Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

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:
Luciano Wernicke is the author of “The Most Incredible Olympic Stories”. The book is published by Niyogi Books. The book is about the journey of the Olympics. The book is a confluence of history, politics and spirit. It has many powerful tales with elements of surprise, unpredictability and romance. The book tells about the ideal spirit of the game, strict rules and the changes that can be made in the rules whenever necessary.

Luciano Wernicke is from Argentina. He worked in the sports media and also taught journalism techniques and text composition at the Ciculo de Periodistas Deportivos for about 20 years. In 2019, he joined the Costa Rica’s national football team as an assistant to the football team manager, Gustavo Matosas.

Notes:
A formal ceremony was held in the morning on 31st July, 2021 at South block, New Delhi. In this meeting, Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, AVSM, NM assumed charge as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff from Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC.
The new Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral SN Ghormade is an alumni of National Defence Academy (NDA). He was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 1 Jan 1984 and is a Navigation and Direction Specialist.
The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) is the second-highest ranking officer of the Indian Navy and the deputy to the chief of the navy. VCNS is a PSO at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi. He is responsible for naval related tasks.

Notes:
The tenure of India as a non-permanent of the UN Security Council began on January 1,2021. On August 1, 2021 India took over the UN Security Council Presidency for the month of August. The August presidency will be India’s first presidency as a non-permanent member. India will again preside over the council in December 2022 which is the last month of its two-year tenure. France was the immediate predecessor of India in the UN Security Council Presidency. This is India’s tenth tenure as a president.
United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation and help in harmonizing the actions of nations.
UN was founded on 24th October, 1945. Antonio Guterres is the current security general of UN.

 

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:
Tony Abbott has been appointed as the special trade envoy of Australian Prime Minister for his visit to India. He has been appointed with a purpose to deepen trade and investment links that will help drive post-covid recovery. The main focus of the proposed meeting will be on the building of ‘secure and resilient supply chains’.
Tony Abbott was the former Prime Minister of Australia. He was appointed as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia from 2013-2015.

Notes:
‘Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana’  has been recently launched by Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Under this scheme, Rs. 3000 will be directly transferred into accounts of children who lost  their parents or the earning member of their family during the Covid-19 pandemic. Free education, ration and health facilities will be provided to them till the age of 21.
State Minister Rekha Arya was also present when this scheme/programme was launched.

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:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore with the aim to boost export of agricultural and processed food products, especially from the state of Karnataka.  The key areas of cooperation will be developing technologies jointly with APEDA for efficient & precision farming, advance alertness, enhancing quality exports, diversifying the export basket, boosting high-value agri exports, etc.

Notes:
India and the European Union (EU) have agreed to resume the negotiations for an ambitious, balanced, mutually beneficial and comprehensive trade agreement. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations are to be held considering the interest of both India and EU.