Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Department of Land Resources (DoLR), functioning under the Ministry of Rural Development, is the nodal department responsible for registering property index.
As it has fared low in the Land Administration Index part of World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index, the Government is planning to link e-court with land records and registration base. The pilot project has been completed in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana

Notes:
As per a recent notification by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the basic customs duty on crude palm oil has been cut to 10 per cent and refined palm oil to 37.5 per cent.
This tax cut could make palm oil more attractive than rival soyoil and sunflower oil, which will boost imports and bring down the edible oil prices. This lower tax rate will apply from June 30 to September 30.

Notes:
As per a report titled ‘COVID-19 and Tourism’ released by the UNCTAD jointly with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the crash in international tourism due to COVID 19 pandemic can lead to a loss of about $4 trillion to the global GDP in 2020 and 2021.
The estimated loss is said to be caused due to direct impact and indirect ripple effect on other sectors closely linked to the tourism industry.

Notes:
F-35 Lightning II is a next generation fighter jet developed by the US-based Lockheed Martin. This stealth multirole aircraft is capable of conducting airstrikes, reconnaissance missions and air-to-air combats. Its development was funded by the US and several of its NATO allies. The fighter jet faced several criticisms for its large size, complexity, delivery delays, high costs etc.

Switzerland has ordered these fighter jets, making it the 15^th nation to be part of the world’s largest weapons project, Joint Strike Fighter program. This 5.5 million USD deal was criticised as the small Alpine country does not require such capability to secure itself since these supersonic jets can cross it in 10 minutes.

Notes:
Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced its plans to build freight smart cities to improve urban freight efficiency. This is aimed to reduce the logistics costs.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched a website on ‘Freight Smart Cities’. Initially, 10 cities would be identified, and it can be expanded to 75 cities in the next phase before launching it throughout the country.

Notes:
Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli is the National Control Laboratory for testing of Immunobiologicals (vaccines and antisera) meant for human use.
Recently, the Union Government has set up two laboratories including one at Autonomous Research Institutes National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, and another at National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) Hyderabad as Central Drug Laboratory (CDL).

Notes:
A new centre of National Horticulture Board (NHB) has been inaugurated in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh by Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers welfare.
National Horticulture Board (NHB) was set up by Government of India in April 1984 on the basis of recommendations of the “Group on Perishable Agricultural Commodities”, headed by Dr M. S. Swaminathan. NHB is mandated for integrated development of Hi-tech commercial and post-harvest management/cold chain infrastructure in the country.

Notes:
As per the provisional statistics of 2020-21 of the Coal Ministry, India’s total coal production registered a decline of 2.02 per cent to 716.084 million tonnes during 2020-21.
Of the total production, 671.297 MT was non-coking coal and 44.787 MT was coking coal. Chhattisgarh registered highest coal production of 158.409 MT, followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Jharkhand was the top producer of coking coal.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India mandated that 7.5 % of the bank’s total credit (ANBC or CEOBE) should be provided to Micro enterprises.
Recently, the Union MSME Ministry announced the inclusion of retail and wholesale trade under MSMEs (Micro, small and medium enterprises). As per this categorisation, the traders will now get the benefit of priority sector lending under RBI guidelines. They will also be eligible for availing immediate-term finance as part of the schemes announced under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

Notes:
The Ministry of women and child development has invited suggestions for the draft of the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021.
The objective of the bill is to prevent and counter trafficking in persons, especially women and children. According to the draft bill, a person found guilty of trafficking can be imprisoned for seven years to 10 years. Those convicted shall be imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh to 5 lakhs.