Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Avinash Sable finished seventh in 3000m steeplechase event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He took 8 minutes 18.12 seconds (8:18.12s) to finish the race and set a national record by breaking his own record of 8:20.20s  that he set during the Federation Cup in March. He became the first Indian after 1952 to qualify for the Olympics in 3000m steeplechase event.
Avinash Sable belongs to Beed district of Maharashtra.

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:
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:
Deepak Tilak, the president of the Lokmanya Tilak Trust recently announced that Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India (SII) will be honoured with the prestigious “Lokamanya Tilak Award 2021”. He will be awarded for his contribution towards the society by manufacturing Covisheild and hence helping in saving many lives during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lokmanya Tilak National Award was started in 1983. The award is annually given on August 1, the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. Several prominent personalities like Indira Gandhi, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Atal Biharee Vajpayee, Pranab Mukherjee, N R Narayana Murthy etc. have been honoured with this award.

Notes:
Government of India has appointed Deepak Das as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) of India. CGA comes under the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. Deepak Das is the 25th CGA. He is a 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer. He earlier served as the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes. He has also been the Director of the Institute of Government Accounts and Finance (INGAF), the training academy of the Indian Civil Accounts Service.
He is an alumnus of Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi.

 

Notes:
Marcell Jacobs won a gold medal in a 100m race at the Tokyo Olympics on August 1, 2021. He completed the race in 9.80 seconds and became the first Italian man to win an Olympic medal in a 100m race. He also set a European record in 100m race by finishing the race in 9.80 seconds. He is an Italian sprinter and long jumper. He won the 60metres title during the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.

Notes:
“Health and Wellness Savings Account” has been launched by Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SFB) to provide support during medical emergencies. A resident individual with an age limit 18 years to 65 years of age can open the joint or single account. The account will provide a health insurance of Rs.25 lakhs, annual healthcare package etc.
For getting the medical benefits, the individual will have to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs. 3 lakh and he/she should be eligible as per the health declaration form.
Suryoday Small Finance Bank was established in 2017. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Baskarbabu Ramchandran is the current CEO &  MD of the bank.

Notes:
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave nod to proposal of 66% salary hike for MLAs of the Delhi government. This hike has come after a decade to raise existing monthly salary and allowances of MLAs from Rs 54,000 to Rs 90,000.

Notes:
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed the highest motorable road in the world at the height of 19,300 feet at Umlingla Pass in eastern Ladakh, the defence ministry said on August 4, 2021. The BRO has constructed a 52-km long black-topped road through Umlingla Pass, bettering the previous record of a road in Bolivia connecting to its volcano Uturuncu at 18,953 ft. The road at Umlingla Pass now connects the important towns in the Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh.

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).