Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
A core committee meeting was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat to review the progress of the vaccination programme across the state. As per the meeting reports, Gujarat is on the top position in terms of vaccinations per million people.
Officials said that about 5 lakh 17 thousand people have been vaccinated in the state against the population of ten lakhs. More than 3.32 crore doses of vaccines have been administered under state wide vaccination drive. In the month of July, more than 75 lakh vaccinations have been done.

Notes:
The first orchid conservation centre of North India has been inaugurated in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The main purpose of the conservation centre is to conserve orchid species and create ventures for tourism and livelihood for local people.
Orchid is a flowering plant and its scientific name is Orchidaceae.
All orchid species are protected under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES was enforced on 1 July, 1975.
Ivonne Higuero is the current Secretary-General of CITES. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Notes:
Under the aegis of Ministry of Defence, the Government of India has approved the establishment of the Defence Cyber Agency. To mitigate various cyber threats, all the three armed force Services have established their respective Cyber Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Also, the Government of India is formulating the National cyber security strategy, which is currently in the final stages of approval.

Notes:
Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed the highest motorable road in the world at a height of 19,300 ft at Umlingla Pass in the Eastern Ladakh region. This construction has created a record in high-altitude road construction. BRO has constructed a 52-km long tarmac road through Umlingla Pass, bettering the record of a road which is in Bolivia at 18,953 ft. This newly constructed road by BRO will now connect the important towns in Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh.

Notes:
The state government of Uttarakhand has launched an earthquake alert app which is named ‘Uttarakhand Bhookamp Alert.‘ This app has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee and the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority. This app will send early warning messages before the earthquake and will also help in tracing the location of people stuck during the earthquake and will send the alert to the concerned authorities.

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has given its approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Institute of Space science and Technology (IIST) and The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), for carrying out Research activities and Academic programmes which will involve faculty and students from each institution.

 

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.

Notes:
India and China have disengaged their troops in the Gogra region located in the Eastern Ladakh. The move comes following the twelfth round of talks held between the Corps Commanders of India and China and was held at Chushul Moldo Meeting Point in Eastern Ladakh on July 31. Since May 2020, the troops in this area have been in a face-off situation. The two sides had an in-depth and candid exchange of views on resolution of the remaining areas related to disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas.

Notes:
On 7th August, 2021 the Textile Ministry has celebrated the 7th National Handloom Day. On this day the handloom weaving community will be honoured for their contribution in the socio-economic development of India. Three Handloom Craft Villages at Mohpara Village, District Golaghat in Assam, Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and Kanihama, Budgam in Srinagar are being set up by the Ministry in collaboration with the respective State governments.

Notes:
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has inducted its first women officers in combat. On 8th August, 2021 ITBP commissioned its first two women officers in combat after they completed their training at the ITBP officers’ training academy located in Mussoorie. A first-ever ‘History of ITBP’ book containing many unknown facts and photographs of the border guarding force was also released by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami along with ITBP director general S. S. Deswal.