Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2022

Notes:
A Chennai-based chess player V Pranav became India’s 75th Grandmaster by winning a tournament in Romania.
The 15-year-old player won the Limpedea Open in Baia Mare, Romania to secure his third and final GM norm and attain the Grandmaster title. He also finished the tournament with 7 points from nine rounds. Pranav is the 27th Grandmaster from the state of Tamil Nadu.

Notes:
Rupal Chaudhary created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at the World U20 Athletics Championship.
She clinched silver medal in the 4x400m relay as well as a bronze medal in the women’s 400m. Also known as the World Junior Championships, the event was held in Colombia.

Notes:
Microsoft has become the first global Big Tech Company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
ONDC is an Indian government initiative for developing a first-of-its-kind open network for digital commerce. Microsoft has planned to introduce social e-commerce through its app in the Indian market shortly.

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:
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has proposed a 3-men commission for global peace. It includes Pope Francis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Mexican President is set to submit a written proposal to the UN to create the commission to promote a world truce for a period of five years. The Mexican President has also invited China, Russia, and the US to seek peace.

Notes:
The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), the home-grown howitzer gun, will be used for the ceremonial 21-gun salute during the Independence Day ceremony in New Delhi on 15 August, 2022, for the first time.
ATAGS, the indigenous gun, was designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The British guns are being traditionally fired until now.

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:
Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned approval for the creation of Village Defence Guard Scheme – 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, this scheme was known as Village Defence Committee, in which volunteers from villages were trained by Indian Army and Police. Rifles were provided to VDCs and they protected the vulnerable villages in mountainous areas from terror-related activities.

Notes:
The State Bank of India (SBI) will manage the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh for two more years.
At present, SBI runs a total of 15 IVACs across Bangladesh and the first IVAC was started by SBI in 2005 in Dhaka. The agreement to extend the operations for two more years was signed recently.

Notes:
Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two day National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference 2022 in New Delhi.
He also inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which will help in quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of centralized finger print database.