ANSWER: A

• The Indian Army will conduct separate exercises with Oman and Vietnam starting August 1.
• The fourth edition of India-Oman joint military exercise ‘Al Najah-IV’ is scheduled to take place at Mahajan field firing ranges (Rajasthan) from August 1 to 13.
• The Royal Army of Oman contingent arrived at the location; the Indian Army is represented by 18 Mechanised Infantry.
• The third edition of Vietnam-India Army exercise ‘Ex VINBAX 2022’ is scheduled to start at Chandimandir from Aug 1 to 20.
• The theme is employment and deployment of an ‘engineers’ company’ and a medical team as part of UN contingent for peacekeeping ops.

ANSWER: D

• Raghuram Rajan praises Chhattisgarh’s Godhan Nyay Yojna, calls it ‘best bottom-up approach’ in country.
• Through this, we can not only get a better solution for farming and livelihood but also reduce the problems of decreasing fertility of the land due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture. The availability of food items can also be improved greatly. Many problems like toxicity, damage to the environment and global warming can be reduced to a great extent.
• Appreciating the management of livestock care, arrangement of free fodder and water, health check-up, treatment and vaccination of animals in the Gauthan of Navagaon, he observed that the income-oriented activities like organic manure production, mushroom production, vegetable production at a large scale, oil distillation, fisheries, poultry, goat rearing etc. are conducted by women groups in Gauthan.
• The livelihood-oriented activities conducted in the Gauthans have proved to be helpful in providing economic support to the villagers during Covid-19.
• Under the Godhan Nyay Yojana, the purchase of cow dung in Gauthans for Rs 2 per kg and its use in the manufacture of vermicompost, super compost and farming is a commendable initiative by the state government. This will improve the fertility of the land as well as reduce the cost of agriculture and cut down the risk of food poisoning due to the use of harmful pesticides.
• The scheme was launched by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in July 2020.

ANSWER: B

Significance

• The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that follows on the proposal made by UNESCO defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems.

History

• The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
• The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.

ANSWER: C

• Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to announce the creation of a $10 million (¥1.33 billion) U.N. fund to encourage young people around the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where atomic bombs were dropped in 1945.
• PM Kishida will detail the plan during a speech at a review conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
• He will also express his desire for early enactment of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and host summit-level talks in September geared toward that purpose.
• Kishida is scheduled to attend the conference during a three-day trip to the United States, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to do so.

ANSWER: A

• Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is planning to replace the 80-year-old Coffee Act with the new Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022.
• The government would not close the Coffee Board, but would rather shift it from the Ministry of Commerce to the Ministry of Agriculture, to ensure that the benefits of all agricultural schemes are extended to coffee growers.
• The government has also proposed to repeal the decades old laws on tea, spices and rubber, and introduce new legislations in order to increase the ease of doing business and promote the development of these sectors.

Reasons for Scrapping the Law

• The substantive portion of the Coffee Act, 1942, which deals with pooling and marketing of the commodity, have become redundant and are impediments to the coffee trade.
• Some of these outdated regulations have stifled the sector’s growth, especially in marketing.
• In order to facilitate growth and ease of doing business, the government would introduce a simplified version of the Act to suit the present needs of the industry.

Key Provisions of draft Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill, 2022

• The new Bill aims to address several new areas of functions of the Coffee Board.
• These include support for production, research, extension, quality improvement and the promotion of coffee and skill development of coffee growers. Many of these activities were originally not included in the mandate of the Coffee Board but now they need to be incorporated into its functions and powers.
• The Bill is also aimed at “holistic promotion and development” of the coffee industry, covering activities such as the expansion of the cash crop in new areas, sustainable cultivation, raising production as well as productivity, exports, promotion and the marketing of coffee.

ANSWER: D

• Recently, Assam CM announced that, some 22 lakh beneficiaries of the Orunodoi scheme in Assam will get ₹18 extra for August to buy a National Flag or two.
• The Assam government has been transferring ₹1,000 as monetary benefit to the bank accounts of economically weak women on the 10th of every month under the Orunodoi scheme.

ABOUT THE SCHEME:

• Orunodoi’ or Arunodoi Scheme is a scheme of the Government of Assam is launched on 2nd October 2020. Under ‘Orunodoi’, monetary benefits have been envisaged for more than 24 lac poor household in the state.
• The schematic benefit has been enhanced from 830/- to Rs. 1000/ Women. They will receive the amount on the first day of every month, starting from October 2020.
• Women being the primary caretakers of the family are kept as beneficiaries of the scheme. ‘Orunodoi’ scheme will provide Financial Assistance of Rs. 1000 per month through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to around 19.10 Lakh Families in the state.

ANSWER: C

• According to, a monthly survey, India’s manufacturing sector activity gained momentum in July, hitting an eight-month high driven by a significant uptick in business orders.
• The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 53.9 in June, to 56.4 in July, highlighting the strongest improvement in the health of the sector in eight months.
• The July PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the 13th straight month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
• According to Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Indian manufacturing industry recorded a welcome combination of faster economic growth and softening inflation during July.

ANSWER: C

• Weightlifter Achinta Sheuli lifts games record 313kg to win India’s third
• Sanket Mahadev Sargar – SILVER (Weightlifting, Men’s 55kg class)

ANSWER: D

• Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched state-level programme ‘Pragatisheel Himachal: Sthapna Ke 75 Varsh’ at Chawgan ground. The event will celebrate 75 years of formation of Himachal Pradesh.
• Tracing the progress of the state, he said the per capita income of the state grew from Rs 240 to Rs 2,01,873 from 1948 to 2022 while the GSDP surged from Rs 27 crore to Rs 1,75,173 crore, in the same period.
• He said the literacy rate of the state had grown to 83% in 2022 from 4.8% in 1948. The agricultural production had increased from 954 MT to 1,500 MT and foodgrain output from 1.99 lakh MT to 15.14 lakh MT in the period.
• There were only 228 km road network at the time of Himachal’s formation and today the state had over 39,354 km of roads.
• The CM said international status will be granted to Minjar fair.
• Earlier, he inaugurated an exhibition on the theme, ‘Himachal Tub Aur Ab’ put up by various departments, boards and corporations.
• A theme song on 75 years of existence of the state was also released on the occasion.
• A documentary based on 75 years of glorious history of Himachal produced by the Information and Public Relation Department was also screened.

ANSWER: B

• The NHPC’s Regional Office at Banikhet signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Yog Manav Vikas Trust, an NGO, to provide vocational training to rural youths under its CSR initiative.
• NHPC Regional Office DGM US Chhetri and Vikas trust chairperson Kiran Dodeja signed the MoU.
• Vocational training would be provided to around 150 rural youths and the NHPC had allocated Rs 10.96 lakh for the purpose.
• Under the programme, vocational training would be imparted in the courses of cutting and tailoring, beauty culture, certificate in computer application and yoga sciences to rural youths. These courses would start on August 1 and would be completed in 12 months. Vocational training to rural youths would improve their livelihood and also empower them.