Current Affairs Quiz - May 2022

Notes:
Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution announced that the second phase of the mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and gold artefacts will come into force from June 1, 2022.
The second phase will cover additional three caratages of gold jewellery namely 20, 23 and 24 carats. 32 new districts under the mandatory hallmarking regime where an Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC) has been set up post implementation of the first phase. A consumer can get the purity of their unhallmarked gold jewellery tested in AHCs.

Notes:
As per the new rule released by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in), VPN companies are asked to collect and preserve data on their clients for a period of five years.
CERT-in, which is overseen by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, issued a new set of guidelines to coordinate response activities as well as emergency measures with respect to cyber security incidents. For five years, data centres and crypto exchanges must keep a wide range of data about their users.

Notes:
World Athletics Day was introduced by International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) to promote participation in athletics among youngsters. World Athletics Day was first celebrated in 1996.
IAAF is the international governing body for field athletics and track founded in 1912 in Stockholm (Sweden). Every year on the 7th of May, World Athletics Day is commemorated across the world.

Notes:
Karnataka’s first floating bridge has been recently inaugurated on the Malpe Beach in Udupi. A visitor can feel the sea wave movement while walking on the bridge.
The bridge is 100-metre-long and 3-metre-wide and around 100 visitors will be allowed to walk on the bridge. As the bridge is not permanently attached, it could be easily relocated to another place easily.

Notes:
MIT astronomers have recently discovered a “black widow binary”, a rapidly spinning neutron star circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star.
It has been found 3,000 light-years from Earth. The newly discovered black-widow binary named ZTF J1406+1222, is the tightest black-widow binary known as the pulsar and the companion locked in an orbital motion with a period of just 62 minutes.

 

Notes:
In the India leg of the annual Global Backyard Bird Count (GBCC) coordinated by Bird Count India, participants counted birds from a particular location.
Over 3000 birders uploaded 41,694 checklists and recorded 1,017 species, which is 75% of the total number of species known to occur in the country. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded four new species in the top five namely the Andaman coucal, red-whiskered bulbul, white-throated kingfisher, and brown shrike.

Notes:
The Department of Telecom has removed ‘Network operation and control centre’ (NOCC) charges for the use of space segments for all services like VSAT, satellite telephony etc for which permits are issued by the department.
This step is expected to enhance ease of doing business. The DoT earlier levied Rs 21 lakh per transponder a year for 36 megahertz of spectrum as NOCC charges. The department also levied NOCC charges of Rs 6,000 for every trial of antenna used for receiving and transmitting signals.

Notes:
To commemorate the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the World Red Cross day is celebrated every year on May 8.
The day also marks the birth anniversary of Henry Dunant, the founder of ‘International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’ and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize. The theme for 2022 is ‘Be Human Kind’.

Notes:
Legendary musician and Santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma passed away recently at the age of 84. He is known for popularising the santoor instrument.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma received the prestigious Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. He has composed music for many hindi films and produced a famous concept album ‘Call of the Valley’.

Notes:
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Britain’s biggest business organisation CBI have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a new joint commission called UK-India Business Commission.
It aims to increase cross industry collaboration and fast-track the development of UK-India free trade agreement (FTA).