Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with a budgetary outlay of ₹2,516 crore.
The objective is to increase efficiency of PACS, bring transparency and accountability in their operations This project proposes computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS over a period of 5 years with Government of India share of ₹1,528 crore. State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks were already automated by NABARD and brought on Common Banking Software.

Notes:
The 11th World Urban Forum was held in Poland. The National Institute of Urban Affairs’ (NIUA) Climate Centre for Cities (NIUA C-Cube), World Resources Institute India (WRI India) and their partners launched India’s first national coalition platform for urban nature-based solutions (NbS).
‘India Forum for Nature-Based Solutions’ aims to create a collective of NbS entrepreneurs, government entities and like-minded organisations, to aid in scaling urban nature-based solutions.

 

Notes:
Leaders of the powerful G7 grouping and its five partner countries, including India issued a joint statement titled ‘2022 Resilient Democracies Statement’.
The leaders affirmed that they are committed to open public debate and the free flow of information online and offline while guarding the freedom, independence and diversity of civil society actors.

Notes:
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has Union Finance Minister as chairperson, the Union Minister of State (Finance) from the Centre. Each state can nominate a minister in-charge as a member.
The two-day meeting of the 47th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was recently held in Chandigarh. The Council agreed to levy 18 per cent tax on cheques, lose or in book form. Hotel accommodations below Rs 1,000 will be taxed at 12 per cent among other changes.

Notes:
The Group of 7 (G7) leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US have concluded a two-day summit.
They also announced goals of an open and cooperative international Climate Club towards establishing it by the end of 2022. The G7 leaders also condemned “Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine”.

Notes:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the ‘Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP), 2020’. Andhra Pradesh has topped the Business Reform Action Plan 2020 Rankings in the Ease of Doing Business.
It is followed by Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The BRAP 2020 includes 301 reform points covering 15 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, Land Administration etc.

Notes:
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a Government of India initiative that aims to build an open network for buyers and sellers to democratise the current e-commerce ecosystem in the country.
It has launched a ‘Grand Hackathon’ in collaboration with NABARD. The event is divided into two categories: Agri Grant Challenge and Agri Innovation Hackathon, to showcase the innovations to aid the adoption of e-commerce in the agricultural sector.

Notes:
IRDAI and National Health Authority (NHA) are set to develop a National Health Claims Exchange as a digital platform to settle health claims.
Based on a presentation from NHA, Chairman of IRDAI Debasish Panda, has proposed to create a working group with representation from the industry. It will decide how to make the largest segment of general insurance in India attract more people to buy health insurance.

Notes:
Tokyo champion Viktor Axelsen and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon won the singles title at the 2022 Malaysia Open.
Intanon beat Olympic badminton gold medallist Chen Yufei to win the women’s singles crown while Axelsen beat second seed Momota Kento of Japan to win the men’s title in Malaysia.

Notes:
Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees. The Varroa mite reproduces only in a honey bee colony.
After the detection of the Varroa destructor mite, Australia is taking measures to protect its honey bees. The mite has caused severe collapses of honey bee colonies in the US and other part of the world.