Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2023

Notes:
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has constituted an 11-member Cheetah Project Steering Committee.
Rajesh Bansal, the Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum, has been appointed as its Chairman, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in a statement.

Notes:
India’s National Climate Research agenda was released during the inauguration of the 2-day International Climate Research Conclave. It was organised at Department of Science and Technology’s Centre of Excellence in Climate Studies at IIT Bombay.
Its aim is to coordinate national efforts focusing on the understanding and addressing climate change by 2030 and beyond.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sanctioned the merger of Maratha Co-op Bank with Cosmos Co-op Bank.
The Scheme has been sanctioned in exercise of the powers conferred under Sub-Section (4) of Section 44A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. All branches of Maratha Sahakari Bank will function as branches of The Cosmos Co-operative Bank.

Notes:
A new report titled “Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity” was released recently.
According to this report, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Myanmar are among the hunger hotspots in the world. Acute food insecurity can potentially increase in magnitude and severity for 18 areas in 22 countries.

Notes:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘Odisha for Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence for Youth’ initiatives.
In the first phase, the initiative will be implemented in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack. The state government has roped in global technology company Intel for the initiative.

Notes:
Operation ‘OP Clean’ was launched recently by the Punjab Police. Its aim is to make the state drug free.
650 police teams comprising over 5,000 personnel raided more than 2,000 locations across the state to keep a tab on activities of people involved in smuggling of commercial quantities of drugs.

Notes:
The National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) is an initiative aimed at creating a pool of outstanding professionals willing to provide mentoring for school teachers and promote their professional development.
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) launched NMM in Pilot mode in selected 30 Central Schools across the country. As part of this initiative, the NCTE organized a capacity building workshop for 60 mentors.

Notes:
The Helmand is Afghanistan’s longest river. It originates near Kabul in the western Hindu Kush Mountain range and flows in a south-western direction through desert areas for about 1,150 kilometers before emptying into Lake Hamun, which spans the Afghanistan-Iran border.
Clashes broke out between Iran and Afghanistan along the border due to dispute over the sharing of water from the Helmand River. This conflict resulted in killing and wounding of troops.

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 Japanese Parliament Diet’s upper chamber recently approved a legislation to tackle loneliness and social isolation. It will come to effect on April 1 next year.
In a survey conducted by the government in 2022 for people age 16 or over nationwide, 40.3% of all respondents said that they had felt lonely.