Current Affairs - Current News

On July 29, the Earth broke its record for the shortest day as it completed a full spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than its standard 24-hour rotation.

• Earlier, in 2020, the Earth saw its shortest month that has ever been recorded since the 1960s. On July 19 of that year, the shortest of all time was measured. It was 1.47 milliseconds shorter than a typical 24-hour day.

On 29th July 2022, India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) was launched at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) - India’s maiden International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

Operator of the IIBX

• A holding company India International Bullion Holding IFSC will operate the International Bullion Exchange.

India has designated five (5) new wetlands of International importance making a total of 54 Ramsar sites in the country.

• The recently added sites are in three states:

The government has recently launched three schemes to strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the pharmaceutical sector.

• The chemicals and fertilisers ministry rolled out the schemes under the banner of 'Strengthening Pharmaceuticals Industry' (SPI).

As the central government has launched ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign from August 13, the Ministry of Home Affairs has amended the Flag Code of India 2002 to allow for the national flag to be flown even at night. Earlier, the flag could be hoisted only between sunrise and sunset.

The Change: Clause XI of Paragraph 2.2 the Flag Code

• Now: Clause XI of paragraph 2.2 of the Flag Code was replaced by the following clause: “where the flag is displayed in the open or displayed on the house of a member of the public, it may be flown day and night”.

A team of scientists in the UK has developed a new telescope to track down sources of gravitational waves for the first time.

• The new telescope, named the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO), is made up of two identical arrays deployed on opposite sides of the planet — one on La Palma in the Canary Islands, and the other in Australia.

Indian Researchers have postulated a new theory towards solving the mystery of why few pockets of glaciers in the Karakoram Range are resisting glacial melt due to global warming called ‘Karakoram Anomaly’, defying the trend of glaciers losing mass across the globe, with the Himalayas being no exception.

• They have attributed this phenomenon to recent revival of Western Disturbances (WDs).

On 14th July 2022, the Ministry of Women and Child Development issued detailed guidelines for ‘Mission Shakti' scheme - an integrated women empowerment programme as umbrella scheme for the safety, security and empowerment of women.

Implementation

• It will be implemented during the 15th Finance Commission period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted market authorisation to Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture indigenously-developed India's first Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) against cervical cancer.

• Cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age with a high death ratio in India.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2022 was recently released by the World Economic Forum.

It compares countries’ gender gaps across four dimensions:

• Pillar 1 Economic Participation and Opportunity