Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2022

Notes:
Bihar Chief Minister formally announced that the alliance between JD(U) and BJP has broken off. He has joined hands again with the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
After exiting the NDA alliance, Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time in 22 years, with the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Notes:
Papua New Guinea’s Parliament has elected Prime Minister James Marape to power after elections in the South Pacific Island nation.
Marape was sworn in as the Prime Minister for a second time. The contenders to lead the new government were Marape and Peter O’Neill, his predecessor who resigned in 2019. Papua New Guinea is a diverse tribal society, which gained independence from Australia in 1975.

Notes:
Microsoft and the Indian government are set to collaborate for a programme to train 2.5 million civil servants in using Microsoft’s suite of digital tools.
The partnership between Microsoft, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), and the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) aims to help civil servants in helping the underprivileged.

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:
Singapore declared its 200-year-old green and open space Padang, as its 75th national monument, as the city-state celebrates its 57th National Day.
Padang is the site from where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave his ‘Delhi Chalo’ slogan in 1943. Padang is also the first green and open space on Singapore’s list of national monuments, the highest form of recognition for a site’s significance.

Notes:
Malaysia is the host of the bilateral air exercise named ‘Udarashakti’. A contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is participating in the exercise.
The four-day exercise includes various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces. The first such bilateral Air Force exercise displaying the frontline Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft was conducted in 2018.

Notes:
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has submitted data from Phase 3 clinical trials of BBV154, its intranasal Covid vaccine candidate, to the drug regulator.
It has sought approval both as a primary two-dose vaccine, and a heterologous booster shot. A heterologous booster means the third or subsequent dose of the vaccine is different from its primary dose.

Notes:
Iran announced that it submitted a written response, as a final roadmap to restore its nuclear deal with world powers.
Tehran under its President Ebrahim Raisi has repeatedly tried to blame the United States for the delay in reaching an accord.

Notes:
Chinese surveillance vessel Yuan Wang 5 has recently visited the Hambantota port, located in Sri Lanka.
After security concerns, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that China will not be allowed to use the facility for ‘military purposes’.

Notes:
The US government recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, 2022, joining forces with its central bank in the fight to reduce inflation.
The US Federal Reserve has increased policy rates by an unprecedented 225 basis points over the last four monetary policy meetings. The act aims to boost government revenues by around USD 737 billion, and spend USD 437 billion during 2022-31. The savings is expected to translate into lower deficits.