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:
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:
Combined Maritime Forces is a US-led maritime coalition involved in securing tense Gulf waterways. The UAE recently withdrew from this coalition.
The coalition is tasked with securing tense Gulf waterways that are vital to the global oil trade. The coalition had 38 member states.

Notes:
National record-holder Jyothi Yarraji won the women’s 100m hurdles gold in 13.08s in the T-Meeting at Tilburg in the Netherlands.
Earlier at the 26th National Federation Cup athletics championships in Ranchi, she had clocked 12.89 seconds in the final.

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:
Ambulator is the name given to a new group of ancient marsupials with distinctive leg and foot characteristics.
Researchers have recently discovered Australia’s first long-distance walkers that roamed the continent’s parched interior 3.5 million years ago.

Notes:
Obstetric fistula is a health condition characterized by the formation of an opening between the passage through which a baby is delivered and the urinary or digestive system.
Zamibia recently unveiled the Obstetric Fistula Strategic Plan for the period 2022 to 2026. On May 23, Zambia commemorated International Day for Elimination of Obstetric Fistula with theme “20 years on — progress but not enough! Act Now to End Fistula by 2030”. As of 2018, more than 33,000 women and girls were affected in the country.

Notes:
Pakistan’s annual inflation rate rose to 37.97% in May, the statistics bureau said, adding to its problems of a balance of payment crisis and the risk of a sovereign default.
In April, the bureau said Pakistan’s CPI at 36.5% was the highest recorded, and this is the national record for the second month in a row.

Notes:
A report titled ‘Derailment in Indian Railways’ was released in 2022 by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). This report flagged several shortcomings and provided multiple recommendations to improve the safety of the Indian Railways. It highlighted shortfalls in inspections and failures to use a dedicated railway fund on priority tasks.

Notes:
The Countervailing Duty (CVD) is commonly imposed to safeguard domestic companies that are unable to compete with low-cost imports benefiting from subsidies provided by the exporting country.
The Indian government is planning to impose this duty on stainless steel imports to prevent the flooding of cheap imports and protect the domestic manufacturers.