Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
NITI Aayog has released a report titled ‘A proposal for Digital Banks in India: Licensing and Regulatory Regime’.
The report recommends a calibrated approach, comprising ‘Issue of a restricted digital bank licence’, ‘Enlistment in a regulatory sandbox framework enacted by the Reserve Bank of India’ and ‘Issue of a full-scale digital bank licence’.

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:
The 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue began recently in Berlin. The two-day ministerial meet is chaired by Germany and Egypt, the hosts of annual climate meet (COP-27).
The informal ministerial meet proposes to build consensus and provide political direction to resolve divergences in improving implementation of climate action, which is the core goal of COP-27.

Notes:
Australian authorities have killed millions of honeybees recently in an effort to stop a catastrophic parasite plague from spreading to other parts of the country.
Honey sector, which is Australia’s multimillion-dollar business, is under severe threat from the outbreak of the varroa mite. Varroa mite or Varroa destructor is a parasitic bug that attacks and feeds on honeybees.

Notes:
The World Bank has approved a loan of USD one billion to provide support to India’s flagship PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).
The loan includes two complementary loans of USD 500 million each namely for ‘Transforming India’s Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program (PHSPP)’ and ‘India’s Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program (EHSDP)’.

Notes:
In the 2022 edition of Henley Passport Index, Indian passport is ranked at 87 as it provides easy access to 57 countries.
Japan is at the first place of the index with hassle-free entry to 193 countries. Singapore and South Korea have the next powerful passports in the world with access to 192 countries. Indian passports had access to just 23 destinations in 2020.

Notes:
As per a recent government data, Tamil Nadu tops the list of states so far as utilisation of funds under Smart City Mission.
Tamil Nadu has spent over Rs 3932 crore out of the Rs 4333 crore released by the Centre, Uttar Pradesh is at second position with utilisation of Rs 2699 cr out of the release of Rs 3142 crore. Ther Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was launched on 25 June, 2015.

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:
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:
Government of India is to provide a financing facility worth about Rs. 1600 Crore through the World Bank for the “Himachal Pradesh Power Sector Development Program”.
The total program cost will be approximately Rs. 2000 Crore, along with the state equity. The Program duration is five years from year 2023 to 2028. It aims to undertake holistic power sector reforms to allow for improvements in the renewable energy capacity in the state.