Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
A virtual meeting “BRICS Counter Terrorism Working Group” was oraganised recently on July 28-29 under the chairmanship of India. It was the 6th meeting of the BRICS Counter Terrorism Working Group.
The main outcome of the meeting was the finalisation of the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan containing specific measures for the implementation of the BRICS Counter Terrorism Strategy adopted by BRICS leaders in 2020.
BRICS includes five major emerging economies : Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs. It was founded in 2006.

Notes:
India ranks Fourth among the top 20 countries which is contributing to biological databases.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh released the “Biotech-PRIDE Guidelines. The term PRIDE means “Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange”.
It has been developed by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology. It was released on July 30, 2021. These guidelines will enable exchange of information to promote research and innovation in different research groups across the country. The Indian Biological Data Center (IBDC) will initially implement these guidelines.
Other existing datasets/data centers will connect to this IBDC called BioGrid. BioGrid will become a national respiratory of knowledge, information and biological data and will be responsible for allowing their exchange, establishing security measures, standards and quality of data sets and establishing detailed modes of access to data.

Notes:
Forbes released Fortune 500 global list of companies on August 2, 2021. According to the list,
Walmart is ranked first in terms of total revenues for their respective fiscal years ended on or before March 31, 2021. Walmart had a revenue of USD 524 billion.
Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. The company is based in United States of America. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was founded on 2 July, 1962 by Sam Walton and Walton family is its owner. Doug Mcmillion is the current CEO of this company.
Forbes is an American business magazine. It is owned by Integrated whale media investments and Forbes family. It features articles on finance, industry, investments and marketing topics. It is based in New Jersey, USA.

Notes:
The Italian luxury brand ‘Bvlgari’ has appointed Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the global brand ambassador.
Bvlgari is known for its gemstone jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories and leather goods. Priyanka Chopra Jonas will support the Roman high jewellery house and promote brand around the world. The main focus will be on themes of women empowerment, diversity and inclusion.
Bulgari / Bvlgari was founded in 1884 by Sotirios Voulgaris.  Its headquarter is located in Rome, Italy. The current CEO of this brand is Jean-Christophe Babin.

Notes:
Udupi district of Karnataka stood first in the successful implementation of Sakala scheme in July, 2021.
Sakala is a legislation formed to provide timely delivery of government services to citizens by the Government departments concerned.
Karnataka incorporate Sakala scheme under Right to Public Services legislation.
Karnataka Sakala Services Act was passed in 2011 to provide guarantee of services to citizens in Karnataka with a stipulated time limiting to citizen related services. It was renamed as Sakala Act in 2012.
The technical services related to the Sakala scheme is developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) with a motive to provide solutions and services to monitor the services.

Notes:
The first orchid conservation centre of North India has been inaugurated in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The main purpose of the conservation centre is to conserve orchid species and create ventures for tourism and livelihood for local people.
Orchid is a flowering plant and its scientific name is Orchidaceae.
All orchid species are protected under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES was enforced on 1 July, 1975.
Ivonne Higuero is the current Secretary-General of CITES. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Notes:
Lovlina Borgohain became the 3rd Indian boxer after Vijender Singh and Mary Kom to win a bronze medal at the Olympics. She won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. She belongs to Golaghat (Assam). She also won a bronze medal at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship and the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. She is the first female athlete and second boxer from Assam to represent India in the Olympics. She became the 6th person from Assam to get the Arjuna Award.

Notes:
At the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Elaine Thompson becomes the first woman to retain 100m and 200m Olympic Titles. She is from Jamaica. She is a four-time Olympic champion. She set a national and Olympic record of finishing 100m ( women’s category ) race in 10.61 seconds. She is the second-fastest woman in the 200metres with a time of 21.53 seconds. Griffith-Joyner of the United States of America is considered as the fastest woman.

Notes:
The Government of India has approved development of 11 Industrial Corridors with 32 Projects which will be developed in four phases around the country as part of the National Industrial Corridor Programme (NICP). These include:

1. DMIC: Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor
2. CBIC: Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor
3. Extension of CBIC to Kochi via Coimbatore
4. AKIC: Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor
5. HNIC: Hyderabad Nagpur Industrial Corridor
6. HWIC: Hyderabad Warangal Industrial Corridor
7. HBIC: Hyderabad Bengaluru Industrial Corridor
8. BMIC: Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor
9. VCIC: Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor
10. OEC: Odisha Economic Corridor
11. DNIC: Delhi Nagpur Industrial Corridor

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has given its approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Institute of Space science and Technology (IIST) and The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), for carrying out Research activities and Academic programmes which will involve faculty and students from each institution.