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:
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:
‘Hurricane Agatha’, the first of the Pacific season hit Mexico and the casualties climbed to at least 10 dead and around 20 missing in southern Mexico.
Heavy rains triggered landslides and flooding in the country. The storm was the strongest to make landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast in May since record keeping began in 1949. Mexico is regularly hit by tropical storms on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, between May and November.

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:
GST revenue for May was recorded at nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore, a 44 per cent increase over the same month last year, as per the Finance Ministry.
This is the fourth time that the monthly GST collection has crossed Rs 1.40 lakh crore mark since the inception of GST and the third straight month since March 2022. In March GST revenues were at Rs 1.42 lakh crore, while in February it was at Rs 1.33 lakh crore.

Notes:
Soft robots are robots that are flexible and unlike traditional robots can be used to perform more delicate functions.
Soft robots can be programmed to execute specific tasks such as reaching into difficult gaps or holding onto delicate objects.

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:
The species, Eublepharis pictus, also known as the Painted Leopard Gecko, was originally found in Visakhapatnam in 2017.
The species, which was considered as East Indian Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis hardwickii), has now been identified as a member of a new species. It appears to be common in the forests of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The two species appear to be separated by the Brahmani River.

Notes:
The Government has approved 8.1 per cent rate of interest on employees’ provident fund (EPF) deposits for the year 2021-22, from 8.5 per cent provided in the previous year.
The 8.1 per cent EPF rate of interest is the lowest since 1977-78, when it stood at 8 per cent. The interest rate on EPF deposits was decided by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) and was ratified by the finance ministry 2021.

Notes:
National Cadet Corps (NCC) has launched the recent phase of its nationwide flagship campaign ‘Puneet Sagar Abhiyan’ from May 30 to June 5 2022 (the World Environment Day).
Puneet Sagar Abhiyan was launched by NCC to clean Sea Shores and other water bodies including rivers and lakes, of plastic and other waste. It aims to increase awareness among the local population about importance of keeping the beaches and river fronts clean.