Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
The US House of Representatives has passed a legislative amendment that approves waiver to India against the punitive CAATSA sanctions for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a US law that authorises the US administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Notes:
Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to connect all registered commercial vehicles equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS).
Now these vehicles can be tracked anywhere in the country through VLTD by both the police and the transport department. When the panic button is pressed, a signal will be received through satellite to 112 and the person in distress would be connected and alert the police.

Notes:
Former Supreme Court judge Vineet Saran has taken over as the BCCI’s ethics officer and ombudsman, filling the dual posts which were lying vacant for a year.
Vineet Saran has succeeded Justice (Retd) D K Jain, whose term ended in June last year. He is a former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court, and also served as a judge in Karnataka and Allahabad High Court.

Notes:
Karnataka has been ranked first in the NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index (2021) for third third time in a row. The first edition was released in October 2019 and second in January 2021.
The India Innovation Index ranks states and union territories on the basis of innovation capabilities. Telangana, Haryana and Maharashtra stood second, third and fourth in the list of top states. Manipur topped the ‘North East and Hill States’ section and Chandigarh won the ‘Union Territory and City States’ category.

Notes:
As per a recent government data, Tamil Nadu tops the list of states so far as utilisation of funds under Smart City Mission.
Tamil Nadu has spent over Rs 3932 crore out of the Rs 4333 crore released by the Centre, Uttar Pradesh is at second position with utilisation of Rs 2699 cr out of the release of Rs 3142 crore. Ther Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was launched on 25 June, 2015.

Notes:
World Chess Day is observed on 20 July every year. It is also known as International Chess Day. On the same day in 1924, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded in Paris.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proposed the idea of celebrating the day in 1966.

Notes:
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has confirmed that the postponed Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8 in 2023.
The Asian Games were scheduled to be held in September 2022 but the OCA announced the postponement until 2023 due to rise in Covid-19 cases in China earlier this year.

Notes:
The United States added Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Macau to a human trafficking blacklist in its annual report.
The list already included Malaysia, alleging weak efforts to stop forced sex work or assist migrant labourers. The US also added Belarus to the blacklist and placed Bulgaria on a watchlist on concerns it is not taking trafficking seriously.

Notes:
India and Maldives signed MoU for judicial cooperation to accelerate court digitization and boost prospects for IT companies & start-ups in both countries.
India was among the first countries to recognise the Maldives after its independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country. Maldives has a strategic importance in Geographic Location of the Maldives with respect to key International Shipping Lanes (ISLs).

Notes:
The World Health Organisation has declared the global monkeypox outbreak a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ (PHEIC).
This classification is one step below that of a ‘pandemic.’ WHO says the expanding monkeypox outbreak in over 70 countries is now qualified as a global emergency.