Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India. The glaciers in the central Karakoram have remained the same or even slightly risen during the past few decades, in contrary with the global trend of glaciers losing mass.
Researchers have made progress in finding why a few areas of glaciers in the Karakoram Range are and resisting glacial melt caused by climate change. They have linked the resurgence of western disturbances (WDs) to the phenomenon known as the Karakoram Anomaly.

Notes:
Sri Lanka’s interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe prohibited the use of the word ‘His Excellency’ to address the President and abolished the presidential flag.
He was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s acting president until a successor is elected to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after protests against his government for mishandling the economy.

Notes:
An MoU was signed by Union Environment Minister of India and Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia, in New Delhi.
It paves way for reintroduction of eight cheetahs in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The MoU also covers cooperation on wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilisation. India will train Namibian candidates in wildlife management courses at the Wildlife Institute of India.

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:
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:
The United States has reported its first case of polio in nearly a decade after a patient had tested positive for the disease in the state of New York.
As per studies, the case of the highly contagious polio virus may have originated outside of the US. Healthcare providers are asked to be on alert for more cases and people in the area are asked to get vaccinated.

Notes:
Union Minister Home Minister Amit Shah launched the e-FIR system of Gujarat Police in Gandhinagar.
The system will enable the citizens to file an FIR online, without visiting the police stations. All important services of Gujarat Police will be made available online. Within 48 hours of registering the FIR, the police will contact the complainant directly.

Notes:
The Income Tax department observes July 24 every year as Income Tax Day or ‘Aaykar Diwas’, to commemorate the introduction of income tax in the country.
On the same day in 1860, Sir James Wilson introduced income tax for the first time in India, to compensate for the losses suffered by the British regime during the 1857 war of independence.  ‘Aaykar Diwas’ was celebrated for the first time in 2010, to mark 150 years of income tax in India.

Notes:
Sakurajima volcano is located on Japan’s major western island of Kyushu. The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported about the eruption of the volcano for two consecutive days.
Sakurajima is one of Japan’s most active volcanoes and eruptions are observed on a regular basis.