Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
In 2011, the UN General assembly proclaimed July 30 as the International day of Friendship. The decision was taken with an idea that this day will create a friendship bond between peoples of different cultures, countries and religions and will help in achieving world peace by building bridges between different communities.
The United Nations is an international organisation which was founded in 1945. It is headquartered in New York. The main aim of this organisation is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation and act as a center for harmonising the actions of different nations. At present, 193 countries are the members of the United Nations (UN).

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:
Britain won a gold medal recently at the Tokyo Olympics in a mixed 4x100m medley relay event which is a Swimming event. Four British swimmers including male and female both participated in the mixed 4x100m medley relay and they finished first by taking total time duration of  3:37.58s. They set a world record by finishing the event in this time duration. The four swimmers who set this world record are Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin.

Notes:
Sanjeev Kishore was an alumnus of Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE), Jamalpur. He has been appointed as the new General Manager of South Western Railway (SWR). Earlier, he served as Additional Member (Production Units) of Railway Board.
He is a recipient of the National Award (Minister of Railways Award) for Meritorious Service in 2003 and a Fellow of Institutions of Engineer India and Institution of Mechanical Engineers, United Kingdom.
South Western Railway is one of the 18 Railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Hubballi in Karnataka state. It was carved out from Southern Railways and South Central Railways in 2003.

Notes:
Anshuman Rath, the Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Bhubaneshwar Municipal Corporation (South-east zone) said that Bhubaneshwar has become the first city to achieve 100% Covid-19 Vaccination. Bhubaneshwar Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched a massive vaccination drive against Covid-19. The officials said that they had set a target to complete vaccination in a specific timeline. They made different categories of people who are above 18 years like front-like workers, health workers, 18-44 age group, people above 45 years of age. They achieved this target by July 31.

Notes:
Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone for Maa Vindhyavasini Corridor Project at Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. As per the action plan of the project, various developments will be done under this project which includes construction of temple parks, parikrama path, strengthening and beautification of roads and main gate, shopping centres, parking facilities, ropeway etc.
According to the Hindu mythologies, Vindhyavasini was the sister of Lord Krishna and the wife of Lord Shiva. Her temple is located at Vindhyachal which is in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

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:
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:
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.