Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
The PDRD is provided to the States of India under Article 275 of the Constitution. The grants are released as per the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission in monthly installments to meet the gap in Revenue Accounts of the States post devolution. The Commission has recommended PDRD grants to 17 States during 2021-22. Finance Ministry releases Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs 9,871 crore to 17 states.

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:
Agritech start-up Arya has tied up with SBM Bank India for commodity financing. SBM Bank India is part of Mauritius-based SBM group. The lender is headquartered in Mumbai. Arya provides integrated post-harvest services. Its platform helps users to choose ancillary services like warehouse management, access to finance, quality testing, storage protection services, and connecting produce to buyers. The start-up helps farmers, aggregators, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), food processors and end-user corporates avoid post-harvest losses. It assists sellers of agri-commodities to avoid distress sale of produce by extending post-harvest credit. In a statement, Arya said it has formed a strategic partnership with SBM Bank India to reinforce its competencies in financing solutions. SBM Bank India has profound domain expertise and is led by a core team of industry veterans. Through this collaboration, SBM Bank India said it is expanding presence to cater to agri-traders and agri-entrepreneurs across the country and offering them customised solutions to help them grow. Established in 1973, SBM is the leading international BFSI group of Mauritius.

Notes:
SAP India and Microsoft has announced the launch of a joint skilling programme ‘TechSaksham’ for empowering young women students from underserved communities to build careers in technology. Through the joint initiative, SAP India and Microsoft aims to skill 62,000 women students in areas like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, web design and digital marketing. The programme will work in collaboration with the AICTE Training and Learning Academy-ATAL and state collegiate education departments to support the professional development of faculty at participating institutes.

Notes:
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with Facebook and Praekelt.org to provide covid-19 information to the world’s most vulnerable people through Discover and Free Basics in a mobile-friendly format. Though over 85% of the world’s population lives in areas with existing cellular coverage, many people can’t afford to purchase mobile data consistently and others have not yet adopted the internet. During the covid-19 public health crisis, it is important now more than ever to help people stay connected and to increase access to health information and other resources on the internet. This initiative enables underserved communities to access life-saving covid-19 health information through participating operators in more than 55 countries. The WHO covid-19 information has reached more than two million people so far in nine languages, with other languages to follow in the coming weeks and months.

Notes:
The International Left-Handers’ Day 2021 is celebrated every year on August 13. It is a way to acknowledge those who, unlike the majority of the population, are born left-handed. A considerable part of the population, almost 10-12% of the global population, consists of left-handers. There are people who are afraid of the left-side or left-handed people. This condition can take the form of a phobia and is known as Sinistrophobia.

Notes:

• Asia’s first demonstration facility for medical wastewater treatment using electron beam (EB) technology has started operations in China.
• This is the first pilot scale demonstration (400 cubic meters per day) of EB for medical wastewater treatment.
• This facility is located in the Hubei Province and it disinfects medical wastewater and decomposes antibiotics without the need of additional disinfectant or the production of secondary pollution.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency has played a major role in EB application in China.

Notes:

• The Indian Navy has partnered with the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) FIRST Bank to initiate ‘Honour FIRST’, a premium banking solution for serving personnel and veterans of the Indian Navy.
• With zero – balance salary account feature, Honour FIRST account holders will receive up to 5% interest per annum and a net banking and customised mobile app that offers a superior user interface and experience
• Honour FIRST Defence account comes with a free enhanced Personal Accident Insurance Cover of Rs. 46 lakhs for both on-duty and off-duty incidents. Additionally, the insurance not only covers accidental death but also total and partial permanent disability. The Personal Accident Insurance Cover also includes a child education grant of Rs. 4 lakhs and a marriage cover of Rs 2 lakh.

Notes:

• Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a special package for the weavers of the state following reports that the Covid-19 had badly hit their livelihood.
• The state government announced interest-free loans of up to Rs 50,000 to weavers.
• 3,000 weaver families will be provided with house-cum-work shed on a priority basis.
• The weavers will be provided with electricity and electrical fans so that they can do weaving and designing comfortably.
• After agriculture, handlooms are the main source of employment for the rural population in Odisha.
• Infrastructure such as Customer Fulfillment Centre (CFC); warehouses and sales centres will be established through the panchayati raj to store the weaver’s products.

Notes:

• HCL Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of HCL Technologies has launched an online portal, ‘My e-Haat’, to empower artisans and strengthen the value chain of the handicraft sector in the country.
• Currently, more than 30 partners from eight states with over 600 products are listed on the portal.
• The portal will assist in showcasing the ingenuity of skilled artisans from all over the country in front of the globe, resulting in increased recognition, appreciation, and remuneration.