Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
Maharashtra has overtaken Uttar Pradesh (UP) to regain its position as India’s top sugar producer, in the year 2021-22, after five-year gap.
The state’s output for the 2021-22 crushing year-October-September- stood at 138 lakh tonnes (lt). That is highest ever beating the previous 107.21 lakh tonnes of 2018-19. Maharashtra is followed by Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

Notes:
Israel has signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, its first big trade pact with an Arab state.
The agreement, which aimed at boosting trade between the two Middle Eastern nations, would encourage more Israeli companies to set up offices in the UAE, particularly in Dubai. The deal with Israel is UAE’s second bilateral free trade agreement after a similar accord with India in February.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the RBI Annual Report 2021-22. As per the report, the total number of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) of all denominations detected in the banking sector increased to 2,30,971 pieces.
There was an increase of 16.4 per cent, 16.5 per cent, 11.7 per cent, 101.9 per cent and 54.6 per cent in the counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, respectively. The total expenditure on security printing during 2021-2022 was ₹4,984.8 crore as against ₹4,012.1 crore in the previous year.

Notes:
Punjab government has recently launched e-stamping facility after abolishing physical stamp papers of all denominations.
The move aims to bring efficiency and is expected to save Rs 35 crore annually. Stamp papers of any denomination can be obtained only through e-stamp from stamp vendor or from banks authorised by the state government. The facility has been started with the assistance of National e-Governance Services Limited.

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:
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:
Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) partnered with Accenture to digitally transform its lending business.
The collaboration includes a cloud-native lending platform with digital workflows for application, loan processing, credit underwriting and decision- making, disbursement and loan servicing. A machine learning-based decision engine is also used for risk mitigation.

Notes:
The Chandigarh UT Administration and the Indian Air Force (IAF) signed an MoU on the Indian Air Force Heritage Centre.
The centre will have simulators, decommissioned aircraft, aero engines and other IAF artefacts. The centre will also include virtual reality and AI technology. The Heritage Centre will be informative and motivate the country’s youth to join the armed forces.

Notes:
The United Nations General Assembly had decided to mark June 4 as the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression in 1982.
The day acknowledges the pain and suffering experienced by the children who are victims of emotional, physical and mental abuse. According to the United Nations, every child should get the proper environment to develop a good personality.

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.