Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 02, 2022

ANSWER: B

• Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy has said that on the occasion of the birth centenary celebrations of the designer of the national flag, Pingali Venkaiah, a large-scale program will be organized in Delhi on August 2.
• Kishan Reddy said the original flag designed by Pingali will be displayed on that day. He said he will visit the hometown of Pingali Venkaiah and invite family members on behalf of the Prime Minister for the centenary celebrations to be held in New Delhi.
• He said a postage stamp will also be released in the name of Pingali.

ANSWER: B

• The Military govt of Myanmar has extended the state of emergency by 6 months till February 2023.
• Head of the military government General Min Aung Hlaing said that elections could be held only when the country was ‘stable and peaceful’. General Hlaing requested the National Defence and Security Council to ‘allow him to serve for an additional 6 months’, which was approved by the acting president Myint Swe.
• The state of emergency in Myanmar was first declared in February 2021.
• General Hlaing said that the Union Election Commission will be reconstituted and its mandated tasks, including the scrutiny of voter lists, shall be implemented in accordance with the law.
• The Election Commission has organised four meetings with the political parties during the last 18 months for the review of the Election Law and election system.
• The military deposed the elected government headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi February last year, immediately after the national elections in which Suu Kyi’s party National League for Democracy (NLD) won a massive majority.
• Accusing Aung San Suu kyi of mismanagement and fraud in the elections, the military government had promised to hold elections within a year.
• However, it later extended the time for lifting the emergency. In his broadcast, head of the military government Gen. Hlaing did not give any specific date for holding elections.

ANSWER: D

• President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India.
• He was received by Union Minister Dr Sanjeev Balyan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Mr Solih.
• Several agreements are expected to be signed after the talks. Mr Solih is also scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar called on the Maldivian President.
• In a tweet, Dr Jaishankar said India’s Neighbourhood First and Maldives’ India First policies are complementary. He added that these policies take the special partnership between India and Maldives forward.

ANSWER: C

• Parliament has passed the Weapon of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill 2022 with the Rajya Sabha approving it today amid the din.
• The Bill seeks to amend the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005.
• The 2005 Act prohibits unlawful activities such as manufacturing, transport or transfer related to weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
• Weapons of mass destruction are biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.
• The Bill bars persons from financing any prohibited activity related to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.
• The Parliament has passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022.
• The Bill was passed by the Upper House negating the amendments moved by Left MPs. The Lok Sabha has already cleared the Bill.
• The Bill seeks to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. It also seeks to protect the Antarctic environment and regulate activities in the region.
• Speaking on the Bill, Union Earth Science Minister Dr. Jitender Singh said, Antarctica is a very unique land and India has four treaties in place. He said, India has two establishments there, one is Maitri and second is Bharati.

ANSWER: D

• The blanket prohibition on single-use plastic has benefited locals, particularly women in villages of Himachal Pradesh’s hill state. These people are active in producing traditional leaf plates and bowls, as consumption of these sustainable and environment-friendly products has suddenly increased after the ban.
• The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is encouraging community groups to prepare leaf plates and bowls using machines rather than by hand.
• As per government order of 1st of July, 2022, a ban on single-use plastic items has been in effect.
• By planting specific species like “Bauhinia vahlii” in the forest next to the villages of skilled community groups, the department is ensuring that there is no shortage in the supply of high-quality leaves. This is ensured by the “Improvement of Himachal Pradesh Forest Ecosystems Management and Livelihoods” project.
• Each community group, consisting on average of 15 individuals, will receive a capital cost of about Rs1,29,000 to set up the plate-making machine, which produces 1,000 plates each day. The introduction of machines has increased manufacturing capacity while lessening the laboriousness of women who make these leaf products manually.
• Nagesh Guleria, Additional Principal Conservator of Forests and Chief Project Director, JICA project, told that “in June of this year, the community groups at Beindhar and Kangu villages in Mandi district produced 8,000 leaf plates and 4,000 leaf bowls and earned 38,000 rupees in one month. As opposed to an average of 8,000 rupees, which is what a group of similar numbers of people used to earn monthly. We have created about 484 of these self-help groups this far.”
• According to Guleria, several local leaf-bowl makers had to eventually give up their long-standing enterprises of producing leaf plates and associated things because of the invasion of factory-made plastic plates and bowls due to their low cost and long shelf life. “Families continued to fulfill orders because they had no other choice and managed to endure the so-called plastic boom, which has turned into a significant environmental and health issue but now they are turning back to their roots and traditional work”.

ANSWER: C

• Under its new tribal land policy, the Assam government would allow a tribal land owner to hold 50 bighas of land, up from the existing eight bighas.
• Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the tribal land policy would be launched on October 2 under ‘Basundhara’ Phase 2, which would increase the land holding of a tribal person from the existing eight bighas to 50 bighas.
• The Chief Minister said the government would talk to tribal organisations and try to settle the tribals in villages with gazing grounds.
• According to the 2011 Census, tribals constitute 12.4 per cent of Assam’s 3.12 crore population, who reside mostly in western Assam.
• Last year, Prime Minister had launched a special programme of the state government to distribute land ‘patta’ or land allotment certificates to over one lakh landless indigenous people.

ANSWER: C

• Highlighting India’s robust economic health despite the COVID pandemic and geo-political situation, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there is no question of India getting into stagflation or recession like other major economies of the world.
• The Finance Minister emphasized that due to the measures taken by the government, India is in a much better position than most countries.
• Repeatedly in the assessment of global agencies, India remains the fastest growing economy in the assessment of global agencies.
• Referring to a survey, Sitharaman said there is zero possibility of India getting into recession.
• According to Finance Minister “Pandemic, second wave, Omicron, Russia-Ukraine (war), even today largest supply components in China are under lockdown. In spite of that, we have held inflation well within 7 per cent or below”.
• She further said, “4,000 banks in China are reported to be going bankrupt. In India, the gross NPAs (Non-Performing Assets) of scheduled commercial banks is at a 5-years low of 5.9 per cent in 2022. So our NPAs are improving. The government debt to GDP Ratio of many countries is in triple digits including Japan, Greece, Bhutan, Singapore, the US, Portugal, Spain, France, Sri Lanka and Canada. But the central government very consciously controlled its debt and it is at 56.29 per cent of the GDP at the end of 2021-22 compared to the 59.9 per cent revised estimate that year.”
• According to IMF data, Sitharaman said the general debt to GDP ratio is 86.9 per cent including the Centre and the state.
• In July 2022, the Minister said the country has garnered the second highest level ever since the introduction of the GST which is 1.49 lakh crore. “In April 2022, it was 1.67 lakh crore which was the highest we reached. This is the fifth consecutive month that collections have been above Rs 1.4 Lakh crores.
• Quoting former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, she said, “, Raghuram Rajan said that ‘RBI has done a good job in increasing foreign exchange reserve in India, insulating India from problems being faced by neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• “Differentiating India from its vulnerable neighbours, Raghuram Rajan further added that ‘New Delhi is less indebted’, calling it a good sign, the Minister said.

ANSWER: D

• England defeated Germany 2-1 in extra time at Wembley Stadium in London, bringing home their maiden UEFA Women’s Euro trophy.
• The2022 UEFA European Women’s Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women’s Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women’s national teams of Europe.

ANSWER: C

• Despite the fact that the government has notified that no heritage building can be altered without the permission of a DC, many heritage buildings are being changed on the whims of local politicians.
• The recent renovation by government contractors at the Devi Kothi temple in Chamba district has attracted the ire of conservationists.
• Vijay Sharma, a heritage conservationist and Padma Shri awardee for work in Kangra paintings, said the Devi Kothi temple was known for its splendid wood carvings and murals. The temple front part had been defaced.
• The facade of the temple had been covered by wooden pillars made by the modern artisans.
• The ancient shrine was built by Raja Umed Singh of Chamba in the mid 18th century.
• Vijay said some art lovers had raised this issue the previous year too. After that they were assured that the old structure of the temple would not be changed.
• Vijay has written a book on the temple. He had raised the issue when the concrete pillars were laid a few months ago around the temple. He had also approached Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) for its intervention. The government had sanctioned Rs 25 lakh for the conservation of the structure. But the amount was not utilised for the purpose it was sanctioned.
• Sharma has urged the Chief Minister to take notice and issue order to remove such gaudy woodwork from the temple.
• The government had moved to protect the heritage building. As per the notification issued by the Governor for all buildings that are 100-year-old or more, permission would have to be sought from the DCs for their renovation.
• The local committee and panchayats would also be informed before any change in heritage buildings or structures. The order will also apply to private buildings.
• The DCs had also been directed to give permission for a change in heritage structures only if they were satisfied that basic nature, architecture and old frescos in the heritage buildings would not be damaged.
• The notification stated that the government had taken the decision as many heritage buildings were being damaged during restructuring due to which the state was losing its heritage.
• Malwika Pathania, state convener of INTACH, said despite the notification, the heritage buildings were being altered without the permission of the government.

ANSWER: A

• The HP State Olympic Games will be hosted jointly by Una and Kangra districts in the last week of August. More than 2,000 sportspersons are expected to compete in 14 disciplines. This was stated by Rural Development Minister Virender Kanwar, who is also the Chairman of the State Olympic Association.
• Competition of 11 disciplines will be held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Una, while athletics and weightlifting will be held at Dharamsala and basketball will be held at Kangra.
• The games that will be held at Una are handball, hockey, taekwondo, judo, wrestling, kho kho, kabaddi, football, volleyball, boxing and shooting.