Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
India and Japan held their first ever Finance Dialogue in New Delhi to exchange their views on the macro-economic situation, financial system, financial digitalization and investment environment.
Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs (Ministry of Finance) Ajay Seth led Indian side in this first India-Japan Finance Dialogue. India and Japan hold Presidency of G-20 and G-7 next year respectively.

Notes:
The first-ever girl Panchayat of India named ‘Balika Panchayat’ was organised in several villages of Gujarat’s Kutch district.
This is an initiative of the Women and Child Development Welfare department of the Gujarat Government under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign. Balika Panchayat is managed by people in the 11-21 age group and aims to promote the social and political development of girl children.

Notes:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organized an eight-day long mango festival in Bahrain to boost the export of Mangoes.
Commerce and Industry Ministry said, 34 varieties of mangoes from states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha are being displayed at eight different locations of Bahrain’s Al Jazira group supermarket.

Notes:
Foreign bank HSBC India announced that it will lend USD 250 million to high-growth, tech-led start-ups in India.
India is the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world. Recently there is a rise in the debt needs of the start-ups in India and a ‘funding winter’ is impacting equity funding to the sector. This issue is set to be addressed by the commercial banking vertical of HSBC India.

Notes:
A team of scientists has discovered a new species of bamboo-dwelling bat from a bamboo forest in Meghalaya.
It was named as ‘Glischropus meghalayanus’ after the state of Meghalaya, which is celebrating its 50 years of statehood. With this discovery, the total number of bat species from India stands at 131 species with Meghalaya registering the highest bat diversity with 67 species.

Notes:
Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai has been nominated as Chairperson of the Press Council of India.
She replaced the retired Justice CK Prasad who vacated office in November 2021. Justice Desai has also served as the chairman of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, Public prosecutor for the state of Maharashtra and as a Judge on the Bombay High Court.

Notes:
The Multinational Peacekeeping Exercise “Ex Khaan Quest -2022” was conducted at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.
The exercise provided a platform for mutual learning and sharing best practices amongst the armies from 16 Nations. The Indian contingent consisting of personnel from the Ladakh Scouts participated in the exercise. Mock tactical operations as per United Nations (UN) mandate among other exercise were held.

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:
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.

Notes:
Theri Desert in located in Tamil Nadu. It derives its name from Tamil term “theri”, which means red dunes. Red sand dunes in this desert have sediments dating back to the Quaternary period that commenced some 2.6 million years ago.