Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
“World Day against Trafficking 2021” was observed on July 30 by the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’. The theme of 2021 was “Victims’ voices lead the way”. This theme was set to raise awareness about the importance of interacting with the survivors of human trafficking. Their surviving stories will help in taking effective measures to prevent trafficking, identifying and rescuing victims and helping them in rehabilitation.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is an international organisation or agency that was founded in 1997. It is headquartered in Vienna (Austria). Its parent organisation is United Nations Secretariat.

Notes:
A 13-day mega military exercise between Indian and Russian army is scheduled to be organised from August 1 at Volgograd city located in Russia. The name of the Joint military exercise between Indian and Russian army is INDRA. The scheduled exercise is the 12th edition of INDRA and it is named “INDRA-21”.
Accroding to the Indian army, 250 personnel from each side will participate in this 12th edition of the joint military exercise. The military exercise will help in strengthening the bilateral security cooperation and will serve to reinforce the longstanding bond of friendship between India and Russia. It will also conduct counter-terror operations as mandated under the UN’s framework of joint forces against international terror groups.

Notes:
Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for Culture participated in the G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting hosted by Italy. The meeting was held on 30 July, 2021. The main focus of the meeting was on ideas related to the protection of cultural heritage. Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi presented India’s perspective on the topic ” Culture and Creative Sectors as drivers for growth”. She highlighted the significance of culture and creative sectors in providing economic growth and employment. She discussed about One District One Product Scheme of Uttar Pradesh, Tourism circuits, promotion of Yoga and Ayurveda etc.
G20 is an intergovernmental forum which comprises European Union and 19 countries including India.

Notes:
P V Sindu is the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. She won her first Olympic medal, which was a silver medal, at Rio Olympics 2016. She won a bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics 2021 after defeating He Bing Jiao of China.
PV Sindhu belongs to Hyderabad, Telangana. Her Personal coach is Park Tae Sang and the national coach of Badminton is Pullela Gopichand.  She got Padma Bhushan Award in 2020. She has been also awarded with Pamda Shri (2015), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2016 and Arjuna Award in 2013.

Notes:
India & Israel collaborated recently to develop rapid testing for COVID-19  in under 30 seconds with the involvement of advanced technological expertise of Israel and Indian development and production capabilities.
Trials are being conducted at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya (RML) hospital at a special site. Four different technologies are  taken under consideration for clinical trials : Voice test, Breath analyser test, Isothermal testing and Polyamino acid testing.

Notes:
Shri Bhupendra Singh, Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing Minister launched “Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi” public awareness campaign on August 1, 2021. The campaign will end on August 15, 2021.
The main idea behind the initiation of this campaign is to spread awareness about wearing masks as an preventive step towards controlling the spread of Covid-19. Mask Banks will be established under this scheme where people can donate new masks for poor and needy people. Citizens can donate mask or funds with the help of NGOs also.

Notes:
India started its two-year tenure as non-permanent member of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on January 1, 2021. India is holding the presidency of UNSC for August and Narendra Modi has become the first Prime Minister to chair an open debate at UNSC. India has been a member of UNSC in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85 and 1991-92 earlier.
UNSC was created after World War II when league of Nations failed to maintain world peace. The first session of UNSC was held on January 17, 1946. It is among six principal organs of United Nations and is tasked with ensuring international peace and security.

Notes:
Sanjeev Singh, who is a specially-abled (Divyang) cricketer, composed and sung the theme song of India for the Tokyo Paralympics. The theme song “Kar De Kamaal Tu” was launched by Anurag Thakur, the Sports Minister of India.
In the Tokyo Olympics, a record number of 54 athletes  from India will participate in nine sports disciplines.
The Paralympic Committee of India (PIC) is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Paralympic Games and other International athletic meets. It was founded in 1992 and was known as the ‘Physically Handicapped Sports Federation of India’. Rao Inderjit Singh is the current President of the Paralympic Committee of India.

Notes:
Nelliyode Vasudevan Namboothiri was a Kathakali artist. He belonged to Kerala. He was known for his vibrant portrayal of the evil chuvanna thaadi roles of the classical Kathakali dance-drama from Kerala. He was a scholar in Sanskrit and Hindu Puranas and was a recipient of several awards including Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award, Kerala State Kathakali Prize etc.
Kathakali is a Hindu performance art in the Malayalam-speaking southwestern region of Kerala and one of the major classical dance form of India.

Notes:
“Har Hith Store” scheme has been launched recently by Manohar Lal Khattar, the Chief Minister of Haryana. The scheme has been launched to encourage students towards self-employment. Under this scheme, a chain of grocery shops will be opened in rural and urban areas to sell the best quality daily-needs products at reasonable prices.
For the implementation of the scheme, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation Limited (HAICL) signed Trade of Terms (TOT) with 51 corporate companies which will provide quality products to these stores. They will also provide Information Technology Support System.