Current Affairs Quiz 23rd June 2022 : Daily GK Update

Exp. Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated Mango Festival in Belgium

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal inaugurated a Mango Festival organised in Brussels, Belgium.

Objective –To create awareness among the Europeans and create a market for Indian mangoes in Europe.

India is a big supplier of mangoes to the rest of the globe.

About Belgium

• Capital – Brussels
• Currency –  Euro
• President- Charles Michel
• Prime Minister – Alexander De Croo

Exp. Indian Oil Corporation launched an indoor solar cooking stove, name Surya Nutan

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has launched a special type of solar stove. The name of this stove is ‘Surya Nutan’ has given.

This stove will run entirely on solar energy. With this, there will be no need for any kind of fuel for cooking. Neither wood nor gas.

This stove will be charged by the rays of the sun and will cook food.

To buy Surya Nutan, money has to be spent once and later there will be no maintenance charge.

Surya Nutan Chulha is rechargeable and used indoor cooking stove.

This stove was launched at the residence of Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Delhi.

About Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)

• Founded – 30 June 1959
• Headquarters – New Delhi
• Chairman – Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
• Owner – Government of India (52.1%)

Exp. First India-Nepal Bharat Gaurav tourist train flagged off from New Delhi

First Bharat Gaurav tourist train connecting places associated with the Ramayana   Circuit in India and Nepal was flagged off from the Safdarjung Railway Station in New Delhi.

The Bharat Gaurav train carrying 500 tourists from India will arrive at the Janakpur  Dham railway station in Nepal.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC) 18-day Shri Ramayana Yatra special tourist train will take pilgrims to sacred places associated with the life of Lord Ram.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw along with Minister of Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy flagged off the train.

About Nepal

• Capital –Kathmandu
• Currency– Rupee
• President –Bidhya Devi Bhandari
• Prime Minister– Sher Bahadur Deuba

Exp. WGC report: India ranked 4^th in global gold recycling; recycled 75 tonnes in 2021

According to World Gold Council Report, India has emerged as the 4^th largest recycler in the world and country has recycled 75 tonnes in 2021.

China topped the global gold recycling report as it recycled 168 tonnes of the yellow metals.

Followed by Italy in 2^nd position with 80 tonnes and USA in 3^rd position with 78 tonnes.

WGC report title – Gold Refining and Recycling.

Recent Index

• UNCTAD’s World Investment Report: India ranked 7th among recipients of FDI in CY 2021; US topped
• Global Environmental Performance Index 2022:180th; Denmark topped
• IMD’s World Competitiveness Index 2022:37th; Denmark topped
• Coursera Global Skill Report 2022: 68th; Switzerland topped
• Ookla Speedtest Global Index 2022: 115th; Norway and Singapore topped

Exp. World’s largest freshwater fish found in Cambodia

The world’s largest freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia.

The stingray, almost 13 feet snout to tail and weighed slightly under 300 kilograms.

About Cambodia

• Capital – Phnom Penh
• Currency – Cambodian riel
• Prime Minister – Samdech Hun Sen

Exp. Oracle introduced OCI dedicated region for India market

Oracle cloud, US based cloud service platform, infrastructure has introduces OCI dedicated region for the India market.

It will offer for the India market to offer public cloud services to customers on their premises.

The new OCI Dedicated Region requires 60%-75% less data center space and power on average, with a significantly lower entry price of around $1 million a year for a typical customer,”

Many governments in India already run so many Oracle solutions including departments like commercial taxes, power (meter data management), social justice (courts), urban local bodies, health, locomotive works and more.

About Oracle

• Founded –16 June 1977
• Founder – Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, Ed Oates
• Headquarters – Austin, Texas, US
• CEO-Safra Ada Catz

Exp. Ookla Speedtest Global Index: India ranked 115^th; Norway and Singapore topped

The Speedtest Global Index released by network intelligence and connectivity insights provider Ookla showed that India recorded 14.28 Mbps median mobile download speeds in the month of May, slightly better than 14.19 Mbps in April 2022.

With this, the country is now three notches up in its global ranking and is at 115th position.

Norway and Singapore are on the top spots for global mobile speeds (median download speed of 129.40 Mbps) and fixed broadband speeds (209.21 Mbps) respectively.

Recent Index

• Coursera Global Skill Report 2022: 68th; Switzerland topped
• IMD’s World Competitiveness Index 2022:37th; Denmark topped
• Global Environmental Performance Index 2022:180th; Denmark topped
• WEF’s Travel and Tourism Development Index 2021: 54^th
• UNCTAD’s World Investment Report: India ranked 7th among recipients of FDI in CY 2021; US topped

Exp. India recognized as ‘country of the year’ by Europe’s biggest startup conference ‘Vivatech 2020’

Europe’s biggest startup conference – Vivatech 2020 has recognized India as the “country of the year.”

This is due to the contribution of the Indian startups to the world. This is the recognition of Indian startups.

Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated the India pavilion at the technology exhibition Vivatech 2020, held in Paris, France. Around 65 start-ups from India are participating in Vivatech 2022 with government support.

About France

• Capital –Paris
• Currency –Euro
• President –Emmanuel Macron
• Prime Minister– Elisabeth Borne

Exp. IAMAI set up a committee to study issues faced by Venture Capital (VC) firms in India; chaired by Vikas Agnihotri

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced setting up a committee to hold public policy consultations for building an industry network of VC firms.

Vikas Agnihotri, operating partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will chair the committee.

Shweta Rajpal Kohli , chief public policy officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia, will be the co-chair.

Recent Committee

• SC appointed 3-member committee to manage functioning of All India Football Federation:AR Dave
• Reconstituted Inter-State Council: PM Narendra Modi; Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council: Amit Shah
• Uttarakhand formed panel to implement Uniform Civil Code: Ranjana Desai
• SEBI restructured its Mutual Funds Advisory Committee:Usha Thorat

Exp. DBS Bank acquired 9.9 per cent Stakes in Savkarma Finance

DBS Bank India Limited (DBIL) has acquired a 9.9 per cent stake in Savkarma Finance (a non-banking finance company) to deliver financial solutions to micro enterprises through a combination of direct lending and co-lending.

DBIL is among the first foreign bank in India to start operating as wholly owned, locally incorporated subsidiary.

DBIL is subsidiary of Singapore based DBS and had acquired LVB in FY21.

About Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) Bank

• Founded– 1968
• Headquarters – Singapore
• Chairman –Peter Seah
• CEO – Piyush Gupta

Exp. TCS bagged deal from Aadhar Housing Finance to improve business operation

TCS has bagged a deal to drive business process transformation at Aadhar Housing Finance.The Aadhar Housing Finance will be deploying the Tata group company’s lending and securitization platform for market expansion.The partnership with TCS is for an end-to-end business process transformation using the integrated and collaborative block chain-based cloud platform.The Indian market constitutes around 5 per cent of the revenues for the TCS, which depends on the export markets for revenues.

About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

• Founded-1 April 1968
• Founders– Faquir Chand Kohli, Tata Sons, J. R. D. Tata
• Headquarters-Mumbai, Maharashtra
• CEO-Rajesh Gopinathan

Exp. R Kavita Rao appointed as director of NIPFP

Economist R Kavita Rao has taken charge as the director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) for a 5 year.

She has replaced Pinaki Chakraborty.

NIPFP is a centre for research in public economics and policies.

About National Institute of Public Finance and Policy Research institute (NIPFP)

• Founded –4 May 1976
• Headquarters – New Delhi

Exp. Sunil Chhetri becomes joint 5^th highest goal scorer in international football history

Indian men’s football team captain, Sunil Chhetri has become the joint 5^th highest goal scorer in the history of international football.

Chhetri achieved this feat during their AFC Asian Cup Qualifier clash against Hong Kong where he scored his 84^th goal.

He had also surpassed legendary football player Pele’s record of 77 goals.

He now equaled legendary Real Madrid and Hungarian player Ferenc Puskas goals scoring exploits on the international level.

Exp. India Player Rumeli Dhar Announced Retirement from All Forms of Cricket

Former India women’s team captain Rumeli Dhar announced her retirement from all forms of the game.

She also played 78 WODIs, scoring 961 runs and taking 63 wickets, with six half-centuries since her debut against England in 2003 at Lincoln.

She is from West Bengal.

Exp. 23 June – International Widows’ Day

International Widows’ Day is observed across the world on 23 June.

The day aims to gather support for widows and to spread awareness about their situation.

For several women, the hurtful loss of a partner is magnified by a long-term struggle for their basic rights and dignity.

The Loomba Foundation, an NGO based in the United Kingdom, established International Widows Day in 2005.

Theme 2022 – Invisible Women, Invisible Problem

Exp. 23 June – International Olympic Day

International Olympic Day is celebrated on June 23rd across the globe. The day provides a moment for everyone to gather and get active with purpose.

The idea of celebrating an Olympic Day was adopted at the 42nd IOC Session in St Moritz.

It was in 1948 that doctor Gruss, a Czech IOC member, presented the idea of a world Olympic day at the 41st Session of the International Olympic Committee in Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose was to celebrate the idea of the Olympic Movement.

Theme 2022 – Together, For a Peaceful World

Exp. 23 June –United Nations Public Service Day

June 23 is observed as United Nations Public Service Day.

It highlights the contribution and role of public service in the development of all sectors around the world.

The United Nations General Assembly designated June 23 as Public Service Day on December 20, 2002.

Theme 2022 – Building back better from COVID-19: Enhancing innovative partnerships to meet the Sustainable Development Goals

Exp. Photojournalist, R Raveendran passed away

Well known photojournalist, R Raveendran has been passed away at the age of 69.

He has worked in AFP and ANI.

Initially, he worked as teleprinter operator in AFP 1973 and then become a photographer.

He was presently working with ANI as Photo Editor.