Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
SBI General Insurance partnered with Manipal Business Solutions, the initiator of SahiPay, to expand its penetration of non-life insurance in rural areas of the country. As SahiPay provides digital and financial services in semi-urban and rural areas, SBI General will leverage this customer base to maximize its non-life penetration rate in rural areas by providing a variety of non-life insurance solutions. . Over 65% of the Indian population lives in rural areas and hence this partnership will let them understand the benefits of the insurance, affordable and technology-based products that this association provides.

Notes:
As part of one year celebration of transformative reforms under the government’s National Education Policy, 2020, the Government of India is organising a series of theme-based webinars on different aspects of National Education Policy, 2020. Indian Knowledge System, Language, Arts & Culture being one of the innovative thrust areas of NEP, Indian Knowledge System at AICTE under Ministry of Education organised a National Webinar on Transforming Education in the Light of Indian Knowledge System, Language, Arts & Culture. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Employment Shri, was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

Notes:
On 6th August, 2021, a bill seeking to establish a central university in the Union Territory of Ladakh was passed in the Lok Sabha. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in his brief statement about the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2021, said that every year, around 7,000 students go out of Ladakh for education and with the establishment of the central university around 2,500 students will get the opportunity to study there. The Sindhu central university will be established at a cost of Rs 760 crore.

Notes:
A parliamentary group recommended renegotiating the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address the impact of climate change on water supply in the basin and other challenges not covered by the agreement. On 5th August, 2021, the Standing Committee on Water Resources tabled the report before the Lok Sabha. According to the Indus Waters Treaty which was signed by India and Pakistan in 1960, all waters of the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers are allocated to India for unrestricted use. Most of the waters of the western Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers are allocated to Pakistan

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:
India ended its campaign at the Tokyo Olympics with it’s best-ever tally of seven medals (1 gold, 2 silvers and four bronzes), beating the tally of six at London Olympic Games 2012. Medal winners for India were — Neeraj Chopra: gold in men’s javelin throw, Mirabai Chanu: Silver in women’s weightlifting, PV Sindhu: Bronze in women’s singles badminton, Lovlina Borgohain: Bronze in women’s boxing, men’s hockey team: bronze, Ravi Kumar Dahiya: Silver in men’s wrestling, Bajrang Punia: Bronze in men’s wresting.

Notes:
Bihar’s capital city Patna is all set to get its own version of Mumbai’s famous Marine Drive. The 5.50km-long Digha-AN Sinha Institute stretch of the ambitious Ganga Pathway is all set to be opened next year. The ‘Ganga pathway’ is part of Rs 3,390 crore project which is coming up on the southern bank of river Ganga to minimise traffic on the congested Ashok Rajpath. The total length of project is 20.50km

Notes:
India’s Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, United Kingdom (FCDO UK) has launched the Swavalamban Challenge Fund (SCF) with the aim to promote entrepreneurship. SIDBI is India’s principal financial institution engaged in the promotion, financing and development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Applications are invited in two categories, which are pilot and scale-up. In the pilot category, applicants can apply with their proposal to pilot/test/trial their innovative ideas. In the scale-up category, already ongoing/completed projects can be applied for.

Notes:
The 79th anniversary of Quit India movement was observed on August 8, 2021. On this day in 1942, father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of Do or Die to all Indians to drive away Britishers from the country. The movement had begun from Gowalia Tank in Mumbai. The day is observed as August Kranti Day every year.

Notes:
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami has appointed Vandana Katariya, Indian Women’s Team Hockey Player, as the Brand Ambassador of the State’s Department of Women Empowerment & Child Development. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she became the 1st Indian Woman to score an Olympic hat-trick in hockey. The Uttarakhand Government had also announced a cash reward of INR 25 Lakh to Vandana Kataria for her performance at the Tokyo Olympics.