Current Affairs Quiz - June, 2021

Notes:
The Chandra X-ray Observatory, previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, was launched by NASA, aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
Recently, an image from this observatory was released by NASA. It shows threads of superheated gas and magnetic fields weaving around each other, at the center of our Mily Way Galaxy. These new observations stretch above and below our galaxy’s plane, where most of the stars are found.

Notes:
The state government of Karnataka has introduced a city sewage surveillance system in Bangalore. This is aimed to track coronavirus at an early stage.
This effort of Karnataka is supported by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and COVIDactionCollab (CAC). CAC is supporting the state by providing training to sanitation workers in collecting samples and analysing them in labs.

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:
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) said that it has introduced the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers across the world.
The technology was developed at Nano Biotechnology Research Centre, Kalol. This is expected to reduce the input cost of farmers and will significantly bring down the cost of logistics and warehousing.

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:
The Norwegian Refugee Council released its annual index of the 10 most neglected displacement crises in the world.
Two million people were displaced last year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and it has the world’s most neglected number of displaced people. African Countries dominated this year’s list, wherein DRC is followed by Cameroon, Burundi and Venezuela.

Notes:
NASA has planned to send 128 baby squids and some 5,000 tardigrades, also called as Water Bears to the International Space Station for research purposes.
The water animals will be launched aboard SpaceX’s 22nd cargo resupply mission to the ISS. The experiments will also help to understand how beneficial microbes interact with animals. The experiments would also help design protective measures for astronauts going for long space travel.

Notes:
India’s Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan completed his tenure as Chairman of WHO Executive Board on June 02.
During the 149th session of the WHO Executive board, Harsh Vardhan announced that Dr Patrick Amoth, Acting Director-General for Health, Ministry of Health of Kenya has been appointed as the Chair of WHO Executive Board.

Notes:
Cyrtodactylus bengkhuaiai, one of four new species of bent-toed geckos recently discovered, has been named in honour of a Mizo Chief Bengkhuaia, who fought the British forces 150 years ago.
Two geckos each were found in Mizoram and Meghalaya by two groups of scientists in October-November 2020. This gecko is a species of pest-controlling lizard new to science.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) six-member monetary policy committee, headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das, kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged.
The repo rate will continue at 4.00% and reverse repo rate at 3.35%. With this, the repo rate has remained unchanged for a sixth consecutive time. The decision has been taken amid coronavirus uncertainty and fears over inflation.