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:
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:
A cashless and contactless instrument named ‘e-Rupi’ was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 2, 2021. It has been launched for providing the facilities of digital payments. It will be helpful in strengthening Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) by assisting in targeted, transparent and leakage free delivery. e-RUPI is a QR code or SMS string based e-Voucher which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries. These vouchers will be mostly used for health-related payments. Corporates can also use these vouchers for their employees.
It has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India in collaboration with the department of financial services, health ministry and the National Health Authority.

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:
“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.

Notes:
The Eighth Meeting of Ministers of Justice of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States will be held on 6th August, 2021 and it will be attended by Kiren Rijiju who is the Union Minister of Law & Justice. The Ministers of (Law and) Justice and senior officials/experts from the Ministries of Law & Justice of India, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Russian Federation and Uzbekistan will be participating in the Meeting.

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:
Chief of Staff of US Army General James C McConville is on a two-day visit to India. On 4th August, 2021, he laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and received a Guard of Honour at the South Block. General McConville called on Army Chief General M. M. Naravane and discussed issues of mutual interest.

Notes:
On 7th August, 2021 Brazil won the gold medal in men’s football at the Tokyo Olympics by beating Spain 2-1 in the final played. Malcolm and Matheus Cunha scored for Brazil while Mikel Oyarzabal scored for Spain. Mexico won the bronze medal by beating Japan with a score of 3-1. Canada defeated Sweden 3-2 on penalties after the match was tied 1-1 to win the gold medal in women’s football. Bronze medal was won by United States which beat Australia 4-3.

Notes:
A 101 member contingent of the Indian Army will proceed to Russia to participate in International Army Games – 2021 from 22nd August to 4th September, 2021. The contingent will participate in Army Scout Masters Competition (ASMC), Polar Star, Elbrus Ring, Sniper Frontier and Safe Route games showcasing various drills in operations in snow, High Altitude Area terrain, sniper actions, combat engineering skills in obstacle ridden terrain. The contingent will also contribute two observers (one each) for the Falcon Hunting and Open Water games in which Pontoon Bridge laying and UAV crew skills will be showcased by the participating teams. The Indian Army contingent has been selected out of the best from various arms after three levels of screening.