Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2022

Notes:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ‘Foreign Ministers Meeting’ was held in the city in Tashkent, under the presidency of Uzbekistan.
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart as well as the Afghanistan’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Notes:
A rare 170-carat pink rough diamond weighing 34 grams has been discovered at Lucapa’s Lulo Mine in Angola. Named the ‘Lulo Rose’, it is considered to be the largest pink diamond discovered in the last 300 years.
In 2016, a mining operation yielded a 404-carat white stone named the ‘4th February Stone’. It was the largest ever diamond recovered in Angola.

Notes:
‘World Day Against Trafficking in Persons’ is observed every year on 30 July. This year the theme of the event is “Use and abuse of technology”.
The Blue Heart Campaign was also launched where the blue heart represents the sadness of those who are trafficked, as well as the cold-heartedness of those who buy and sell fellow human beings.

Notes:
The Chabahar Port is a strategic port located in Iran is the commercial transit centre for the Central Asian region.
‘Chabahar Day’ is celebrated to mark the beginning of International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) – an Indian vision to economise movement of cargo between India and Central Asia. On the occasion of ‘Chabahar Day’, Union Ports, Shipping & Waterways Ministry along with the Indian Ports Global Ltd. (IPGL) which was formed to participate in Chabahar development project, organized a conference in Mumbai.

Notes:
20 year old Achinta Sheuli clinched gold medal for India in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in 73-kg category of Weight lifting.
He won the first place with a combined effort of 313 Kilograms (143kg in snatch and 170kg in clean & jerk). Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinunnga have earlier claimed gold medals while Bindyarani Devi and Sanketh Sargar picked up silver medals.

Notes:
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) clocked over 6 billion transactions in July 2022. This was the highest ever by UPI since its inception in 2016.
India’s flagship digital payments platform- UPI reported 6.28 billion transactions amounting to Rs 10.62 trillion. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) operates the platform. The incremental one billion transactions were achieved in a short span of six months.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has cleared the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and it will be tabled in ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament. The bill aims to bring in more flexibility and accountability to the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
CCI is a regulatory authority tasked with checking and eliminating business practices that may harm competition. The body consists of a chairperson and 6 members appointed by the central government.

Notes:
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurated India’s largest online herbarium database, the ‘Indian Virtual Herbarium’ web portal.
The portal has been developed by the Botanical Survey of India under the framework of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and ‘Digital India’. Botanical Survey of India is a subordinate office under the Environment Ministry.

Notes:
Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal announced that India has achieved a landmark milestone, as there are 75000 startups in the country.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognized more than 75,000 startups.  The initial ten thousand startups were recognized in 808 days, while the latest ten thousand were achieved in only 156 days.

Notes:
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has landed in Taiwan amidst rising threats from China over the visit. China warned the US overt his action and the Chinese military also vowed to launch targeted military actions.
As per the US, the visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan and it does not contradict United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 and U.S.-China Joint Communiques.