Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2022

Notes:
Alphabet Inc’s Google has announced to set up its first cloud region in Greece, as the country is making efforts to become a world cloud computing hub.
The deal is estimated to contribute some USD 2.13 billion to the GDP of Greece and create some 20,000 jobs by 2030. A cloud region is based around a cluster of data centres. Microsoft has also decided to build a data centre hub in the country.

Notes:
India has signed a USD 250 million deal to export arms and ammunition to Armenia, which is currently engaged in clashes with its neighbour Azerbaijan.
India will send indigenously developed multi-barrel Pinaka launchers, anti-tank rockets, and other range of ammunitions to Armenia, the former Soviet region. This is the first time, India is set to export its Pinaka missile system.

Notes:
Tokenization is the process of replacing original card details with an alternative code called a ‘token’. The token would be unique and it provides an additional degree of protection for customer card details.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2019 allowed card networks to tokenize card transactions. The deadline for successful execution of tokenization of card-based payments was October 1.

Notes:
Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), a body under the Department of Telecommunications, (Ministry of Communication) officially launched Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme.
The scheme aims to promote indigenous manufacturing and innovation in the sector. TTDF aims to fund research and development in rural-specific communication technology applications.

Notes:
The Bannerman’s Turaco, known in the Oku language as the Fen, is a bird deep cultural value for the people in Cameroon.
It has a heavy yellow bill with a dark red culmen and exposed nostrils. It also has a loud, distinctive call that can be heard up to 1 kilometre. As per experts, the bird, which is already under IUCN List of Threatened Species, could disappear entirely, if forest disappears. The number of birds estimated to be 1,500, are falling due to habitat destruction and tradition of hunting birds for feathers.

Notes:
The Punjab legislative assembly unanimously passed a bill to dissolve the state vigilance commission, set up two years ago.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann tabled the Punjab State Vigilance Commission (Repeal) Bill, 2022. It was set up in 2006 to inquire into complaints against public servants and was dissolved in 2007. The commission was constituted again in November 2020.

Notes:
The Australian government has announced a zero extinctions target for the country’s plants and animals. This is the first time a federal government announcing such a target.
The goal forms part of a 10-year plan to improve the trajectory of 110 species and 20 places, and protect an additional 50m hectares of land and sea area by 2027. The number of priority species has increased from 100 to 110 and locations have increased from six to 20.

Notes:
The Directorate General of Training (DGT) has launched Bharatskills Forum, a new feature allows sharing of books, notes, videos, question bank for skill learners.
It has been added to the Bharatskills learning platform developed by DGT. It is the apex organisation under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for coordination at national level for vocational training programmes.

Notes:
The Nobel Prize for Physics 2022 is being shared by three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F Clauser and Anton Zeilinger, for their work on quantum mechanics.
The three scientists conducted a series of experiments on entangled quantum states, where two separate particles behave like a single unit. Their results will have implications in the fields of quantum computers, quantum networks and secure quantum encrypted communication.

Notes:
The Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab submitted its report on ‘Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)’.
It is implemented by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. As per the report, Under PMKVY 3.0, in 2021-22, only 72 % was utilised.  Under PMKVY 3.0, out of about four lakh candidates, only 8% have been placed.  During PMKVY 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, about 20% of the total enrolled candidates dropped out of the training programme.