Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
To strengthen air connectivity to the state and boost tourism, Jharkhand government slashed VAT (value added tax) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to 4 per cent from 20 per cent.
Recently, the price of ATF was reduced by 1.3percent which was the first reduction after it was hiked for 10 rounds of hike in ATF prices. ATF constitutes about 40 per cent of the operating cost of an airline.

Notes:
India and other member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) supported an initiative of China to organise a joint border operation ‘Solidarity-2023’ for the border agencies of the member countries next year.
India’s Border Security Force (BSF) Director announced this at the conclusion of the eighth meeting of the heads of border authorities of the competent bodies of SCO member states, which was held in Delhi, under the chairmanship of India.

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:
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:
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:
Every year on the 19th of June, the World Sickle Cell Day (SCD) event is conducted by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness of sickle cell disease.
Sickle cell anaemia is a group of inherited disorders that cause red blood cells to become sickle in shape instead of normal biconcave shape. In a patient who is suffering from SCD, the red blood cells have abnormal haemoglobin.

Notes:
A 300kg stingray caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia is the biggest freshwater fish ever documented in the world.
Though there is no official database of the world’s biggest freshwater fish, the previous largest recorded fish was a 293kg Mekong giant catfish caught in Thailand in 2005. The Mekong River flows from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Notes:
The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) is the nodal agency responsible for protecting India’s critical information infrastructure. It was established in 2014 under Section 70A of the IT Act, 2000. It is part of the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), an intelligence agency under the NSA.

Notes:
The Indian Coast Guard’s new air squadron named 840 Squadron was created in Chennai on June 20, 2022. The squadron was initially created with an indigenous ALH Mark-III aircraft. This is the first such aircraft to be stationed in the eastern region.

Notes:
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which comes under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, is responsible for the implementation of the NIPUN project of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It will train, monitor and track potential candidates under this initiative.