Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
Odisha celebrates the 86th foundation day of the state on April 1, known as ‘Utkal Divas’. It is on the same day that the state became independent in the year 1936.
Utkal Divas, also known as Odisha Day and Utkala Dibasa, commemorates the struggle which gained a separate identity for the state.

Notes:
‘Mes Aynak site’ and ‘Buddhas of Bamiyan’ are located in Afghanistan. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has announced that it would protect the ancient Buddha statues in Mes Aynak.
It is also a copper mine site, where the Taliban are hoping for Chinese investment. When Talibans ruled Afghanistan, they destructed the centuries-old Buddha statues in Bamiyan using artillery, explosives, and rockets. UNESCO included the remains of the Bamiyan Buddhas in its list of world heritage sites in 2003.

Notes:
As per the data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) crossed the 500-crore mark in terms of volume.
In March this year, UPI was close to touching the ₹10-lakh crore milestone in value terms in March this year. There were around 315 banks live on the UPI platform by March this year.

Notes:
A report by the World Wildlife Fund showed that the illegal online trade of wildlife is growing in Myanmar, which is seen as a threat both to public health and to endangered species.
The report found that enforcement of bans on such transactions has weakened amid political crisis following a 2021 military takeover. Out of the 173 species traded, 54 are threatened with global extinction. The animals included elephants, bears and gibbons, Tibetan antelope, critically endangered pangolins and an Asian giant tortoise.

Notes:
A draft recommendation on ‘Biodiversity and health’ was released during the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Geneva.
It will be the key focus area of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The convention, a part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was held physically after two years. It involved discussions to address the need and provide guidance for the One Health approach.

Notes:
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur launched the logo, jersey, mascot and anthem of the Khelo India University Games 2021 (KIUG 2021).
The mascot is an elephant named as ‘Veera’. The event to be held in Bengaluru, postponed due to the ongoing Covid crisis last year, will be the second edition of KIUG. It includes Yogasana and Mallakhamb for the first time.

Notes:
Arunachal Pradesh signed a pact with WWF India to develop the State Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (SBSAP).
The SBSAP will be aligned with the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and Pakke Declaration. The state cabinet adopted the ‘Pakke Tiger Reserve 2047 Declaration on Climate Change Resilient and Responsive Arunachal Pradesh’, last year.

Notes:
HDFC Bank and HDFC Limited recently announced the merger of the two entities. HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by assets, has a market cap of Rs 8.35 trillion.
HDFC Limited, India’s largest housing finance company with Assets Under Management (AUM) worth Rs 5.26 trillion and a market cap of Rs 4.44 trillion will merge with HDFC Bank. The subsidiary or associates of HDFC Limited will also be transferred to HDFC Bank, after regulatory approvals.

Notes:
The US-based National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate three experimental HIV vaccines based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform.
It is the technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines. This study named HVTN 302 is sponsored by NIAID while the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network is conducting the trial.

Notes:
After images of civilian bodies were found in the streets of Bucha city of Ukraine, there have been outrages across the world.
At the UNSC meeting on Ukraine which was addressed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, T S Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative at the UN condemned the Bucha civilian killings and called for an independent probe.