General Knowledge & Current Affairs
July 2022 - 18th to 24th
- India crosses milestone of administering 200 crore COVID vaccine doses
- Home Minister Amit Shah holds meeting with all CMs, LGs, Administrators of UTs on Har Ghar Tiranga Programme
- 52nd BGB-BSF (Border Guards Bangladesh-Border Security Force) Director General level conference starts in Dhaka
- Army Chief Manoj Pande proceeds on three-day visit to Bangladesh
- Ex-Union minister Margaret Alva of Congress to be Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate
- Indian Navy’s INS Sindhudhvaj submarine decommissioned at Visakhapatnam after 35 years in service
- Shiv Sena splits in Lok Sabha as 12 out of 19 MPs join rebel camp; Rahul Shewale named party leader in House
- ‘Beyond the Misty Veil – Temple Tales of Uttarakhand’, a book by IAS Officer Aradhana Johri, released
- 1,63,370 renounced Indian citizenship in 2021, US top choice: Govt
- Chhattisgarh government to purchase cow urine at Rs 4 per litre under ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ from July 28
- India, Namibia sign MoU for bringing cheetah to Kuno-Palpur National Park in MP; extinct since 1952
- Proposed reservoir at Mekedatu to severely impact water flow; TN tells SC, Karnataka refutes claim
- Govt bans human embryo import in line with surrogacy, assisted reproductive tech laws
- China conducts military exercise with attack helicopters over Pangong Lake
- Renowned ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh dies at 82
- BJP’s candidate Droupadi Murmu elected as President with 64% of votes; defeats opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha (36%)
- UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley visits India
- 9th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes (SOMTC) held virtually
- Running of ships in Lakshadweep handed over to Shipping Corporation of India
- Lok Sabha passes Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 that seeks to extend the application of domestic laws to the two research stations set up by India in the Antarctic region: Maitri and Bharti
- National Security Adviser Ajit Doval meets his UK counterpart Stephen Lovegrove in New Delhi
- NATIONAL FILM AWARDS 2020
– Best Feature Film: ‘Soorarai Pottru’ (Tamil)
– Best Actor (shared): Suriya for ‘Soorarai Pottru’ & Ajay Devgn for ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ (Hindi)
– Best Actress: Aparna Balamurali for ‘Soorarai Pottru’
– Best Popular Film – Providing Wholesome Entertainment: ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’
– Best Director: KR Sachidanandan for ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ (Malayalam) - Enforcement Directorate arrests West Bengal Minister & TMC leader Partha Chatterjee in teacher recruitment scam
- Issue of holding simultaneous polls referred to Law Commission: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju
- National Broadcasting Day observed on July 23; day of country’s 1st broadcast in 1927 from Bombay
- Cargo plane operated by Ukrainian airline crashes in Greece; was going from Serbia to Jordan
- Saudi Arabia: “Jeddah Summit for Security and Development” held; attended by leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and the US
- World Day for International Justice observed on July 17
- SINGAPORE OPEN SUPER 500 BADMINTON WINNERS
– India’s P V Sindhu: women’s singles
– Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting: men’s singles
– Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando & Daniel Marthin: men’s doubles
– Indonesia’s Apriyani Rahayu & Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti: women’s doubles
– Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Taerattanachai: mixed doubles - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for bold, coordinated responses to global food crisis
- India and European Union (EU) hold 10th round of talks on human rights.
- Sri Lanka: Ranil Wickremesinghe elected president by MPs
- EU to defreeze some Russian assets to enable trade of food & fertilisers
- Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation awards Dissident Human Rights Award to Ukraine
- World Chess Day observed on July 20, marks the date of the establishment of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Paris in 1924
- International Moon Day observed on July 20, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed on Moon on July 20, 1969
- Italy: PM Mario Draghi resigns after coalition allies boycott confidence vote
- Russia biggest pipeline resumes pumping gas to Europe after a 10-day outage; Nord Stream 1 runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany
- Russia and Ukraine agree to release blockaded grain exports; sign UN-brokered in Istanbul, Turkey
- Sri Lanka: Dinesh Gunawardena sworn in as new PM
- WHO declares monkeypox outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC)
- Russian missiles strike Odesa port day after grain deal, Ukraine claims
- World Brain Day observed on July 22
- PSU Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) starts Bikers Cafe near Shimla
- ED arrests former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey in connection with a money laundering probe
- Centre sets up committee, headed by former Union Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agrawal, on the minimum support price and other issues in the farming sector
- CBIC clarifies on GST changes; 5% GST on these food items, like pulses, flour and rice, will not apply in case the pack size is over 25kg
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) releases compilation of success stories of 75,000 farmers
- Indian rupee declines to a record low of 80.0125 per dollar
- RBI hikes capital adequacy ratio for urban cooperative banks to 12%
- SEBI approves name of Ashish Kumar Chauhan as MD & CEO of NSE
- 17th CII – Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership held in New Delhi
- Go Digit General Insurance 1st to offer a ‘pay as you drive’ feature for motor insurance
- US was the top source country for inward remittances in India in 2020-21
- Yes Bank selects JC Flowers ARC as partner for sale of stressed loan portfolio
- Govt releases Natural Resource Accounting to track mineral, energy deposits
- Govt slashes windfall tax on petrol (from Rs. 6/litre to nil), diesel (Rs 11 from Rs 13 per litre) and ATF (Rs 17,000 per tonne)
- Rajarshi Gupta appointed MD of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL)
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.2% for 2022-23 from 7.5% estimated earlier
- NITI Aayog releases 3rd edition of India Innovation Index; Karnataka (Major States), Manipur (North East & Hill States) and Chandigarh (Union Territories & City States) topped in different categories
- India’s R&D spend (0.7% of GDP) among lowest in the world; Israel’s highest (4.5% of GDP): NITI Aayog
- Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Promotion and development Scheme (PMDPS) launched for strengthening pharmaceuticals industry by Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya
- ICC (Indian Chamber of Commerce)-North East Initiative and NEDFi (North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd) sign MoU to promote investment in North East
- India, 17 others unveil roadmap for long-term resilient supply chains
- India’s foreign exchange reserves drop $7.5 billion to $572.7 billion during the week ended July 15
- upGrad acquires online learning institution Harappa Education for Rs 300 crore
- Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air to start from Mumbai-Ahmedabad route on
- ADB approves USD 96.3 million loan for Himachal Pradesh Rural Drinking Water Improvement and Livelihood Project
- Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri addresses 16th meeting of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) in New Delhi
- Tata Motors bags order for 1,500 electric buses from Delhi Transport Corp
- UKRAINE
Russian defence ministry officials insisted that an airstrike on the port of Odesa — less than a day after Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on resuming grain shipments from there — had hit only military targets. - RUSSIA
Russia resumed pumping gas via its biggest pipeline to Europe after a 10-day outage, allaying some of Europe’s immediate supply fears but not enough to end the threat of rationing to cope with potential winter shortages. - ITALY
Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned after key coalition allies boycotted a confidence vote, signalling the likelihood of an early election and a renewed period of uncertainty for Italy. - BRAZIL
Police in Brazil say 19 people have been killed during a raid against a criminal gang that controls one of Rio de Janeiro’s most violent favelas. Four hundred heavily-armed military police were deployed to the Alemão favela in the early hours of July 21. - HAITI
At least 17 people from Haiti died in a boat accident off the coast of The Bahamas. Those on board were travelling from Haiti to Miami, Florida (US) in a suspected human smuggling operation. - US
Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukraine’s President, accepted the Dissident Human Rights Award given by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington on behalf of Ukrainian people. - SRI LANKA
Dinesh Gunawardena, parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, was sworn in as the new prime minister, amid political turbulence sparked by a worsening economic crisis. Earlier, Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the country’s new president by the country’s parliament - CHINA
China launched Wentian, the second module of its space station, on July 24. The first was Tianhe in April 2021. The launch of third and final one named Mengtian later will complete its permanent space station. - MYANMAR
Four democracy activists were executed by Myanmar’s military rulers in what is believed to be the first use of capital punishment in decades. The junta overthrew the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in February 2021. - GHANA
Ghana’s government confirmed its first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus. It is a highly infectious disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.
- Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa wins Paracin Open Chess title in Serbia
- Athletics World Championships at Eugene (US): Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar wins men’s high jump gold in 2.37m
- International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, Korea: Rhythm Sangwan and Anish Bhanwala win bronze in mixed 25 m rapid fire pistol team event
- Former SC judge Vineet Saran appointed BCCI ethics officer & ombudsman
- International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, Korea: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu and Sameer win silver in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team event
- World Athletics Championships in US: Shericka Jackson (Jamaica) wins gold in women’s 200 m in 21.45 seconds
- World Athletics Championships in US: Sydney McLaughlin (US) wins women’s 400m hurdles gold in 50.68 seconds; breaks her own world record
- India (308/7 in 50) beat West Indies (305/6 in 50) by 3 runs in 1st ODI of 3-match series at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
