Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave nod to proposal of 66% salary hike for MLAs of the Delhi government. This hike has come after a decade to raise existing monthly salary and allowances of MLAs from Rs 54,000 to Rs 90,000.

Notes:
Two major projects, developed under Smart City initiative of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), are ready for inauguration in Visakhapatnam. Under the smart city initiative, VMRDA Park (also known as VUDA Park) on Beach Road and Multi Level Car Parking (MLCP) Project at Jagadamba Junction has been completed.

Notes:
Noted Dogri author and poet Padma Sachdev died in Mumbai on 4th August, 2021 at the age of 81. She authored many books in Dogri and Hindi, and her poetry collections, including Meri Kavita Mere Geet, won her the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971. She received the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 2001 and was awarded the Kabir Samman for poetry for 2007-08 by the Madhya Pradesh government.

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.

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On 7th August, 2021 navies of India and UAE conducted exercise ‘Zayed Talwar 2021’ off the coast of Abu Dhabi. INS Kochi, with two integral Sea King MK 42B helicopters, deployed in the Persian Gulf, participated in the exercise. UAE participated with UAES AL – Dhafra, a Baynunah class guided missile corvette and one AS – 565B Panther helicopter. As part of the exercise, the ships undertook tactical manoeuvres, Over the Horizon Targeting, Search and Rescue and Electronic Warfare exercises to enhance interoperability and synergy between the two navies. Helicopters were extensively used all through the exercise ranging from Search and Rescue serial to passing of targeting data to ships for simulated missile engagement drills.

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:
A study by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) involving 98 people, 18 of whom had inadvertently received Covishield as first dose and Covaxin as the second in Uttar Pradesh, showed that combining these two Covid-19 vaccines elicited better immunogenicity than two doses of the same vaccine. The study is titled ‘Serendipitous COVID-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime.’

Notes:
The Indian Ocean is warming at a higher rate than other oceans, the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated, with scientists warning that India will witness increased heat waves and flooding, which will be the irreversible effects of climate change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”, said the warming of the ocean will lead to a rise in sea levels, which will contribute to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-level areas. The report also observed that it is indisputable that human activities are causing climate change, making extreme climate events, including heat waves, heavy rainfall and droughts, more frequent and severe.

Notes:
Seekho Aur Kamao is a skill development scheme for youth of 14 – 35 years age group and aiming at providing employment and employment opportunities; improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts etc. In the last 7 years around 3.92 lakh persons have been benefitted under this employment oriented scheme. This scheme was launched in the year 2013 and it is implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Notes:
Mirabai Chanu and Karnam Malleswari are the only female weightlifting medallists from the country. Karnam Malleswari is a retired Indian weightlifter. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics. In 1995, she received the Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour, and in 1999, the civilian Padma Shri award. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Malleswari lifted 110 kg in the “snatch” and 130 kg in the “clean and jerk” categories for a total of 240 kg. She won the bronze medal and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Women’s 49 kg category. Mirabai Chanu has won the World Championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions to the sport. She was awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Government of India in 2018.