Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

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:
NATO member Turkey has agreed to support Sweden and Finland’s membership of the alliance. It had initially opposed the bids of the Nordic countries to join.
A trilateral deal was reached at a meeting between Turkey’s President, Finland’s President and the Swedish Prime Minister in the Spanish capital, Madrid. Foreign Ministers from the three countries signed a joint security pact that addressed Turkey’s concerns.

Notes:
In the QS Best Student Cities Ranking 2023, London has been ranked as the best city for students looking to study abroad.
Seoul and Munich are at the second place. The report ranks 140 cities in terms of affordability, student facilities, and university standard among other factors. India’s highest-ranked student city is Mumbai at 103 spot. It is followed by Bengaluru at 114th rank.

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:
Every year on the third Saturday of September, the world celebrates ‘International Coastal Clean-Up Day.’
On September 17, 2022, the Government of India, in collaboration with other voluntary organizations and the local community, is set to launch the “Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar” cleanliness campaign along India’s entire coastline.

Notes:
Every year on July 2, the World Unidentified flying objects (UFO) Day is celebrated. It aims to create awareness to gather together and watch the skies for UFOs.
July 2 is marked after the ‘Roswell incident in 1947’ of the United States Army Air Forces, which was a supposed UFO crash. The day also encouraged governments to declassify their files on UFO sightings.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank has launched the next round of its order books, inventories and capacity utilisation survey (OBICUS) of manufacturing companies.
The results of the survey provide valuable inputs for monetary policy formulation. The 58th round of the OBICUS is for April – June 2022 period. The information collected in the survey includes data on new orders received during the reference quarter, backlog of orders, pending and total inventories among others.

Notes:
Delhi will host its first ever government-backed shopping festival from January 28 to February 26 2023.
As per the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the festival will have 200 concerts for entertainment, food walks. It was one of the projects proposed in the Rozgaar Budget 2022-23 presented by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

Notes:
The Padma Multipurpose Bridge, the longest bridge in Bangladesh, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June 2022.
The 6.15-km-long Padma Multipurpose Bridge, constructed at a cost of nearly USD 3.87 billion is one of the largest projects Bangladesh has ever undertaken. After World Bank withdrew from funding the project, Bangladesh opted for self-funding.

Notes:
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General, Mohammad Barkindo, has passed away at the age of 63.
Nigeria’s Barkindo headed the Organization since 2016 and was scheduled to be replaced by Kuwait’s Haitham Al-Ghais next month. Under his leadership, the cartel tied up with 10 other oil-producing countries, such as Russia, to form a wider group known as OPEC+.