Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

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:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the appointment of Ashishkumar Chauhan as the next Managing Director and CEO of the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Chauhan is currently the MD and CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and his tenure will end in November 2022. Ashishkumar is one of the founders of the NSE and he worked in the NSE from 1992 to 2000.

Notes:
Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) has gone live on the account aggregator ecosystem as financial information user (FIU) as well as financial information provider (FIP).
Union Bank of India, Canara Bank and Indian Bank have also connected to the account aggregator system. Other banks including SBI, BOB and UCO Bank are in the testing phase and some others are in the development phase.

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:
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:
The government slashed the newly-introduced windfall tax on petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, and crude oil, after a global oil price ease.
The move, which is effective from July 20, will give relief to top fuel exporters like Reliance Industries, and oil explorers like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). A windfall tax is levied on companies deemed to have made unreasonably high profits, normally due to unusually favourable market factors.

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:
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:
National Broadcasting Day is an annual event observed on July 23 in India, to remind Indian citizens about the impact of radio on our lives.
India’s official broadcaster ‘Prasar Bharati’ includes All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan. The Indian Broadcasting Company ltd (IBC) was taken over by the British and transformed into All India Radio (AIR) in 1936.

Notes:
India signed an ‘Agreement to curb trans-border crimes’ with Bangladesh. The countries also decided to complete pending developmental work within 150 yards of the international border.
The agreements were signed during the Director-General level border co-ordination conference between India and Bangladesh, held in Dhaka after two years.