Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2023

Notes:
Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development (REWARD) program is a World Bank-assisted initiative that is being implemented from 2021 to 2026.
Its implementation was reviewed recently by Secretary, Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the World Bank team.

Notes:
The report titled “Forever Toxic: The science on health threats from plastic recycling” was released recently by Greenpeace Philippines. According to this report, recycling can increase the toxicity of plastics.
The report was released ahead of the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a Global Plastics Treaty, being held at Paris, France.

Notes:
The 44th plenary on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) is a four-day event hosted by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The ISO countries have renewed their commitment to incorporate the objectives of the SDGs into its standards programme. BIS’s initiatives, such as Manak Manthan, Quality Connect are aimed at enhancing consumer engagement in standardisation.

Notes:
Kerala government-run Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (Anert) recently launched a new ambitious project aimed at making Thiruvananthapuram the largest solar city in India.
Under this project, every rooftop in the capital city will be turned into a solar energy-producing station.

Notes:
India recently joined the Centralised Laboratory Network (CLN) to test vaccines during pandemic and epidemics. This network currently has 15 partner facilities in 13 countries.
CLN is a part of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Network is the largest global group which has standardised methods and materials for testing.

Notes:
European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed that an alien signal has been beamed to Earth from Mars for the first time.
The Trace Gas Orbiter, an ESA spacecraft orbiting Mars, transmitted a signal and it was received by the four telescopes/ stations. The transmission is part of “A Sign in Space” project, which is an interdisciplinary project by media artist Daniela de Paulis.

Notes:
A training launch of a Medium-Range Ballistic Missile, Agni-1, was successfully carried out by the Strategic Forces Command from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, in Odisha.
In October last year, India successfully fired ‘Agni Prime’ – a new generation of ballistic missiles – from off the coast of Odisha.

Notes:
Zambia’s Kafue National Park (KNP) is the third largest national park in Africa. New reports reveal that lion and leopard population in this region are rebounding, after 50 years of poaching.
Scientists found leopard densities in southern KNP increased threefold — from about 1.5 leopards in 2019 to approximately 4.4 leopards per 100 square kilometres in 2022. This was due to rigorous counter-poaching operations for four years.

Notes:
Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan today released the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2023.
The UGC Act 1956 provides for Central Government to declare any institution other than a University to a status of Institution Deemed to be University. The New Regulations will encourage universities to focus on quality and excellence, strengthen the research ecosystem and have a long-term impact in transforming higher education landscape.

Notes:
The draft Master Directions on Cyber Resilience and Digital Payment Security Controls for PSOs was released recently by the Reserve Bank of India.
It is a governance framework that encompasses the processes of identifying, evaluating, overseeing, and controlling cybersecurity risks.