Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system. The United States of America has approved the sale of one Harpoon Joint Common Test Set (JCTS) along with the related equipment to India for an estimated cost of USD 82 million. This will help in improving India’s capability to meet current and future threats.
The principal contractor of the deal will be Boeing Company which is headquartered in Chicago, USA. The present CEO & President of Boeing Company is David L. Calhoun.

Notes:
Paras Khadka, the former captain of Nepal Cricket Team has retired from the International Cricket at the age of 34. He is the first batsman of Nepal to score century in ODIs as well as T20s. He was the longest-serving captain of Nepal Cricket team. He represented Nepal in three Under-19 World cups (2004, 2006, 2008) and led his country in 2014 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
International Cricket Council (ICC) is headquartered in Dubai. Greg Barclay is the chairman of ICC and Anil Kumble is the chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee.

Notes:
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed the highest motorable road in the world at the height of 19,300 feet at Umlingla Pass in eastern Ladakh, the defence ministry said on August 4, 2021. The BRO has constructed a 52-km long black-topped road through Umlingla Pass, bettering the previous record of a road in Bolivia connecting to its volcano Uturuncu at 18,953 ft. The road at Umlingla Pass now connects the important towns in the Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh.

Notes:
On 7th August, 2021 the Textile Ministry has celebrated the 7th National Handloom Day. On this day the handloom weaving community will be honoured for their contribution in the socio-economic development of India. Three Handloom Craft Villages at Mohpara Village, District Golaghat in Assam, Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and Kanihama, Budgam in Srinagar are being set up by the Ministry in collaboration with the respective State governments.

Notes:
Khel Ratna Award, which is India’s highest sporting honour, and was named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was on 6th August, 2021 rechristened in the honour of hockey legend Dhyan Chand. The award will now be called as ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’. Goal is the title of the autobiography of Major Dhyan Chand.

Notes:
On 7th August, 2021 Rekha Sharma was reappointed as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women for another 3-year term w.e.f. 07.08.2021, or till the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.

Notes:
Recently, Karnataka Bank has been empanelled by RBI to act as an ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate transactions related to government businesses. As an empanelled Agency Bank, it is authorised to undertake government businesses such as revenue receipts and payments on behalf of the Centre and States, pension payments in respect of the same, collection of stamp duty charges and also any other item of work specifically advised by the RBI.

Notes:
The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed by IOC chief Thomas Bach on August 8, 2021. The Olympic flag was passed to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games at the Tokyo closing ceremony. The United States topped the tally with 39 gold medals, just one ahead of China. Host Japan finished third with 27 golds followed by Great Britain with 22 and the Russian Olympic Committee, the team for Russian athletes after their country was banned for systematic doping, were fifth with 20. India finished 48th with 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Notes:
According to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, India’s first Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) will be held for three days starting from October 20, 2021. Launch of the Internet Governance forum was announced by Anil Kumar Jain, CEO of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Chairman of Coordination Committee. Pre-IIGF engagement events will also start from August 2021 across colleges and universities. Pre-events will be organised with the aim of engaging students and youth to participate in main event in October. IIGF 2021 will be held under the theme- “Inclusive Internet for Digital India”.

Notes:
Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has become the first bank in the country to achieve the milestone of issuing 1 crore FASTags. This is almost 30% of the total FASTags issued by 32 banks in the country. In the last 6 months alone, PPBL has equipped over 40 lakh commercial & private vehicles with FASTags. Besides this, Paytm Payments Bank is also India’s largest acquirer of Toll Plazas for the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program offering an interoperable nationwide toll payment solution. The bank has enabled 280 toll plazas across the National & State highways to collect toll charges digitally. Paytm Payments Bank is also working closely with NHAI for testing and implementing multi-lane free-flow movement using automatic number plate recognition technology. This will further improve the overall customer experience while travelling on the national highways. Paytm FASTag is linked to the Paytm Wallet ensuring users don’t have to opt for multiple recharges.