Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 11, 2022

ANSWER: C

• Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country to have 13 expressways. Of these 13 expressways having a total length of 3,200 kilometers, work is going on, on seven while six expressways are operational.
• The foundation stone of the 594 km long Ganga Expressway has been laid. This expressway will not only reduce the distance between East and West but will also serve to connect people.
• The Bundelkhand Expressway will connect people with Delhi and other states as well. This will benefit the people of Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts. People will get the benefit of connecting Bundelkhand with Delhi directly and Bundelkhand will be free from the stain of backwardness.
• Apart from this, Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Ghazipur-Ballia-Manjhighat Expressway and Delhi-Dehradun Expressway are being constructed
• These corridors will give impetus to rapid, balanced and inclusive growth as well as immense employment potential. Lands have been marked for this. Airstrips are also being built on the expressways for landing and take-off of Air Force aircraft in case of emergency.

Expressway network in Uttar Pradesh

1. Yamuna Expressway — 165 km
2. Noida-Greater Noida Expressway — 25 km
3. Agra-Lucknow Expressway — 302 km
4. Delhi-Meerut Expressway — 96 km
5. Purvanchal Expressway — 341 km
6. Bundelkhand Expressway — 296 km

Total operational expressways – 1,225 km

Expressways under construction

1. Gorakhpur Link Expressway — 91 km
2. Ganga-Expressway– 594 km
3. Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway — 63 km
4. Ghaziabad-Kanpur Expressway — 380 km
5. Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway — 519 km
6. Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Expressway — 210 km
7. Ghazipur-Ballia-Manjhighat Expressway — 117 km

Expressways under construction – 1,974 km

ANSWER: C

• India is all set to enhance emergency response preparedness in the wake of Covid-19 with the government forming a high-level committee this week to finalise the new public health law and repeal the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897.
• The seven-member committee, chaired by Girija Vaidyanathan, former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and incumbent expert member of the National Green Tribunal, has been directed to submit its report within a month of the first meeting.
• The primary objective of the committee was to ready the new law and repeal the 125-year-old epidemic Act which was woefully inadequate to deal with pandemics, as evidenced during the Covid-19 outbreak.
• The antiquated Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, is ineffective in supporting public health surveillance and responding comprehensively to public health emergencies arising from epidemics and disasters and needs to be replaced with a new law, particularly in light of the International Health Regulations (IHR), 2005. There is also a need to provide a legislative framework in keeping with the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Prevention and Control of NCDs (non-communicable diseases), 2011.
• The new Public Health Act, proposed to be enacted under Entries 13 and 14 of Seventh Schedule and Article 253 of the Constitution, seeks to strengthen public health governance in India.
• The draft Bill provides for the constitution of public health authorities at the national, state, district and block level with well-defined public health powers and functions. “It will mandate the preparation of national, state and district-level policies and plans and ensure decentralisation.
• The establishment of public health laboratories and setting up of central and state-level public health cadres are among other hallmarks of the draft law.

ANSWER: A

• The first indigenously built aircraft carrier — Vikrant — is set to be commissioned next month. The fourth and the last phase of sea trials for the Vikrant were successfully completed. The warship conducted integrated trials of equipment and systems onboard, including some of the aviation facilities on the deck.
• The first trial was successfully completed in August last year, followed by the second and third phase in October 2021 and January 2022, respectively.
• The warship’s endurance testing of propulsion machinery, electrical and electronic warfare suites, deck machinery, life-saving appliances, navigation and communication systems have been tried out at the sea.
• The fighter jets that will operate from the deck of the carrier are to be tested using the Russian MiG-29K jets after the warship is handed over to the Navy.
• The 44,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) has been made at the state-owned Cochin Shipyard in Kochi, Kerala.
• It is being commissioned in the backdrop of India-China race off to expand their naval strength.
• India has one operational carrier — INS Vikramaditya — purchased from Russia and the upcoming Vikrant. The plan for the third carrier is, so far, not approved by the Government.

ANSWER: C

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed a Natural Farming Conclave via video conferencing. The conclave, organised in Surat, Gujarat, is witnessing participation of thousands of farmers and all other stakeholders who have made adoption of Natural farming in Surat a success story.

KEY POINTS:

• Gujarat is leading the country’s resolution of achieving the goals of the Amrit Kaal.
• The Surat Model of natural farming can become a model for the entire country.
• Sabka Prayas’ is leading the development journey of New India.
• Our villages have shown that villages can not only bring change but can also lead the change.
• India has been an agriculture-based country by nature and culture.
• Now is the time when we move forward on the path of natural farming and take full advantage of the global opportunities.
• Certified natural farming products are fetching good prices when farmers export them.

ANSWER: B

• The Prime Minister expressed happiness over the release of a photo biography and documentary to take Swami Ji’s mission to the masses.
• The meaning of sannyas is to work for the society by rising above oneself, and to live for the sake of society.
• Swami Vivekanand Ji moulded the great tradition of sanyasth into a modern form.
• The ideals of Ramakrishna Mission are to work in mission mode, to create new institutions, and to strengthen the institutions.
• The saint tradition of India has always been proclaiming ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.
• Everyone knows the saints of Ramakrishna Mission as the conductors of national unity in the country.
• Swami Atmasthananda was from Kshetripara, now in Bangladesh. He received his spiritual initiation during his college days in 1938, at Belur Math from Swami Vijnanananda. He worked towards upliftment of disadvantaged communities, created welfare activities for the tribal population in Chhattisgarh, and was involved in the building of the TB sanatorium in Ranchi.

ANSWER: A

• National Fisheries Development Board, Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, celebrated the 22nd National Fish Farmers Day today in a hybrid mode at NFDB Hyderabad.
• More than 1000 fish farmers, aquapreneurs & fisher folks, professionals, officials and scientists from across the nation participated in the event.
• The country stands second in fish production through aquaculture.
• The Government has launched the PMMSY, FIDF and KCC for benefit of the fishers and fish farmers in the country.
• To promote seaweed cultivation the Government of India sanctioned Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu and fishing harbours are being modernized across the country.
• Government is implementing the flagship scheme of PMMSY for benefit of fishers and fish farmers in the country with a highest outlay of Rs.20050 crore.
• On the occasion NFDB and State Bank of India signed MOU to facilitate FIDF & Entrepreneur Models scheme.

ANSWER: C

• India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country next year, according to a report by the United Nations.
• According to, the World Population Prospects 2022 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, the global population is projected to reach eight billion on November 15, 2022.
• The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.
• It is projected to reach a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until 2100.
• According to the report, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country during 2023.
• The world’s two most populous regions in 2022 were Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, with 2.3 billion people, representing 29 per cent of the global population, and Central and Southern Asia, with 2.1 billion, representing 26 per cent of the total world population.
• China and India accounted for the largest populations in these regions, with more than 1.4 billion each in 2022.
• More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
• According to the report, India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared to China’s 1.426 billion.
• India, which will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by 2023, is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, way ahead of China’s 1.317 billion people by the middle of the century.

ANSWER: C

• Novak Djokovic beats Nick Kyrgios for 7th Wimbledon title.
• Elena Rybakina became the first player from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam title.
• Rybakina was born in Russia and still has a home in Moscow. The 23-year-old, who became the first player from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam title, emigrated to her neighbouring country to take advantage of top tennis facilities, a paid stipend, and many other things offered to her by the Kazakhstan tennis federation.

ANSWER: C

• The state government has approved a project to develop state highway leading from Gaggal to Guler in Kangra district as a heritage road. The project aims at developing the road so that the tourists coming to Kangra district could travel and visit heritage structures on the said road. There are many heritage buildings on road, including the rock-cut Masrur temples that are under the protection of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and Guler Fort of former rulers of Guler state of Kangra. Beside the said buildings, there were many heritage temples and building along the road. The idea is to take tourists coming to Kangra valley for a heritage trip on the road.
• The state government has approved the project to develop 46-km road leading from Gaggal to Guler as heritage road. The funding for developing the road is proposed to be provided by the Asian Development Bank.
• Including the rock-cut Masrur temples. Experts are of the opinion that they have similarity with Ankor temples of Cambodia.
• Rock-cut temples located in small and remote hamlet Masrur have been an enigma for historians and archeologists. Even the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) officials, who are maintaining the site, are not sure about history of temples. However, a book written by Professor NK Singh “Coronation of Shiva Rediscovering Masrur temple” has tried to solve the mystery.
• Masrur temples are one of the four monolithic rock-cut temples in the country. The other three are Kailash of Ellora, Mamlapuram in Deccan and Dhamnar temples in Rajasthan. While these are in a pit or on the ground, Masrur temples are unique as they are located on the hill top.

ANSWER: D

• In view of recent accidents in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has launched a nationwide survey of passenger cable cars and ropeway systems to find out possible security flaws and prepare a structural blueprint for effective rescue operations.
• The NDRF has also decided to train its rescuers in specific ropeway rescue skills, apart from purchasing a range of tools for transporting team to evacuate stranded people from a hanging car.
• Three persons were killed and 12 rescued after cable cars got trapped mid-air on a ropeway at Trikut Hills in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district in April. A 40-hour-long operation was conducted by the Indian Air Force, NDRF, Army, ITBP and local administration after the incident.
• Eleven persons were stranded for hours after a cable car got stuck mid-air at Timber Trail in Parwanoo, Himachal Pradesh, in June. They were rescued after a six-hour operation undertaken by the NDRF and other agencies.
• In a similar incident in May, pilgrims visiting a shrine in Maihar town of Madhya Pradesh were rescued about an hour after they were stuck in cable cars.
• Officers from all 16 NDRF battalions across the country have been asked to conduct a survey in their jurisdiction and visit ropeway systems, carry out a security and operations analysis and submit a report to their headquarters.
• A final report on this would be submitted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs with recommendations on remedial measures for the public and private sector operators.