ANSWER: C

• Prime Minister launch ‘Mukhyamantri Matrushakti Yojana’ which will focus on improving maternal and child health.
• Under the scheme every month, the pregnant and lactating mothers will be given 2 kg of chickpeas, 1 kg of tur dal, and 1 kg of edible oil will be given free of cost from the Anganwadi centers. An estimated 1.36 lakh women will benefit from the scheme.
• Rupees 120 crore is dedicated towards ‘Poshan Sudha Yojana’, which will be extended to all the tribal beneficiaries in the state.  It offers one nutritious meal a day to pregnant and lactating women.
• The schemes aim to intervene during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which is the period from conception till the time the child turns two.
• The objective is to reduce the number of newborns who are underweight at birth as well as to improve infant mortality and maternal mortality rates.

ANSWER: C

• The 2021 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education will be awarded to the “Initiatives for Inclusive and Accessible Education during COVID-19” implemented by the Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), a constituent unit of the NCERT.
• The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education recognises innovative approaches in leveraging new technologies to expand educational and lifelong learning opportunities for all, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goal 4 on education.
• The CIET was proactive in taking learning to the doorsteps of the children through use of DTH TV channels and radio stations, including community radio stations under the PM eVidya programme.
• The PM eVIDYA programme was initiated by the Ministry in May 2020 which unifies all efforts related to digital, online, on-air education to enable multi-mode access for imparting education by using technology to minimise learning losses.
• One of the major initiatives of PM eVidya is 12 eVidya TV Channels based on the line of One Class-One Channel for Classes 1 to 12 to air educational content related to the respective classes.

ANSWER: D

• Colombia’s presidency has been won by Gustavo Petro, a former rebel warrior who has pledged significant social and economic transformation.
• Petro became Colombia’s first left-wing President.

About Gustavo Petro:

• Decades earlier, Petro was a part of the urban guerrilla outfit known as M-19. Established in 1970, the M-19 sought to gain power through violence following claims of fraud in that year’s elections.
• Petro, who spent time in jail for illegal arms possession, joined the urban military group at the age of 17, and was among the many university students and artists who fought against the government.
• The M-19 was demobilised in 1990 in what is considered a historic success in Colombia’s long history of conflict. The group metamorphosed into a political party, and aided in the rewriting of the constitution.
• For almost a half century from 1964, a violent Marxist-Leninist insurgency led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC in Spanish — raged in the country.
• Despite his early revolutionary actions, the President elect has spent many years in Colombia’s Parliament, having served in the lower house, the Chamber of Representatives, from 1991-94 and then from 1998-2006, before entering the Senate where he served until 2010, and then again from 2018 onward. In between, Petro was Mayor of the capital city of Bogota from 2012 to 2015.

ANSWER: C

• Australian Museum has won the Climate Smart Award 2022.
• SUNxMalta has partnered with Leading Cultural Destinations (LCD) since 2017 to present the Climate Smart Award as a distinct category in this ceremony.
• The award aims to publicly highlight and recognize the central role Museums and Public Art Projects play in Climate education and to focus attention on establishments that have risen to the challenge of advocating sustainable change, teaching and explaining existential Climate change.
• The last Climate Smart Award winner in 2020 was the KlimaHaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost in Germany.

ANSWER: C

• According to AEPC, Free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by India with the UAE and Australia will boost product and market diversification of the apparel sector’s existing basket.
• According to Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman Naren Goenka, the global apparel market, which was just under USD 1.5 trillion in 2013, is expected to generate revenues to the tune of USD 1.8 trillion in 2022 and USD 1.9 trillion in 2025.
• The ongoing 67th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) at Greater Noida would provide a direct marketing platform to MSME exporters from across the country (almost 500 exhibitors and more than 2,000 overseas buyers and buying agents.)
• The council is taking efforts towards promoting Brand India at various global platforms, showcasing its strength on sustainability, circularity, ethical sourcing and manufacturing, labour standards, women employment with no child labour.
• The target for the apparel sector is to double the production and triple the exports and to achieve 15 per cent growth.

ANSWER: B

• Senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
• Kamboj, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as India’s envoy to Bhutan.
• She will succeed T S Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN.

ANSWER: C

• According to a World Gold Council (WGC) report, India has emerged as the fourth largest recycler in the world and the country has recycled 75 tonnes in 2021.
• According to the WGC report titled ‘Gold refining and recycling’, China topped the global gold recycling chart as it recycled 168 tonnes of the yellow metal, followed by Italy in the second position with 80 tonnes and the US at the third rank with 78 tonnes in 2021.
• India was ranked fourth in the list as the country recycled 75 tonnes in 2021.
• According to the WGC report titled ‘Gold refining and recycling’ from 300 tonnes in 2013, India’s gold refining capacity increased by 1,500 tonnes (500 per cent) in 2021.
• The report further noted that the gold refining landscape in the country has changed over the last decade, with the number of formal operations increasing from less than five in 2013 to 33 in 2021.

ANSWER: D

• Indian Men’s football team captain, Sunil Chhetri scored his 84th International goal against Hong Kong during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers and equalled the record of Real Madrid and Hungarian Football Legend Ferenc Puskás.
• Sunil Chhetri has scored 84 goals in 129 appearances while Ferenc Puskás (died in 2006 aged 79) scored 84 goals in 85 international matches.
• Sunil Chhetri is the 3rd highest goal scorer in international football among active players, after Cristiano Ronaldo with 117 goals and Lionel Messi with 86 goals.
• He is also the highest active goal scorer from Asia and India.

Top 5 International Goal Scorer:

• Cristiano Ronaldo with 117 goals
• Iran’s Ali Daei managed 109 goals.
• Malaysia’s Mokhtar Dahari netted 89 goals.
• Lionel Messi with 86 goals.
• Sunil Chhetri and Ferenc Puskás with 84 goals.

ANSWER: C

• The religiously significant and one of the most difficult pilgrimages Shrikhand Yatra to the 18,570 feet Shrikhand Mahadev peak in Anni of Kullu district will be organised from July 11 to 24.
• Devotees reach Shrikhand by trekking about 25 km. The trek takes around 3 to 5 days starting from Jaon in Nirmand.
• Five base camps would be set up during the journey in which facilities of registration, medical check-up, information related to the yatra, rescue teams, emergency equipment, medicines, etc, would be available.
• Many pilgrims have lost their lives in the past while undertaking the strenuous trek.

ANSWER: D

• Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister, dedicated development works of over Rs 63 crores at National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur.
• He inaugurated a computer centre established at cost of Rs 47.11 crore and e-classroom built at cost of Rs. 16.62 crore.
• Apart from regular courses institute did its best in discharging social responsibility by disseminating technical and digital knowledge for the society.
• The institute had also incubated a number of start-ups that helped youth for entrepreneurship.