Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 24, 2023

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

• India has voiced support for the U.N.’s efforts in continuing the Black Sea Grain initiative and expressed hope for an early resolution to the present impasse.
• Russia had announced it was terminating its implementation including the withdrawal of Russian security guarantees for navigation in the North-Western part of the Black Sea.

ABOUT BLACK SEA GRAIN INITIATIVE

• Black sea grain initiative was brokered by UN and Turkey in July 2022 between Russia and Ukraine.
  • Ukraine is among the world’s biggest exporter of foodgrains, such as wheat and corn, and a major contributor to the UN’s food aid programmes.
• It allows for commercial food and fertiliser (including ammonia) exports from three key Ukrainian ports in Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi/Yuzhny.
• A Joint Coordination Centre, including representatives from Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine and UN, was established to monitor its implementation.
• JCC Centre is hosted in Istanbul.
• The UN acts as the Secretariat for the Centre.

ANSWER: B

• Australia’s ‘seahorse hotels’ are set up aimed to save endangered species.
• Made from biodegradable metal, the eight new hotels installed will provide much needed homes for the endangered seahorses.
• Designed to mimic discarded crab traps, a common home for seahorses, the hotels are installed at least a month before the release, to allow the accumulation of algae, sponges and other marine fouling.
• Over the years, the metal breaks down and disappears, leaving behind a semi-natural reef, benefiting not only the seahorses but the broader ecosystem of the harbour.
• The Sydney Seahorse Project is a collaboration between the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, the University of Technology Sydney and the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries, which focuses on the conservation of the species.

ABOUT WHITE’S SEAHORSES

• White’s Seahorses are endemic to the waters surrounding Australia’s east coast and were classified as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List in 2017 due to loss of habitat.
• The species was named after John White, Surgeon General to the First Fleet.
• Seahorses are often considered a flagship species for conservation.

ANSWER: C

• The Health Ministry has launched an online portal to facilitate reporting of violations under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act (PECA).
• PECA was introduced as an Ordinance and later formalised into an Act in 2019.
• The portal, violation-reporting.in , will allow faster action against any reported violations.
• All forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems including e-cigarettes are prohibited under PECA.
• Electronic cigarettes and similar devices are battery-operated systems that heat a substance (in liquid or solid state), which contains nicotine and often flavours, to create an aerosol for inhalation.
• E-cigarettes’ aerosols have harmful substances such as nicotine, cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead, chemicals causing lung diseases such as diacetyl.

ANSWER: D

• Max Verstappen has won the Hungarian GP at the Hungaroring, by a comfortable 33.731 secs margin over McLaren’s Lando Norris.
• Sergio Perez from Red Bull got third place.

ANSWER: A

• National Flag Adoption Day is celebrated on July 22^nd, to commemorate Constituent Assembly’s adoption of Tricolour in 1947.

ANSWER: C

• National Mango Day is annually observed on July 22^nd.
• The roots of the International Mango Festival can be traced back to 1987when the National Horticulture Board of India decided to celebrate mango.
• Mangoes were first grown in India over 5,000 years ago.

ANSWER: B

• The centre was inaugurated by Brigadier (retd) Madan Sheel Sharma, chairman of Himachal Pradesh Ex Servicemen Corporation, at ACC cement factory at Barmana in Bilaspur district.
• The centre would also create awareness about Agniveer selection process and encourage more youth to join defence services.
• In the first group, 35 boys have been enrolled for the training.

ANSWER: B

• The CM recently announced the launching of a collateral-free loan scheme, called Sashakt Mahila Rin Yojana to economically empower women.
• The ‘Sashakt Mahila Rin Yojna’ is an initiative of the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank (HPSCB) which will provide loans to women for pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams, engage in livelihood activities, fulfil their day-to-day needs and uplift their families.
• Under this scheme, beneficiaries will get the credit facility of Rs.21,000, Rs.51,000 and Rs.1,01,000 at a relatively low interest rates of 8.51%.
• The main benefit of this scheme is that beneficiaries need not to provide any assets or collateral as security against the loan amount.