Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
National Statistical Office (NSO) marginally slashed its year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 8.7 per cent, down from 8.9 per cent estimated in February.
The fourth quarter (January-March period of 2021-22) GDP growth was recorded at 4.1 per cent. The economy witnessed a 6.6 per cent contraction in 2020-21. The latest GDP growth estimate is lower than the second advance estimate of 8.9 per cent (released in February) and first advance estimate of 9.2 per cent (released in January).

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:
NTPC Ltd, India’s largest integrated energy producer has issued renewed Biodiversity Policy 2022, aligned with environmental and sustainability policies.
NTPC was the first PSU to issue Biodiversity Policy in the year 2018. The Public sector undertaking, formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, also became a member of the India Business & Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) in the same year.

Notes:
‘Frontier’ became the world’s fastest supercomputer, according to the Top500 list of world’s most powerful supercomputers with Linmark benchmark score of 1.1 exaflops.
It is a supercomputer built using Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) architecture and equipped with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processors. It surpassed Fugaku, Japan’s supercomputer jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu Ltd., which topped the supercomputer benchmarking index in 2020.

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:
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan addressed the National Education Ministers’ Conference in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar with a focus on implementation of the new National Educational Policy 2020.
He announced that the Education Ministry is in the process of establishing ‘PM Shri schools’ as the laboratory of NEP 2020. The schools will be fully equipped to prepare students for the future.

Notes:
World Bicycle Day is celebrated every year on June 3, to develop a culture of cycling for basic transportation, commutation, and strengthening physical and mental health.
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur launched a nationwide ‘Fit India Freedom Rider Cycle Rally’ from Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, Delhi on the occasion of World Bicycle Day 2022.

Notes:
The United Nations received the official request of Turkey to rebrand itself to ‘Turkiye’ in all languages.
The UN chief’s spokesperson announced that the change is immediate. Over the past few years, the country sought to change the branding on its products from “Made in Turkey” to “Made in Turkiye.”

Notes:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been signed on as brand ambassador and a minority shareholder of Garuda Aerospace.
It is a Chennai-based aviation and aerospace component manufacturing firm that deals with designing and building of unmanned aerial vehicles. The company is known for developing low-cost drone solutions.

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.