FOURTH WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - JULY 2022

  • Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) inaugurated the Vaccination Centre for children and launched the Bal Raksha mobile app, at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi, Delhi.
  • The Department of Posts of the Ministry of Communications has launched a philately scholarship scheme – ‘Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby)’, to foster interest in philately among students from Class VI to IX. The study and collection of postage stamps is known as Philately.
  • According to NITI Aayog’s (National Institution for Transforming India) India Innovation Index 2021 report, India’s gross expenditure on research and development (R&D) is one of the lowest in the world with USD 43 per capita.
  • The Indian Air Force (IAF) has planned to phase out four MiG-21 fighter squadrons by 2025. At present, the IAF has around 70 – MiG-21 aircraft and 50 MiG-29 variants. It has also planned to phase out the 3 squadrons of MiG-29 fighter jets in the next 5 years.
  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the global Monkeypox outbreak a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ (PHEIC), one step below that of a ‘pandemic.’
  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has extended the deadline for commencing the validation of all KYC (Know Your Customer) records by KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) by three months to November 1, 2022.
  • ONGC signed MoU with Greenko to Manufacture Green Hydrogen for the Purpose of to jointly pursue opportunities in renewables, green hydrogen, green ammonia and other derivatives of green hydrogen. MoU will be valid for 2 years.
  • Google Maps has launched its “Street View”service across 10 cities in India which will offer a 360-degree view of landmarks, streets, residential areas, or any location. Google has partnered with Genesys International, an advanced mapping solutions company, and Tech Mahindra to offer a detailed look at any street or location.

THIRD WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - JULY 2022

  • Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign: Tricolour to Be Hoisted Atop 20 Cr Homes As part of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, the tricolour (Indian national flag) will be flown atop more than 20 crore houses across the country from 13th to 15th August 2022 through public participation while government and private establishments will also be involved.
  • NITI Aayog Releases India Innovation Index 2021 – 3rd Edition: Karnataka, Telangana & Haryana Grabs Top 3 Position Suman Bery, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), released the third edition of the India Innovation Index 2021 at NITI Bhawan in New Delhi, Delhi.
  • Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur becomes India’s First ‘Har Ghar Jal’ Certified District Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh (MP) became India’s first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ (Water to Every Household) certified district, with all the 254 villages in the district having access to safe drinking water under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). It was announced by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Burhanpur, also known as the ‘Darwaza of Dakhin’ or ‘Gateway of Deccan’.
  • Droupadi Murmu Elected as India’s 15th President: India Gets Its First-Ever Tribal, Second-Ever Woman PresidentDroupadi Murmu, a former Governor of Jharkhand and candidate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is elected as India’s 15th President in the 16th Presidential Election in 2022. She is the first ever tribal to hold the top Constitutional Post and second woman president after Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
  • PM Modi unveils ‘Varuna’, India’s First Human Passenger DronePM Narendra Modi unveiled the pilotless drone “Varuna” -India’s first indigenous human passenger drone during Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar ‘Swavlamban’ at Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi, Delhi.
  • India’s PV Sindhu clinches Singapore Open title 2022 Super 500 Title Indian Badminton Player Pusarla Venkata (PV) Sindhu (27) grabbed the Singapore Open 2022 Super 500 trophy in Women’s Singles final after defeating China’s Wang Zhi Yi. This was her first Singapore Open title, and third title of 2022.
  • Assam CM Launches Scheme for Welfare of Native Weavers – Swanirbhar NaariAssam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswas Sarma launched Swanirbhar Naari, a scheme to empower and financially support the indigenous weavers of Assam and their families.

SECOND WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - JULY 2022

  • Karnataka is slated to be the first state in India to establish an exclusive Research and Development policy.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development,  the nodal Ministry for ensuring the welfare of children, has issued guidelines for the Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Mission Vatsalya”, formerly known as the Child Protection Services Scheme.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development issued detailed guidelines for the ‘Mission Shakti’ scheme.
  • Kerala has become the first and the only state in India to have its own internet services through the Kerala Fibre Optic Network Limited’s project, an Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure project that aims to provide internet access to everyone in Kerala.
  • Google has announced an initiative, Startup School India, to organise accumulated knowledge into a structured curriculum to enable startups in small cities to overcome various challenges.
  • The former National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant is appointed as India’s new Sherpa for the Group of Twenty (G20) by replacing Piyush Goyal, a Union minister of commerce and Industry. Current President of G20 is Indonesia.
  • The Tripura Government has decided to revive the Vidyalaya Chalo Abhiyan (Let’s Go to School) and, as part of it, has established a new scheme, “Earn with Learn”, to re-enroll students who had dropped out of school following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

FIRST WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - JULY 2022

  • On June 28, 2022, a report titled ‘Forecasting Penetration of Electric Two-Wheelers (e-2W) in India- A Bottom-Up Analysis’ has been launched by National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, and Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC).
  • The Ministry of Steel on-boarded itself on the PM GatiShakti Portal (National Master Plan portal) and uploaded the geo locations of projects with an aim of identifying and bridging missing infrastructure connectivity gaps.
  • The centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme,under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, has completed two years (2020-2022).Objective: To empower the unorganized Micro Enterprises to fulfill the aim of formalizing the food processing sector in India.
  • National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog released ‘Mitigation and Management of COVID-19: compendium of Ayush-based practices from States and Union territories (UTs)’ which details information about various Ayush based initiatives and practices adopted by the States and UTs in India for containing and managing the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • A new report titled “Harnessing Green Hydrogen: Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India”, co-authored by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), provides a way to enhance the emergence of a green hydrogen economy, which is critical for India to achieve its net-zero ambitions by 2070.
  • Former Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) S M Krishna, Infosys founder and IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy, and former badminton player Prakash Padukone, have been selected for the first edition of the Kempegowda International Award (2022) instituted by the Karnataka government, in honour of Kempe Gowda, founder of Bengaluru city. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh along with a plaque.
  • On June 30, 2022, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India’s national space agency, successfully launched Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C53 (PSLV-C53), carrying 3 Singaporean satellites: DS-EO, NeuSAR, and SCOOB-1, into an intended orbit at an altitude of 570 kilometres (km) measured from the equator, with a low inclination of 10 degrees.