Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
Sri Lankan MPs have elected the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s new President.
He defeated his main rival for the job, Dullus Alahapperuma in a parliamentary vote. Sri Lanka’s ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country last week, after thousands of protesters stormed his presidential residences calling for his resignation. They had also called for the resignation of Wickremesinghe.

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:
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:
ISRO’s three-day Human Space Flight Expo is being held in Bengaluru. It includes model-plane-making workshops to interactive models of satellites, and a movie about the history of India’s space programme.
It is being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru. The expo commemorates Indian achievements in space and has been organised as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations marking 75 years of Independence.

Notes:
Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana was launched on July 21, 2017. The scheme recently completed five years since its launch.
Under the scheme, senior citizens above the age of 60 can make a lump sum investment and can monthly or a yearly pension. PMVVY has been extended up to 31st March, 2023. The amendment in 2020 allowed an assured rate of return of 7.40 % per annum for the year 2020-21 per annum and thereafter to be reset every year.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank cut its economic growth forecast for India to 7.2% for 2022-23 from 7.5% estimated in April.
The reasons cited are higher-than-expected inflation and monetary tightening. It also lowered the GDP growth estimate for 2023-24 to 7.8% from the 8% estimated earlier. ADB raised the inflation forecast for India to 6.7% for FY23 from the 5.8 % estimated earlier.

Notes:
NITI Aayog launched E-AMRIT (Accelerated e-Mobility Revolution for India’s Transportation) mobile application to raise awareness on electric mobility, in collaboration with UK.
It also launched a report on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Reuse and Recycling Market in India. NITI Aayog has been collaborating with the UK Government in the areas of e-vehicles, charging infrastructure and battery storage.

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:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched ‘Swanirbhar Naari’, an initiative of the Handloom and Textiles Department.
The scheme aims to empower the indigenous weavers of the State and to provide financial support to their families. Under the scheme, the government has decided to procure handloom items directly from the indigenous weavers without involving any middle men through Swanirbhar Naari web portal.

Notes:
Tech giant Microsoft has introduced ‘Viva Engage’, a new application in Teams to build community and connection and for providing tools for personal expression.
The app has been built on the foundation of Yammer. It brings people together across the organisation to connect with leaders and co-workers, find answers to questions, share their story among others.