Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Indian Bank has partnered with NSRCEL (N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning), the entrepreneurship Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) to provide funding for identified start-ups under Indian Bank’s ‘Ind Spring Board’ Scheme. In the year 2020, Indian Bank had launched ‘IND Spring Board’ in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Madras Incubation Cell to provide a credit facility of Rs 50 crore to Start-Ups.

Notes:
On 9th August National Traders Day is observed in India on the foundation day of Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, addressed the traders on the occasion of this day. He said that the traders should undertake customer awareness campaign to make them buy goods which are made in India. The traders also contribute towards the government’s Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Campaign.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 8, 2021 announced a National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) to make India self-sufficient in cooking oils, including palm oil, as he stressed on reducing the dependence on imports. He said over Rs 11,000 crore will be invested in the edible oil ecosystem. India is dependent on imports of edible oil to meet the domestic demand. Of the total imports, palm oil constitutes about 55%.

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.

Notes:
The Finance Ministry has released its fifth monthly installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant of Rs 9,871 crore to the states on August 9. With the release of this installment, a total amount of Rs 49,355 crore has been released to eligible states as PDRD in the current financial year. The Commission has recommended PDRD grants to 17 States during 2021-22.

Notes:
The 5th edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave (NPPC) was organized by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII] on the theme “Technology enabled Government Procurement – Towards Efficiency, Transparency, and Inclusiveness”. The conclave was inaugurated virtually by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the industry on August 11, 2021 on the topic of government and businesses working together for a self-reliant. He spoke on the theme ‘India at 75: government and business working together for Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ via video conferencing. The two-day annual meeting of the industry body, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has started on August 11, 2021. Theme of the PM’s address is the guiding principle for India to overcome the devastating impact of the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic. Union government, in its FY22 union budget, articulated a policy to calibrate its import policies and tariffs in order to encourage more value addition to local economy and to discourage import of finished products. Apart from that, global manufacturers are being encouraged to set up factories in India by means of production incentives. As per Government expectations, a strong push to manufacturing and infrastructure creation will help in stimulating economy as capital spending will have a multiplier effect.

Notes:
The government of Maharashtra has announced about the introduction of Rajiv Gandhi Award for firms that are excelling in the Information Technology (IT) sector in the state. The awards have been named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The Rajiv Gandhi Award for excellence in the IT sector will be conferred upon institutions and companies for their outstanding performance in the IT sector on August 20, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi. It will be conferred by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Maharashtra IT Corporation Limited (MAHA-IT) has been appointed as the nodal agency to propose the award.

Notes:
The Indian compound girls’ and mixed teams broke under-18 world records during their ranking round of the World Archery Youth Championships which is being held in Wroclaw, Poland. The girls’ team of Priya Gurjar, Parneet Kaur and Ridhu Senthilkumar combined for a total of 2067 to better the previous record by 22 points. Priya also combined with Kushal Dalal for a mixed pair tally of 1401 to break the previous mark of 1387.

Notes:
Minister of State for External Affairs Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh on 12th August, 2021 has inaugurated the two day long 7th IBSA Academic Forum which is being held virtually. The two-day event is being hosted by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, RIS an autonomous think-tank of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India wand its headquarters is located in New Delhi. It features a conversation with IBSA Sherpas on economic partnerships that will, among other things, help economic integration and cooperation in creating resilient value chains post-Pandemic, accelerate the digital and green transition processes. The event has three topical plenary sessions, on Post-Pandemic imperatives for access to finance and economic recovery, IBSA cooperation on trade and resilient value chains and on creating post-pandemic resilience through technology and inclusive social sector development. India is the incumbent Chair of IBSA. IBSA is a unique Forum which brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, three large democracies and major economies from three different continents facing similar challenges.