Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is marked every year on 17 June across the world. The day focuses on turning degraded land into healthy or fertile soil to combat desertification.
The theme for World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is – Rising up from drought together. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released a document titled “Payments Vision 2025”, with guidelines on payments.
The document also focussed on the architecture of digital finance. It includes regulations for BigTechs and fintechs in payments; guidelines on payments involving ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) services; introducing the central bank digital currency (CBDC); and linking credit cards and credit components of banking products to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

Notes:
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras have developed a robot to clean septic tanks without human intervention.
Named HomoSEP, the product development was further supported by GAIL (India). Initially, ten units are planned to be deployed across Tamil Nadu. The robots have been developed to eliminate manual scavenging.

Notes:
According to the quarterly report published by Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), Tamil Nadu has displaced West Bengal to emerge as the largest State in terms of the outstanding portfolio of microfinance loans.
The gross loan portfolio (GLP) of Tamil Nadu as of March 31, 2022 stood at ₹36,806 crore while the overall microfinance industry has a total GLP of ₹2,85,441 crore as of March 31, 2022. Banks held the largest share of the portfolio in micro-credit followed by NBFC-MFIs.

Notes:
Indian Navy’s stealth Frigate, INS Talwar is deployed for Operation Sankalp commemorating the 3rd continuous year of Indian Navy’s presence in the Gulf for protection of India’s Maritime Interests.
After attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf of Oman in June 2019, and the deteriorating security situation in the Gulf region, Indian Navy had commenced Maritime Security Operations, code named ‘Op SANKALP’, in the Gulf Region to ensure safe passage of Indian Flag Vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

Notes:
Edakoodam is the name of a wooden puzzle toy, which was popular among children and was a part of every household in Kerala, during earlier times.
There are many efforts being taken in Kerala to popularise the wooden puzzle by teaching the art of making and solving Edakoodam popular among children and adults.

Notes:
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, Infosys, and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) were included in the Global Top 100 list in the Kantar Brandz 2022 Most Valuable Global Brands report.
TCS jumped 12 positions to 46th position from 58th in 2021 and its brand value was up 61 per cent. HDFC Bank’s rank was up five positions while LIC saw its rank slip 19 positions to 92, and its brand value was down by 4 per cent compared to 2021.

Notes:
Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri recently launched a project for skill training of construction workers called ‘NIPUN’ i.e. National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers.
It is an initiative of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM). It aims to train over 1 lakh construction workers, through skilling and upskilling programmes and provides them with work opportunities also in foreign countries.

Notes:
According to a World Gold Council (WGC) report titled ‘Gold refining and recycling’, India has emerged as the fourth largest recycler in the world.
India has recycled 75 tonnes in 2021 while China topped the chart as it recycled 168 tonnes followed by Italy in the second position with 80 tonnes and the US at the third rank with 78 tonnes in 2021. India’s gold refining capacity increased by 1,500 tonnes (500 per cent) in 2021 from 300 tonnes in 2013.

Notes:
China’s first independent interplanetary mission Tianwen-1 successfully landed Zhurong rover on the Martian surface. This made China the third country after the US and USSR to land on Mars. It was launched aboard a Long March 5 rocket in 2020