Current Affairs Quiz - July 2022

Notes:
The annual Kanwar Yatra began recently after a gap of two years. It was cancelled for the last two years due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Kanwar Yatra is celebrated by Hindus and it will pass through Meerut, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Shamli, and Bhagpat districts in Uttar Pradesh. It will conclude in Haridwar, Gomukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand.

Notes:
The International Rice Research Institute is an international agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna in the Philippines. It was founded in 1960.
India’s Department of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare (DA&FW) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for Phase -2 activities of IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC).

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:
The Central Government has constituted a high-powered panel under the chairmanship of former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal.
The panel seeks to the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism more effective and transparent. It was set up eight months after the government repealed the three controversial farm Acts. The panel includes NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, and representatives from IFFCO, ICAR, along with representatives from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha.

Notes:
The Delhi government celebrated ‘Happiness Utsav’ marking the fourth anniversary of its Happiness Curriculum for schools.
During the Happiness Utsav, various activities will be organised for the next 15 days. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had introduced the Happiness Curriculum in 2018.

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 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has clarified that large packages of food items like pulses, cereals, rice, and wheat weighing more than 25 kilograms or 25 litres of commodity will not attract the 5% goods and services tax (GST).
For levying 5% GST on items like pulses, cereals, rice and flour, they have to be pre-packaged without the presence of the buyer, and are required to bear the declarations under the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act of 2009.

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:
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:
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.