Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
The CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership was launched in 2005 with the support of India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Commerce & Industry. It aimed to encourage the development of private investment from India in African countries.
The 17^th edition of the Conclave is being held in New Delhi. High-level diplomats from around 17 African nations are participating in the summit.

Notes:
The US House of Representatives passed a bill to protect marriage equality. It is also feared that the Supreme Court could roll back the recognition of same-sex marriage.
The legislation ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ was passed as 47 Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the measure. The bill will now go to the Senate for a vote.

Notes:
NITI Aayog has released a report titled ‘A proposal for Digital Banks in India: Licensing and Regulatory Regime’.
The report recommends a calibrated approach, comprising ‘Issue of a restricted digital bank licence’, ‘Enlistment in a regulatory sandbox framework enacted by the Reserve Bank of India’ and ‘Issue of a full-scale digital bank licence’.

Notes:
‘Basic Road Statistics in India-2018-19’ was released by the Transport Research Wing of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
It covers information relating to road length, surfaced road length, major initiatives of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. India has a network of over 63,31,757 kilometres of roads on 31.03.2019, which is the second largest in the world. Maharashtra has the largest network of National Highways, State highways as well as Rural Roads.

Notes:
Varuna, India’s first drone that can carry human pay-load has a range of 25 km. The passenger drone can carry 130 kg payload and has 25-33 minutes of flight time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently watched the demonstration of India’s first passenger drone, Varuna. ‘Varuna’ drone has been designed and developed by a startup ‘Sagar Defence Engineering’.

Notes:
Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through its autonomous Institute National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has developed Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology for conversion of sea water to potable water.
Three desalination plants using the technology have been developed and demonstrated at Kavaratti, Agati and Minicoy Islands of Lakshadweep

Notes:
The 9th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes was recently held in a virtual mode.
Both sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation under the framework of ASEAN-India Work Plan to combat Transnational Crimes. The 10th ASEAN-India SOMTC Consultation on Transnational Crimes will be held in 2023 in Indonesia.

Notes:
The running and maintenance of ships of the Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep have been handed over to the Shipping Corporation of India to improve shipping operations.
The administration of the Union Territory (UT) announced that out of the five ships in service for the people of Lakshadweep and connecting between islands and Kochi, two are undergoing repairs.

Notes:
Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh released the ‘India’s Bioeconomy Report 2022’ recently. India’s Bio-economy has reached over USD 80 billion in 2021 with 14.1% growth over 2020. It is likely to touch 150 billion dollars by 2025 and over 300 billion dollars by 2030.
Dr Jitendra Singh also launched Special ‘Biotech Ignition Grant call for North East Region’ (BIG-NER) with a financial support of Rs 50 Lakhs each to 25 start-ups and entrepreneurs from North East Region to develop biotech solutions.

Notes:
The Tamil Nadu government recently instituted of district climate change missions (DCCM) across 38 districts in the state.
The DCCMs will be administered by District Collectors as ‘Mission Directors’ while District forest officers (DFOs) will function as ‘climate officers’. The collectors will prepare district-level climate change mitigation and adaptation plans and provide inputs for low-carbon, climate-resilient development plans.