Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2022

Notes:
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SIDBI for coordination of functions of related institutions.
Under the partnership, sessions to educate MSMEs about ONDC master-class sessions on ONDC protocol and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) will be held for MSMEs.

Notes:
Private sector lender HDFC Bank has partnered with invoice discounting platform M1xchange. With this the bank can get onboard the Reserve Bank of India’s Trade receivables Discounting System (TReDS) mechanism.
This will bring in high liquidity to the buyers and MSMEs at competitive interest rates.

Notes:
Two institutes of agricultural research body, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), have developed an indigenous vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle.
The disease has recently spread across many states in the last few months. The Centre has planned to commercialise this homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine ‘Lumpi-ProVacInd’. Rajasthan has reported over 2000 deaths of cattle, followed by Gujarat and Punjab.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released guidelines to strengthen the regulatory framework for digital lending activities.
RBI also specified that the lending business can only be carried out by entities regulated by the central bank or those permitted under the law. This has been released in an effort to mitigate the concerns from credit delivery through digital lending methods.

Notes:
China has agreed to finance a feasibility study for a cross-border railway with Nepal under the trans-Himalayan multi-dimensional connectivity network.
This is a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China also pledged USD 118 million for China-assisted projects in the country. China will carry out the feasibility study of Keyrung-Kathmandu Railway under the grant assistance.

Notes:
National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) is a programme to spread Intellectual Property (IP) awareness and provide basic training.
The program has met its goal of providing the training to one million students on July 31, 2022, before its deadline of August 15, 2022.

Notes:
The state government of Odisha joined hands with National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai for protection of saline embankments and coastal protection measures.
As Odisha is vulnerable to flood and cyclone, the partnership with NIOT will help save the life and property of people in coastal areas. The state government has planned to take up climate resilient coastal protection measures by strengthening saline embankments using the latest technology.

Notes:
As per the data released by the National Statistical Office, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased marginally to 6.71 per cent in July from 7.01 per cent in the previous month.
However, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 12.3 per cent in June compared to 19.6 per cent in May.

Notes:
Over 5000 soldiers from the US, Indonesia, Australia, Japan and Singapore participated in the joint combat exercises on Sumatra island in Indonesia.
The exercise was conducted amid growing Chinese maritime activity in the Indo-Pacific region. This is the largest edition of the exercise since it was launched in 2009. Many other countries also sent observers to the exercises.

Notes:
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that India has added 11 more wetlands to the list of Ramsar sites, bringing the country’s total count to 75.
Of the 11 new sites, four are in Tamil Nadu, three in Odisha, two Jammu and Kashmir, and one each in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The 75 Ramsar sites cover an area of 1,326,677 ha in the country.