Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi  launched some initiatives as a part of the extension to the  National Education Policy 2020 on July 29th, 2021. Vidya Pravesh initiative has been launched for Pre School Kids, basically for Grade 1 students. Under this initiative, three-month play module will be set for the children to prepare them for school. It will also include a subject of Indian Sign language at the Secondary Level.

Notes:
Roberto Calasso was an Italian writer and publisher. Apart from his mother tongue, he was fluent in many languages such as French, English, German, Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit. He was also called as “a literary institution of one”. His books reflected his esoteric interests. He wrote on Indian and Greek mythology, the Vedic age, Kafka, Baudelaire etc.

Notes:
On August 1, 2021, Ismail Haniyeh was re-elected as leader of the Palestinian Islamist group ‘Hamas’. He is the chief of Hamas since 2017. He is a senior political leader of Hamas and he became the prime minister of Palestinian National Authority in 2006 after  Palestinian legislative elections. He has earlier controlled the political activities of Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the diaspora largely from outside Gaza, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar for the past two years.
Hamas is a Palestinian militant and nationalist organization which rules the Gaza strip and has fought violent conflicts with Israel. It was founded in 1987. Its headquarter is in Gaza, a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Notes:
World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is organised annually by World Health Organisation (WHO), World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) , United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The Breastfeeding week is marked every year from August 1 to August 8 i.e. the first week of August. The main motive of World Breastfeeding Week is to raise awareness on the importance of breastfeeding for mothers and infants. The theme of 2021 is “Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility”.
The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) was founded on 14 February 1999 by Anwar Fazal. Its headquarter is located in Penang (Malaysia).

Notes:
DefExpo-2022 is scheduled to be held from 11-13 March, 2022 in Gandhinagar (Gujarat). Ministry of Defence organises Military exhibitions in form of the defence expo and the aero India every two years. DefExpo is basically the land and naval systems show of the Defence Ministry. The last edition of the DefExpo was held in Lucknow. Before 2014, It was used to be organised only in New Delhi.
Rajnath Singh is the Defence Minister of India.

Notes:
Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system. The United States of America has approved the sale of one Harpoon Joint Common Test Set (JCTS) along with the related equipment to India for an estimated cost of USD 82 million. This will help in improving India’s capability to meet current and future threats.
The principal contractor of the deal will be Boeing Company which is headquartered in Chicago, USA. The present CEO & President of Boeing Company is David L. Calhoun.

Notes:
India’s largest and most complex warship “INS Vikrant” began its sea trials on August 4, 2021. It is the first indigenous aircraft carrier of India. Its weight is about 40,000 tonne and this is the maiden sea trials of INS Vikrant. It is constructed by the  Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy. It was launched in 2013. The meaning of Vikrant is “Courageous”.
The motto of the ship is “Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah”. The meaning of the phrase is “I defeat those who fight against me”. The phrase is taken from the Rigveda.

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:
Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) R.K.S. Bhadauria arrived in Israel to discuss enhancement of bilateral exchanges between the air forces of the two countries. He reached Israel on an invitation from Maj Gen Amikam Norkin, Cdr Israel Air Force. He is in Israel after a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Notes:
As part of one year celebration of transformative reforms under the government’s National Education Policy, 2020, the Government of India is organising a series of theme-based webinars on different aspects of National Education Policy, 2020. Indian Knowledge System, Language, Arts & Culture being one of the innovative thrust areas of NEP, Indian Knowledge System at AICTE under Ministry of Education organised a National Webinar on Transforming Education in the Light of Indian Knowledge System, Language, Arts & Culture. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Employment Shri, was the Chief Guest on the occasion.