Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
World Lion Day is celebrated on August 10 every year in a bid to raise awareness on lions. The day also seeks to mobilise support for protection and conservation of Lion. As per World Wide Fund for animals (WWF), it only lives in grasslands and plains. India is home to majestic Asiatic Lion, who inhabit protected territory of Sasan-Gir National Park. According to WWF, lions were once found throughout Africa, Asia and Europe. But over the years, their numbers have reduced across these continents. Initiative to protect lion started in 2013 so the first World Lion Day was observed in 2013 itself. Since then, the day has become a symbol of fight towards protection of lion. Last remaining population of the Asiatic Lions are found in Gir National Park of Gujarat.

Notes:
National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) is to be developed as an international tourist destination. It will be dedicated to the legacy of maritime heritage of India, at Lothal in Gujarat. It will showcase maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times. It seeks to create an edutainment approach (meaning education with entertainment) for the interest of visitors. It will cover an area of 400 acres comprising of structures like Heritage Theme Park, National Maritime Heritage Museum, Maritime Institute, Lighthouse Museum, eco-resorts etc. It will also comprise of pavilions where all coastal states of India and union territories can showcase artifacts and maritime heritage. NMHC will recreate the ancient Lothal city, a prominent city and port of ancient Indus valley civilization.

Notes:
Indore, the country’s cleanest city, has now been declared as the first ‘water plus’ city of India under the Swachh Survekshan 2021, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday. Indore City received the certification from the centre on Wednesday. Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Notes:
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned loan worth Rs 188.81 crore to Goa Government towards construction of super specialty block and enhancement of solid waste management and treatment plan at Saligao for the current financial year 2021-22. For the ongoing financial year, a cumulative loan of Rs 217.72 crore has been sanctioned to the State government for various social infrastructure projects under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). RIDF was introduced with the sole objective of giving low cost funding support to State Governments and State owned Corporations for quick completion of projects related to Medium and Minor Irrigation, Soil Conservation and others forms of rural/social infrastructure.

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:

• Recently, four more wetlands from India have been recognized from the Ramsar Secretariat as Ramsar sites.
• These sites are Wadhwana and Thol from Gujarat and Sultanpur and Bhindawas from Haryana.
• The number of Ramsar sites in India is 46 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,083,322 hectares.
• While Haryana gets its first Ramsar sites, Gujarat gets three more after Nalsarovar which was declared in 2012.
• The goal of the Ramsar List is to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands vital to the conservation of global biodiversity and sustaining human life through the maintenance of benefits, ecosystem components and processes.

Notes:

• The Indian Navy participated in the U.S. Navy-led Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) military exercise in Singapore.
• The main purpose of SEACAT2021 was to enhance interoperability, share maritime security concerns, and maintain a rule-based international order.
• Other countries participating in the exercise include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
• SEACAT was held for the first time in the year 2002.

Notes:

• Rajasthan government has launched the Indira Gandhi Urban Credit Card Scheme 2021 under which small traders, street vendors and those doing small works can get interest free loans up to 50,000.
• Due to the COVID-19 and lock down imposed by government, a large number of vendors and small businessmen faced economic crisis. Keeping the view of problem faced by them, Government has introduced Indira Gandhi Urban Credit Card Scheme- 2021.
• The scheme will create self employment opportunities in the urban areas of the state. Credit Loans under the scheme can be sanctioned till March 31, 2022 and the loan moratorium period will be 3 months and the loan repayment period will be 12 months.

Notes:

• The first COVID19 nasal vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech has been approved by regulatory authorities for Phase II and III trials.
• This is the first of its kind COVID-19 jab to undergo human clinical trials in India.
• The Department of Biotechnology said the phase one Clinical trial has been completed in the age groups ranging from 18 to 60 years.
• The Company has reported that the vaccine doses administered to healthy volunteers in this phase has been well-tolerated and no serious adverse events have been reported.
• Previously, the vaccine was found to be safe, immunogenic and well-tolerated in the pre-clinical toxicity studies.