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:
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:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed ‘Garib Kalyan Sammelan’ in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, marking the completion of eight years of the government.
The programme is organised across the country at state capitals, district headquarters, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). The Prime Minister also released the 11th instalment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme of around Rs. 21,000 crore to more than 10 crore beneficiary farmer families.

Notes:
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2022 started from 15 March in a virtual format with the final week held physically from 30 May to 3 June 2022 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The forum was held under the theme of ‘ICTs for Well-Being, Inclusion and Resilience: WSIS Cooperation for Accelerating Progress on the SDGs’. The WSIS Forum is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD.

Notes:
The 118th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) comprising Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan was recently organised.
During the meeting, the annual report for the year ending on March 31, 2022, was finalised and signed. The next meeting of the PIC would be held in Pakistan. According to the of the Indus Waters Treaty, around 33-million-acre feet water of eastern rivers- Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi is allocated to India for unrestricted use annually, and about 135 MAF of western rivers-Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab to Pakistan.

Notes:
The Global Mercy, the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, made its debut in Africa in the port of Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.
It is scheduled to stay in Senegal for four weeks to train health professionals before returning in 2023 to provide surgical care for the poor. The giant ship measures 174 meters long and 28.6 meters wide and it comprises of 12 decks.

Notes:
The Har Ghar Dastak campaign 2.0 was organised across the country to ensure complete Covid-19 vaccination of all eligible beneficiaries.
The special focus was on those in the 12-14 age group and precaution dose for those above 60. The two-month long door-to-door campaign will run between June 1 and July 31. The first Har Ghar Dastak campaign was conducted in November 2021. As many as 193.6 crore doses have been administered across the country, so far.

Notes:
Maharashtra government has decided to make six Road Transport Office’ (RTO) services online. People, who need a permanent driving licence or verification for an international driving licence will need to go to the RTO.
Maharashtra’s transport department provides 80 online services and now six more services have been included.

Notes:
Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the ‘Start-up India-2022 Expo and Conclave’ as the Chief Guest.
It was organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi.  After the launch of ‘StartUp India StandUp India’, the number of StartUps in India has grown to 70,000 from about 400 from 2014 to 2022.

Notes:
China successfully launched its third manned mission to its new space station, sending three astronauts to continue construction work for six months.
China’s Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft was launched by a Long March 2F rocket. The team will live and work at the Tiangong Space Station’s Tianhe core module for six months.