Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
European Space Agency’s Gaia mission has released a set of new data, which has revealed the phenomena of ‘starquakes’.
Starquakes are massive movements on the surface of stars similar to earthquake. The star-mapping Gaia probe has covered almost 1.8 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The data has also revealed the largest chemical map of the entire Milky Way, showing the DNA of millions of stars.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the main tunnel and five underpasses of Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project in New Delhi.
The project is fully funded by the central government and is built at a cost of over ₹920 crore. The project is aimed at providing hassle free access to the new exhibition and convention centre being developed at Pragati Maidan. It is a part of Pragati Maidan Redevelopment Project.

 

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:
England hit a world record one-day international score of 498 against Netherlands and won the match by 232 runs in Amstelveen.
The England team beat their previous mark of 481-6 set against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2018. In the recent match, three England players scored centuries with Liam Livingstone making the fastest half-century in England’s ODI history off just 17 balls. Player of the match Jos Buttler finished on 162 not out, with century off 47 balls.

Notes:
The Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), a unit of the NCERT has been awarded with the UNESCO’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of ICT (Information And Communication Technology) in Education for the year 2021.
The institution has used ICT under the ‘PM eVidya’ scheme during the Covid pandemic. The PM eVIDYA programme was launched as part of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ in May 2020 to unify all efforts related to digital, online, on-air education Each prize-winner receives USD 25,000, a medal and a diploma.

Notes:
Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) recently clarified that the Padma Bridgeis not part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
It is a multipurpose road-rail bridge across the Padma River, the main distributary of the Ganges. When completed it will be the largest bridge in Bangladesh and the first fixed river crossing for road traffic. BRI or the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative is a flagship programme of President Xi Jinping for trade and connectivity and India has raised concerns over the BRI projects.

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:
‘National Conference on Cyber Safety and National Security’ was held at New Delhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was its chief guest.
The Conference is being organised by the Home Ministry to create mass awareness for the prevention of cyber crimes in the country. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in coordination with the Culture Ministry organised functions at 75 places in different states and UTs on cyber hygiene, prevention of cyber crimes, cyber safety and national security

Notes:
Former rebel fighter Gustavo Petro secured majority of votes in the Colombia’s presidential election and is set to become the first leftist President of the country.
A shift of South American politics to the left has been observed with the victories in Peru last year, and in Chile and Honduras this year. During the pandemic, Colombia saw anti-establishment protests against corruption, stagnancy, increased taxation and a new health care reform.

Notes:
Article 263 of the Indian Constitution allows the President to establish the Inter-State Council, which brings together government entities on a common platform for discussing various governance issues. The Inter-State Council was established in 1990. Its chairman is the Prime Minister and its members include chief ministers and administrators of states and union territories.