Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

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:
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:
India’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India (SBI), announced the launch of its WhatsApp Banking services
Customers of SBI may use WhatsApp to access banking services from the lender. Users can check your account balance and get Mini Statement. Through the platform, the State Bank of India also offers WhatsApp-based services to customers with credit cards.

Notes:
The Andhra Pradesh State Wildlife Department has commenced the first-ever survey of blackbucks along a stretch of islands in the Godavari between Dowleswaram and Yanam.
The survey aims of drawing up a conservation plan to protect the endangered species.

Notes:
Draupadi Murmu, the NDA’s presidential candidate, emerged victorious in the presidential election with 64.03 percent votes.
She bagged a total of 6,76,803 votes over her rival Yashwant Sinha who got 3,80,177 votes. Draupadi Murmu also scripted history to become the first tribal leader to be elected as the President of India.

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:
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 migratory ‘Monarch butterfly’ has been listed in the endangered species category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
IUCN listed the butterfly, a subspecies of monarch (Danaus plexippus) as endangered, which indicates that the subspecies is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. The main threats to the butterfly are habitat loss, pesticide and herbicide use and climate change.

Notes:
Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh released the ‘India’s Bioeconomy Report 2022’ recently. India’s Bio-economy has reached over USD 80 billion in 2021 with 14.1% growth over 2020. It is likely to touch 150 billion dollars by 2025 and over 300 billion dollars by 2030.
Dr Jitendra Singh also launched Special ‘Biotech Ignition Grant call for North East Region’ (BIG-NER) with a financial support of Rs 50 Lakhs each to 25 start-ups and entrepreneurs from North East Region to develop biotech solutions.

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.