Current Affairs Quiz - June 2022

Notes:
The Tenth Schedule, which is popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act, became part of the Indian Constitution as the result of the 52nd Amendment Act, 1985. It sets grounds for the disqualification of legislators on the grounds of defection to another political party. It was recently making news due to Maharashtra Political Crisis.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) is the only instrument carried by NASA’s DART mission. It was designed based on the New Horizon Mission’s imager. In recent months, this high resolution camera captured some 150,000 images of various stars.

Notes:
The Revenue Department under the Finance Ministry governs the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act of 1985.
The Central Government is planning the transfer of the administration of this Act from finance ministry of Home Ministry to bring all issues related to narcotics under one department.

Notes:
Russia has promised its ally Belarus to deliver nuclear- capable missiles in the coming months. Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement during Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s visit to Moscow.
Russia will transfer to Belarus Iskander-M tactical missile systems, which can use ballistic or cruise missiles in their conventional and nuclear editions.

Notes:
NITI Aayog released a report titled ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’ recently. The Indian gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by 2029-30, a 200 per cent jump from 7.7 million now.
The report estimates that gig workers will form 4.1 per cent of the total workforce in India by 2029-2030, from 1.5 per cent now. The report stated 47 per cent of the jobs are medium-skilled, about 22 per cent are high-skilled, and about 31 per cent are low-skilled.

Notes:
Jammu and Kashmir has been selected by the Ministry for External Affairs (MEA) for meetings during the G-20 summit, to be hosted by India in 2023.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted a five-member high-powered panel for overall coordination of G20 meetings to be held in the union territory. This will be the first major international summit to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of its special status.

Notes:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a video conference with Senior Defence Minister of Malaysia, to discuss various issues concerning bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation.
The ministers discussed the existing defence cooperation activities and framework, and ways to enhance them under the existing Malaysia India Defence Cooperation Meeting (MIDCOM) framework.

Notes:
Amid the political crisis in Maharashtra, the role and powers of the Deputy Speaker are being discussed.
In the landmark judgment of ‘Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachillhu And Others’ (1992), the Supreme Court upheld the sweeping discretion available to the Speaker in deciding cases of disqualification of MLAs.

Notes:
Iran’s state-run shipping company has started its first transfer of Russian goods to India, using a new trade corridor.
The route grants India easy access to a region stretching from North Europe, Caucasus to mineral rich Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan. This 7,200 km long-pending multi-modal transportation corridor via Iran is also expected to boost Russia–India bilateral trade.