Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2023

Notes:
National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 was unveiled recently by India’s Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
He also launched the Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices along with Assistance for Medical Devices clusters for Common Facilities (AMD-CF).

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:
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:
The Greentech Safety Award 2023 was recently conferred to RINL under the Safety Excellence Category. It was recognized for its role in contributing towards improving workplace safety in the year 2022-23.
RINL was applauded for the initiatives like use of Drone technology for inspection of high-rise structures and chimneys, development of Software Application for tracking the usage of Safety Harnesses.

Notes:
Hvaldimir is the name given to a beluga whale that is suspected of being a Russian spy. It was spotted recently off the Swedish coast.
It was earlier spotted in northern Norway in April 2019 wearing a camera harness. US Navy used dolphins and sea lions as spies.

Notes:
The US Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for older adults, the second such shot approved for the common virus.
Earlier in May, the agency approved the world’s first RSV vaccine for older adults, made by GSK. The vaccines could be available for seniors by fall, pending recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its vaccine advisers.

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:
Research teams from Australia, Italy and Brazil made use of a digital model of Egyptian King Tutankhamun’s mummified skull and managed to recreate the face.
A team of researchers including forensic experts and anthropologists have created a novel digital reconstruction of King Tutankhamun’s face using advanced techniques.

Notes:
Article 202 of the Constitution requires the state governments to present their budget each year before the legislature.
A new report by think-tank PRS Legislative Research revealed that, on an average, 20 states discussed budgets for 8 days in 2022. State assemblies across the country met for an average of 21 days in 2022.

Notes:
The Mars Express spacecraft, launched by the European Space Agency in 2003, has exceeded its planned lifespan, offering insights into Mars’ geological and atmospheric characteristics.
It also found evidence of water ice on and beneath the surface and was helping with other missions like NASA’s Phoenix and Mars Science Laboratory missions. The Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) affixed to the Mars Express will live stream the happenings on Mars.