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 Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recently launched Operation Rakth Chandan recovered 14.63 MT of Red Sanders estimated at Rs 11.70 crores in the international market.
The red sanders were seized from a consignment at ICD Sabarmati which was to be exported to Sharjah, UAE. The suspect container was scanned through a ‘container scanning device’.

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:
The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the supply of ASTRA MK-I Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air to Air Missile (AAM).
The contract includes associated equipment for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy, along with the missile, at a cost of ₹ 2,971 crore under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. ASTRA MK-I BVR AAM has been indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Notes:
World No Tobacco Day is observed on May 31 every year to create awareness of the dangers of smoking, tobacco companies and their business practices.
This year’s theme for World No Tobacco Day 2022 is ‘Tobacco: A Threat to our Environment.’ Nearly 3.5 million hectares of land are destroyed every year to grow tobacco. As per the United Nations, consumption of tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet expanded the scope of the public procurement portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to allow cooperative societies to register as buyers.
This would help cooperatives in getting competitive prices through an open and transparent process. Over 8,54,000 registered cooperatives and their 270 million members will be benefitted. The registration of cooperatives as buyers was not covered within the existing mandate of GeM, so far.

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:
The world’s largest plant- the ribbon weed (Posidonia australis) has recently been discovered off the West Coast of Australia.
It is a sea-grass which is measured to be 180 km in length. Ribbon weed rhizomes can usually grow to around 35cm per year and with this, the scientists arrived at its lifespan of 4,500  years. It has double the number of chromosomes than other similar plants, and managed to survive the volatile atmosphere of the Shark Bay.

Notes:
The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment in Stockholm was the first world conference to make the environment a major issue. It was also called as ‘Stockholm Conference’.
The Stockholm+50 Conference was recently organised in 2022, to commemorate 50 years since the first meeting held. Scientists, researchers and activists gathered in the meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden.

 

Notes:
The Supreme Court directed that every protected forest, national park and wildlife sanctuary across the country should have a mandatory eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of a minimum one km starting from their demarcated boundaries.
As per the Environment Ministry guidelines, the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) would act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to those involving lesser protection.