Daily Current Affairs and GK | 3 August 2022

Topic: Geography

1. Earth broke its record of the shortest day by completing a rotation in 1.59 milliseconds less than its standard time.

• Earth completed a full spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than its standard 24-hour rotation on 29 July.
• Earth broke its previous record of 1.47 milliseconds, which was recorded on 19 July 2020.
• According to reports, it has been noted that in recent times earth’s speed has increased.
• The main cause of the high speed of the earth is still unknown but scientists predict that speed has increased due to the processes in the inner or outer layers of the core, oceans, tides or climate change.
• Some scientists have speculated that the increase in Earth's speed is due to the "Chandler wobble" effect, which is a change in the Earth's rotation on its axis.
• The Earth usually takes exactly 24 hours to rotate once on its axis.
• The Earth takes 365 days and five hours to complete one revolution around the sun.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. Government selected 8 craft villages under the ‘Linking Textile with Tourism’ programme.

• To encourage crafts and tourism in one place, 8 Craft villages were taken up by the government under 'Linking Textiles to Tourism'.
• Major tourist places are being linked with handicraft clusters. The Craft Village will promote handicrafts as a sustainable and remunerative livelihood option for artisans in the clusters.
• Under this programme, 1,000 artisans will get direct benefits across the country. It will also increase the tourist inflow across the craft villages.
• Craft Village will also help in protecting the rich artisanal heritage of the country.
• The craft villages selected are given below:

Topic: Sports

3. India created history after winning the Lawn Bowls Commonwealth Games gold medal.

• India won the gold medal after defeating South Africa in the final of the Lawn Bowls competition at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. With this, it is the maiden medal for the country in Lawn Bowls.
• The Indian team of Roopa Rani Tirkey, Lovely Choubey, Pinky, and Nayanmoni Saikia beat South Africa by 17-10.
• The Indian table tennis team also won the gold medal, beating Singapore 3-1.
• In weightlifting, Vikas Thakur won the silver medal in the 96 kg category by lifting a total of 346 kg.
• Commonwealth Games:
  • The 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games 2022 is being held in Birmingham from 28 July to 8 August 2022.
  • The first Commonwealth Games was organized in 1930.
  • The event is overseen by Commonwealth Games Federation.
  • The 2018 Commonwealth Games was organized in Gold Coast Queensland, Australia.
  • It is organized every four years.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. India signed six agreements with the Maldives for broad-based ties in key areas.

• A delegation-level talk was held between PM Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in New Delhi.
• Six agreements were signed in areas, including cyber security, disaster management, and infrastructure.
• India-Maldives reviewed the progress of the Addu Roads project, provision of water and sewerage facilities at 34 islands, and restoration of Hukuru Miskiy (Friday Mosque).
• PM Modi announced a Line of Credit of USD 100 million for the neighbouring nation for the timely completion of development projects.
• Maldives:
  • It is an island country located in the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India.
  • It is the smallest island Asian country in terms of Area and the second least populous country in Asia.
  • Capital: Male
  • Currency: Maldivian Rufiyaa
  • President of Maldives: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Personality in News

5. Singer Nirmala Mishra passed away at the age of 81.

• Renowned Bengali singer Nirmala Mishra passed away due to a heart attack at her residence in Kolkata.
• Apart from Bengali, she also sang many songs in Odia and Assamese films.
• She was conferred with the ‘Sangeet Samman’, ‘Sangeet Mahasamman’ and ‘Bangabhibhushan’ awards by the West Bengal government.
• She was given the Sangeet Sudhakar Balakrushna Das Award for her lifetime contribution to Odia music as well.

Topic: Sports

6. England won its first UEFA Women Euro 2022 title.

• England won their first major women's football title after beating Germany 2–1 in the final of the European Championship after extra time.
• After Germany failed to score goal, Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal in the second half of extra time.
• The game ended 1–1 after 90 minutes at Wembley Stadium.
• In the 79th minute, Lina Magull scored a goal for Germany, and Alla Toon scored a goal for England in the 62nd minute.
• UEFA European Women's Championship:
  • It is the main competition in women's association football, which is conducted every four years between national teams of the UEFA confederation.
  • It was founded in 1982. The first tournament was won by Sweden in 1984.
  • Germany is the most successful team in this tournament with eight wins.

Topic: Sports

7. Fourth ONGC Para Games inaugurated by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi.

• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is organizing fourth ONGC Para Games during 2-4 August 2022.
• Nearly 275 Persons with Disabilities (PwD) are taking part in the Games.
• These all are employees of eight central oil and gas public enterprises (ONGC, IOCL, GAIL, BPCL, MRPL, EIL, OIL and HPCL).
• ONGC Para Games were conceptualized and started by ONGC in 2017.
• ONGC organizes the Para Games on an international format with the help of the Paralympic Committee of India.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

8. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has started applications for its two flagship programs.

• These programs are Atal Incubation Center (AIC) and Atal Community Innovation Center (ACIC).
• Atal Incubation Centre is an initiative of the Atal Innovation Mission.
• It aims to foster innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and create a supportive ecosystem for start-ups and entrepreneurs in India.
• Each AIC is provided a grant of up to 10 crore rupees over a period of five years.
• Since 2016, AIM has established 68 AIC across 18 States and three Union Territories. They have supported over 2,700 start-ups.
• ACIC is envisioned to serve the unserved/underserved areas of India with respect to the start-up and innovation ecosystem.
• Each ACIC is provided a grant of up to 2.5 crore rupees over a period of 5 years.
• AIM has established 14 Atal Community Innovation Centres across the country.

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

9. AlphaFold predicted and published the structures of nearly all proteins.

• AlphaFold is a tool developed by AI research company DeepMind Technologies.
• DeepMind Technologies has released the structure of more than 200 million protein in association with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI).
• It has predicted the structures of plants, bacteria, animals, and other organisms.
• Proteins are complex biological molecules, which are made up of amino acids.
• The structure of the protein is very important for biologists. This three-dimensional information has been collected by using cryo-electron microscopes.
• DeepMind is an AI firm owned by Google's parent company, 'Alphabet'.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer program or a machine to think and learn.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

10. Government constituted a special task force under the chairmanship of VK Paul to monitor monkeypox.

• The Union health ministry has formed a special task force to monitor monkeypox cases.
• NITI Aayog member (health) VK Paul will head the task force and officials from the health ministry and representatives from major medical and research institutes will be its members.
• This task force has been formed for the better management of monkeypox infections in the country. It will also coordinate with states and also provide them expertise.
• The Government has also released the ‘Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease’.
• According to this, monkeypox transmits through direct or indirect contact with body fluids or lesions of the infected person.

Topic: Indian Polity

11. Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 has been introduced to Loksabha for consideration and passing.

• Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 seeks to amend the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• This bill will increase the number of protected species under this act. It will change the definition of ‘Tiger and other Endangered Species’ to ‘Wild Life’.
• The bill will cover flora, fauna and aqua and also regulates wildlife trade as per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• The bill empowers the central government to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, and proliferation of invasive alien species.
• The bill also proposes to form a Management authority for issuing permits for the trade of scheduled species.
• The bill gives power to the central government to also notify a conservation reserve.
• The bill will change the current schedule for vermin species.
• The bill also has provisions of fines for General violations up to 1 lakh and for specially protected animals at least Rs 25,000.
• The bill has kept 131 mammals, 112 birds, 43 birds, 26 fishes, 63 insects, and 388 corals under Schedule I.
• 41 mammals, 864 birds, 12 reptiles, 58 insects, molluscs, and sponges have been kept under Schedule II.

Topic: Space and IT

12. ISRO to launch its new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) on 7 August.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) on 7 August.
• It will be the first flight for the new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
• On the maiden flight, the SSLV will carry EOS-2, India’s Earth Observation Satellites.
• This launch will shift the burden of commercial launches from Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) to Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV). It will be used for launching a small satellite.
• SSLV will also carry the AzadiSat which is a satellite developed by 750 rural students coordinated by SpaceKidz India.
• The SSLV will cost about one-fourth of the current PSLV cost. It can be assembled by a team of six people within seven days.

Topic: Defence

13. India to take part in ‘Pitch Black’ multilateral exercise in Australia.

• India will participate in the air combat ‘Pitch Black’ exercise along with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Philippines, South Korea, etc.
• A total of 100 aircraft and 2,500 military personnel from 17 countries will take part in the exercise.
• It is scheduled to take place from August 19 to September 6 in Northern Australia.
• The Indian Air Force first participated in this multilateral exercise in 2018.
• This exercise gives an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge and experience between participating countries.
• The first Pitch Black exercise was held on 15-16 June 1981. It is hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) biennially.

Topic: Sports

14. “Games Wide Open” to be the official slogan of the Paris Olympic 2024.

• The shared slogan for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the “Games Wide Open”.
• In 2024, Paris will host the Summer Olympics for the third time. It is scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August. 
• Paris Olympics aims to be the most gender-balanced Olympic Games. Around 13 million tickets will be sold for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• India has won 7 medals in Tokyo Olympics including include 1 Gold Medal, 2 Silver medals and 4 Bronze medals.