Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
South European countries including Spain, Greece and France have been witnessing huge wildfires and heat-wave.
Hundreds of deaths were reported due to rising temperatures that are related to climate change. France has evacuated over 16,000 people threatened by wildfires in the south-west and fires spread in Spain, Croatia and Greece.

Notes:
Kerala has become the first and only state in the country to have its own internet service. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced this news.
Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd, the ambitious IT infrastructure project of the government to make the internet accessible to everyone in the state, received the Internet Service Provider (ISP) license from the Department of Telecommunications.

Notes:
The British government launched an ‘Aviation Passenger Charter’ to help passengers know their rights when faced with problems at airports.
Long queues and cancelled flights caused by staff shortages have caused chaos, prompting airlines to cut back their schedules. The new charter helps passengers know what to do if they are confronted by cancellations, delays or missing baggage.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to adopt a simple four-tiered regulatory framework for Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs).
The framework will be based on size of deposits, with an aim to strengthen their financial soundness. An expert committee, headed by former RBI deputy governor N S Vishwanathan, made a host of recommendations for strengthening the UCBs.

Notes:
Under ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’, the States were asked to propose at least 15% of the length of annual projects using any of the new technologies or materials.
The step aims to promote cost-effective and fast construction technologies in the construction of rural roads. The ‘Vision document on New Technology Initiatives, 2022’ has been launched in May 2022.

 

Notes:
The Government has prohibited import of human embryos in line with the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021.
This was announced by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Earlier, imports were prohibited except for research purposes based on the guidelines of the Department of Health Research. Surrogacy is a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the couple.

Notes:
‘World Brain Day (WBD) 2022’ is marked every year on July 22, to increase public awareness and promote advocacy related to brain health.
This year, the World Brain Day is dedicated to the theme “Brain Health for all”. WBD 2022 campaign will focus on five key messages globally: Awareness, Prevention, Advocacy, Education and Access.

Notes:
After African swine fever was detected in pigs in Wayanad district of Kerala, two districts of north Kerala have been put on high alert.
Samples sent to the National Institute of High Security Diseases in Bhopal confirmed the disease. The district authorities are planning to cull pigs within a two kilometer area in the vicinity where the first case was reported.

Notes:
Political veteran Dinesh Gunawardena, an ally of Rajapaksa family was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka a day after Ranil Wickremesinghe was elevated to the President’s post.
The 73-year-old leader has previously held multiple Cabinet posts. Wickremesinghe replaced former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, after an unprecedented economic and political crisis.

Notes:
Russia and Ukraine have signed a landmark deal with the United Nations and Turkey on resuming grain shipments.
This agreement aimed to ease a global food crisis and help avert famine by providing more wheat, sunflower oil, fertiliser and other products into world markets. The UN World Food Programme says some 47 million people are now in a stage of acute hunger. The deal included a ‘de facto ceasefire’ for the ships and facilities covered.