Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
The National Security Council Secretariat, Government of India organised a two day Meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation in New Delhi.
The main objective of this BIMSTEC Expert Group meeting is to formulate an Action Plan which will promote collaboration amongst the BIMSTEC Member States for strengthening Cyber Security in the use of ICTs.

Notes:
‘Jezero’ is a crater on the red planet ‘Mars’ in the Syrtis Major quadrangle. NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover has taken its first sample from the Jezero delta.
The first activity the rover conducted on the rock called Skinner Ridge was an abrasion called Thornton Gap. The process of collecting the core was named Swift Run. At 6.70 cm long, it is the longest core of the mission so far.

Notes:
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released the Second Advance Estimates of Area and Production of various Horticultural Crops for 2021-22
Total Horticulture production in 2021-22 is estimated to be 341.63 Million Tonne, an increase of about 7.03 Million Tonne over 2020-21. Increase in production of Fruits, Vegetables and Honey while decrease in production of Spices, Flowers, Aromatics & Medicinal Plants and Plantation Crops over previous year, is expected.

Notes:
Facebook-owner Meta released its first annual human rights report, which covers due diligence performed in 2020 and 2021.
It also includes a summary of a controversial human rights impact assessment of India conducted by Meta commissioned law firm Foley Hoag.

Notes:
Ghana has confirmed its first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus, an infectious disease in the same family as the virus which causes Ebola.
The two patients died and 98 people are under quarantine as suspected contact cases.  No treatment yet exists for Marburg. The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.

Notes:
Saudi Arabia hosted the ‘Jeddah Summit for Security and Development’, which was attended by leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and the US.
The statement released after the summit emphasised to take required measures to protect the security and stability in the Middle East.

Notes:
NHPC has recently signed two agreements to develop green hydrogen technology in Leh, Kargil districts.
As per the agreement signed for Leh district, NHPC will develop a Pilot Green Hydrogen fuel cell-based Microgrid, including hydrogen production, to meet its power requirement. The hydrogen generated in Kargil will be used in fuel cells, to run buses in the local area.

Notes:
The state government in Chhattisgarh is set to start the purchase of cow urine at a minimum rate of Rs 4 per litre from local festival ‘Hareli’.
The state had launched the ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ on Hareli festival in 2020, under which cow dung is being procured at Rs 2 per kilogram to prepare vermi-compost.

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:
‘PM SVANidhi’ scheme was launched on 1 June 2020, to provide financial support to Street vendors. As of july, Rs. 3,661 crores had been provided as micro-credits to more than 30 lakh street vendors.
The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri addressed the meeting of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), which was held on the theme of ‘From Encroachers to Self-Employed’.