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 World Health Organization (WHO) released a report titled ‘Tobacco: Poisoning Our Planet’ to coincide with World No Tobacco Day.
It found that the tobacco industry is responsible for the annual loss of eight million human lives, 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water, and releases about 84 million tonnes of CO2 into the Earth’s atmosphere. The report called for steps to make the industry more accountable for the destruction.

Notes:
West Nile fever was first detected in 1937 in Uganda. The vector-borne infection is spread by the Culex species of mosquitoes. The fever was first detected in Kerala in 2011.
A 47-year-old man died due to West Nile fever in Kerala’s Thrissur district. It is the first fatality in the state caused by the disease in the last three years.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the ‘Scholarship for PMCARES Children’ under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, as a central sector scheme.
Under the Scheme, Scholarship of Rs 20,000/- per child per annum will be provided, including monthly allowance of  ₹1,000 and annual academic allowance of Rs. 8,000 to cover the entire school fees, cost of the books and uniform, shoes and other educational equipment.

Notes:
The Centre has recently proposed a scheme worth Rs 1,000 crore to invite private companies to set up manufacturing zones in power and renewable energy (RE) equipment.
The Ministries of power and new and renewable energy have jointly proposed a scheme for establishment of three manufacturing zones, in which two would be brownfield on already developed land and one greenfield manufacturing zone in a coastal area of the country.

Notes:
The government raised the premium for Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), to make them economically viable.
The premium rate of PMJJBY has been revised upward to Rs 1.25 per day, with an increase from Rs 330 to Rs 436 annually. The annual premium for PMSBY has been hiked from Rs 12 to Rs 20. The new premium rates are effective from June 1, 2022.

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 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 Times Higher Education (THE) released the 2022 edition of the Asia University Rankings with universities from 31 countries and territories.
India is the third most-represented country, with 71 universities making it to the list. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore is the only institute to make the top-50 list at 42^nd rank. JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (65^th), IIT Ropar (68) and IIT Indore (87) were in top 100 list.