Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

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:
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended the ‘National Conference of School Education Ministers’ in Gujarat.
The Conference was organised by the Department of School Education & Literacy of Union Education Ministry and Education Ministry of Gujarat. It aims to focus on strengthening the education ecosystem in the country with a focus on the implementation of National Education Policy 2020, skilling in schools, and digital initiatives.

Notes:
United States Department of Defense (DoD) announced the authorization of a security assistance valued at up to USD 700 million.
The assistance has been announced to meet critical Ukrainian needs for its fight. This authorization is the eleventh drawdown of equipment from the country for Ukraine since August 2021. The United States has now committed USD 5.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.

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:
Santoor maestro Bhajan Sopori, also called as the ‘saint of santoor’ and ‘King of strings’ passed away recently at the age of 73.
The veteran musician received multiple awards throughout his career, including the Padma Shri in 2004, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Jammu and Kashmir State Lifetime Achievement Award.

Notes:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently signed deals worth 1.3 billion Canadian dollars to settle a Blackfoot tribe’s land claim.
The 1.3 billion Canadian dollar (USD 1 billion) settlement is one of the largest agreements of its kind reached in Canada. It aims to correct the mistakes dating back over a century when Canadian government broke promise and wrongfully took half of Siksika Nation’s reserve land to sell to settlers.

Notes:
‘Blue Origin’ is an American aero-space company founded by Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon in the year 2000.
Blue Origin has successfully completed its fifth human spaceflight that sent six people to suborbital space. The crew was called as ‘New Shepard NS-21’.

Notes:
Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched India-Qatar Start-Up bridge, a joint initiative to link the start-up ecosystems of the two countries and boost the business sectors mutually.The Vice President launched the bridge while addressing the India-Qatar Business Forum, jointly organised by FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM, along with Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 

Notes:
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore have designed a new class of artificial peptides or mini-proteins.
According to the study, the mini-proteins blocks SARS-CoV-2 virus entry into our cells but also clump virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect.

Notes:
The Central Government has amended service rules of the armed forces six months after General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, died in a helicopter crash.
As per the new rules, all three-star and four-star officers from the three services under the age of 62 eligible for the post of CDS. It also includes those who retired in the last two years. The CDS is the most senior uniformed officer in rank. The only four-star officers in the country are the CDS, the chiefs of the tri-services.