to takeover bad loans from banks and focus on resolution and recoveries. NARCL has shareholding from 15 Indian Banks and Canara Bank is the sponsor bank.

Notes:
Bihar state government is set to conduct a caste-based census in the state. The decision was taken at an all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The exercise would be called Jaati Aadharit Ganana and the state government will publish the data related to the census through advertisements in newspapers. The aim of this exercise is to carry out developmental work for people who are deprived.

Notes:
Railway Protection Force (RPF) launched a pan India drive “Operation Mahila Suraksha” was launched from May 3 to May 31, 2022.
During this drive, RPF has arrested more than 7,000 persons who were travelling in the coaches reserved for women without being authorised. RPF also rescued 150 women from becoming victims of human trafficking. Another pan India initiative “Meri Saheli” is also operational to provide safety and security to lady passengers.

Notes:
Denmark is set to join the European Union’s defence policy after it held a referendum for the decision. Denmark is the only EU member that is not part of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
The Denmark government has succeeded in abolishing an exemption secured in a 1993 referendum on the Maastricht Treaty. Sweden and Finland also placed historic bids to join NATO, which will be taken up at the upcoming summit.

Notes:
India’s Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu is on a three-nation tour, reached Senegal, a West African country.
India signed three MoUs with the country on 1) visa-free regime for Diplomatic and Official passport holders; 2)renewal of Cultural Exchange Progarmme (CEP) for the period 2022-26 and 3) bilateral cooperation in youth matters.

Notes:
The species, Eublepharis pictus, also known as the Painted Leopard Gecko, was originally found in Visakhapatnam in 2017.
The species, which was considered as East Indian Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis hardwickii), has now been identified as a member of a new species. It appears to be common in the forests of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The two species appear to be separated by the Brahmani River.

Notes:
Germany has recently hosted the 10-day meeting of parties to the Antarctic Treaty in Berlin. A majority of parties held the opinion that there is scientific evidence for the emperor penguins species to be put under the special protection.
It is said that China has blocked efforts to step up protection of emperor penguins in Antarctica. The species are threatened by the effects of global warming on their natural habitat in Antarctica.