Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore with the aim to boost export of agricultural and processed food products, especially from the state of Karnataka.  The key areas of cooperation will be developing technologies jointly with APEDA for efficient & precision farming, advance alertness, enhancing quality exports, diversifying the export basket, boosting high-value agri exports, etc.

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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.

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UNICEF India and Facebook have launched a one-year joint initiative on ending violence against children, with a special focus on online safety. The partnership seeks to create a safe environment for children both offline as well as online. This initiative aims to improve children’s resilience and capacity to access the digital world safely, increase awareness on violence against children and its impact on children, communities and families, as well as increase skills of communities and frontline workers to better prevent and respond to violence.

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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.

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On 10 August, 2021, under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Oil and Gas companies celebrated World Biofuel Day with the theme ‘Biofuels for Sustainability and Rural Income”. The special exhibition showcased biofuels and bio-energy related developments and technical achievements made in the field of biofuels in India. The event also witnessed active participation by many technical service providers, post-harvesting equipment manufacturers, Indian Air Force, biodiesel producers, research institutes, farmers, etc. During the occasion, a 9 TPD Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant of Indian Potash Limited (at Rohanakalan, Muzzafarnagar) and three Retail Outlets of Indian Oil at Muzaffarnagar (Chadravati Filling Station, Kissan Filling Station and Agarwal Service Station) were also dedicated to the nation. These Retail Outlets will be marketing CBG produced from this plant.

Notes:
Karnataka has become the first state in the country to issue the order with regard to the implementation of National Education Policy-2020, State Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan claimed. The state government has issued an order on Saturday on the implementation of NEP-2020 with effect from the current academic year 2021-2022. The implementation will be done as per the guidelines of the NEP.

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Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched eNagar mobile application and portal. The eNagar covers 10 modules with 52 services including property tax, professional tax, water & drainage, Complaints and grievance redressal, building permission, fire and emergency services. Gujarat Urban Development Mission has been appointed as a nodal agency for eNagar project. Total 170 locations including 162 municipalities and 8 Municipal Corporations are covered under the eNagar project.

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Grameen Foundation India (GFI) launched the Tech4Inclusion challenge for augmented reality-based solutions to advance financial literacy and inclusion. Grameen Foundation India is a social impact organization, working on financial inclusion, agriculture-based livelihoods, and health initiatives with the mission to enable the poor, especially women to overcome poverty and hunger. The challenge invites technology startups working on cutting edge augmented reality/virtual reality technologies and encourages them to come up with innovative solutions to address the challenges in advancing digital and financial inclusion of low-income people, particularly women.

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Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), engaged in promotion, financing and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has unveiled ‘Digital Prayaas’ an app-based digital-lending platform to facilitate loans to entrepreneurs from low-income groups. The objective is to sanction a loan by the end of the day. To cater to those from the urban area, SIDBI has tied up with BigBasket to provide loans to its delivery partners for purchase of e-bikes and e-vans.

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NITI Aayog today released a handbook to guide state governments and local bodies to frame policies and norms towards setting up charging networks for electric vehicles (EV). The objective is to enhance charging infrastructure and facilitate a rapid transition to electric mobility in the country. The Handbook for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Implementation has been jointly developed by NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power (MoP), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), and World Resources Institute (WRI) India.