Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
Mongolia’s Khuvsgul Lake National Park has been recently added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO.
The decision was taken during the 34th session of the International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme taking place in Paris, France. Khuvsgul Lake is located in the northern Mongolia near the Russian border, holding nearly 70 per cent of Mongolia’s fresh water.

Notes:
The Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change has defined a list of items that will be banned from next month. The announcement of ban was made last year.
As per the notification, the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022.

Notes:
Francia Marquez is set to be the first black woman to become the vice president of Colombia. The environmental activist received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 for standing up against gold mining.

Notes:
The Spitsbergen treaty or the Svalbard Treaty recognizes sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard, which is located between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It provides citizens of signatory countries the equal right to exploit the archipelago’s resources. However, only two countries – Norway and Russia – have utilised this benefit.

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Two countries – Ukraine and Republic of Moldova – were granted the status of candidate country by the European Council. This paves the way towards them becoming the members of the European Bloc.

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National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is the apex government body responsible for laying down policies related to disaster management in India. It is chaired by Prime Minister and has nine other members.
NDMA was set up as per the Disaster Management Act, 2005. As Assam faces floods and rain-induced landslides, NDMA has recently released dos and don’ts before, during and after the floods. It also provided tips to follow during the evacuation process.

Notes:
The Patna Marine Drive is a 20.5 km long expressway which is currently being constructed in Bihar. The first phase of this project was inaugurated recently by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The expressway is also known as the Ganga driveway. It is expected to be completed by the start of 2024. The project commenced in 2013 on the birth anniversary of Indian independence activist Jayaprakash Narayan. The cost of this project is estimated to be Rs.3,160 crore.

Notes:
United Nations Ocean Conference is set to be organized from June 27 to July 1 in Lisbon, Portugal. It will be co-hosted by the governments of Kenya and Portugal.
The aim of the conference is to promote science-based innovative solutions needed to ensure sustainable management of ocean. It seeks to promote green technology and innovative use of marine resources. The conference will discuss solutions to address threats to health, ecology, economy and governance of the ocean.

Notes:
Odisha’s Dhenkanal forest department has announced plans to install automatic sirens near its national highway to protect elephants from accidents.
These sensor-based sirens will ring and a red light will turn on when elephants cross the road to alert drivers within a distance of up to 1 kilometre.  The pilot project has been initiated by ‘Change’, a voluntary organization.

Notes:
The DRDO and the Indian Navy have successfully tested the indigenous ship-borne weapon system Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM).
The VL-SRSAM was designed based on Astra missile. It was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, as the first air-to-air missile. Astra is also an all weather beyond-visual-range missile.