Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal released the first State Ranking Index for implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013. The states and UTs were ranked based on three parameters for the year 2022.
Among the 20 big states and Union Territories (UTs), Odisha topped the index followed by Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, while Goa was at the last. Tripura ranked first and Ladakh was at the last among the 14 smaller states and UTs.

Notes:
Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh announced setting up of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Memorial Award in public administration in the field of academic excellence.
He announced the award in memory of the first President of India, while he chaired the meeting of Executive Council of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in New Delhi.

Notes:
As part of the ongoing Digital India Week 2022 celebrations, a virtual event on India Stack Knowledge Exchange was also organised.
Indiastack.global was launched by the Prime Minister, which is a single repository of all major projects on India Stack. The Indian government has decided to share with the world the many e-governance tools including Aadhaar, the DigiLocker, CoWin Platform, the Government e-Marketplace, and Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission.

Notes:
NTPC Renewable Energy Limited (NTPC REL) signed an MoU with National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) to collaborate in the field of Renewable Energy and Green Chemicals.
The agreement also includes collaboration in synthesizing Green Ammonia for captive use for production of Industrial products by NFL. NTPC recently announced Green Hydrogen initiatives and first pilot projects for synthesizing green Methanol, setting up Green Hydrogen filling station, Green hydrogen blending into PNG and Green energy storage project.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently provided payment aggregator licences to several payment providers such as Razorpay, Pine Labs, Stripe, and 1Pay.
Payment aggregators are entities that enable e-commerce sites and merchants to accept various payment instruments from customers for completion of their payment obligations. According to RBI guidelines, payment aggregators need to have a net worth of Rs 15 crore as on March 2021, and a net worth of Rs 25 crore by on or before March 2023.

Notes:
State-run engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has successfully commissioned 100-MW floating Solar photovoltaic plant at NTPC Ramagundam in Telangana.
The plant is installed across the natural raw water reservoir, saving valuable land resources, and also conserves water by reducing evaporation. All major components of the solar plant namely solar PV modules, floaters, biodegradable natural ester oil filled inverter-duty transformers, switchgear, SCADA and cables are indigenous.

Notes:
The United Nations released the twenty-seventh edition of the official population estimates and projections titled ‘World Population Prospects 2022’ on World Population Day, July 11, 2022.
As per the publication, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023. The global population is projected to reach eight billion by November 15, 2022, could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.

Notes:
The Singalila National Park, the highest protected area in West Bengal has launched a programme to release about 20 red pandas in a period of five years.
West Bengal’s Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park has started this programme to release 20 of red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) into the forests.

Notes:
The Indian Air Force became the first among the services to set up a dedicated Center of excellence for artificial intelligence.
Under military modernization, Artificial intelligence is changing supply logistics, intelligence gathering, sensors, and military robots through the application as commonly known as the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT).

Notes:
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 report was issued by U.N. agencies: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO.
The number of undernourished people in India has declined in the last 15 years to 224.3 million in 2019-2021. The report also noted that there are more obese adults and anaemic women in India, the world’s second most populous country.