Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2021

Notes:
The ongoing 74th World Health Assembly declared January 30 as ‘World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day’.
The proposal to recognise the day was initiated by the United Arab Emirates and it was adopted unanimously by the member countries. NTDs are a group of infections caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and parasitic worms.

Notes:
A team of Australian scientists has discovered a new species of a tree frog from the rainforests of New Guinea.
Also called as the “chocolate frog” due to its chocolate colour, it belongs to the Australasian tree frog genus Litoria. Hence the new species was named as ‘Litoria mira’. The closest known relative of this new species is the Australian green tree frog.

Notes:
The Indian Army has planned to lease Israel’s Heron TP drones and deploy the same along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
This decision comes in the wake of ongoing tensions between India and China along the LAC and these drones would be deployed to monitor the activities of Chinese troops.

Notes:
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a detailed photograph of a spiral galaxy called NGC 691.
NGC 691 is a spiral galaxy located at around 125 million light-years away in the constellation of Aries. It is the foremost member of the NGC 691 group, a collection of nine galaxies of varied shapes and colors.

Notes:
New Zealand has entered into an agreement for space exploration with NASA.
With this, New Zealand becomes the eleventh country to sign the Artemis Accord, which is an agreement with NASA to be a part of its plans to send humans to the moon by 2024 and further to Mars.

Notes:
The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme. The programme has been launched on a pilot basis in 12 clusters covering 11 States/UTs.
This is a central sector programme implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB), which aims to make identified horticulture clusters globally competitive.

Notes:
Microsoft has launched the first Asia Pacific Public Sector Cyber Security Executive Council. It aims to build a strong communications channel for addressing cyber threats.
It also aims to share best practices across the participating countries by accelerating public-private partnerships in cybersecurity. The council has policy makers from many Asian countries, supported by cybersecurity professionals.

Notes:
CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) Pune has developed a hybrid technology called “SWASTIIK”, for disinfecting water by using natural oils.
With support from the Water Technology Initiative of the department of science and technology (DST), the team has developed the technology. It involves boiling of a liquid as a result of pressure reduction (cavitation) and also uses natural oils having antimicrobial properties, to disinfect.

Notes:
Mahesh Jethmalani, who is a noted advocate has been recently nominated by the Union Government to the Rajya Sabha. Additionally, former journalist Swapan Dasgupta has also been nominated to the upper house.
Mahesh Jethmalani has been nominated to Rajya Sabha to fill the vacancy of seat due to the demise of Raghunath Mohapatra.

Notes:
President Joe Biden’s administration of the USA has formally ended the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which denies asylum seekers entry into the USA.
Under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which was brought into force in 2019, individuals who arrived at the Southwest Border of the USA were returned to Mexico to await removal proceedings in US courts.