Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Central Bank of India has entered into a strategic co-lending partnership with Dhanvarsha Finvest Ltd (DFL) to offer loans against gold ornaments under priority sector to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) borrowers at competitive rates. Under this partnership, DFL will originate and process loans against gold ornaments as per jointly formulated credit parameters and eligibility criteria and Central Bank of India will take into its book 80% of the gold loans under mutually agreed terms, as per the public sector bank’s stock exchange filing.

Notes:
Kamlesh Kumar Pant, a 1993-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new chairman of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet. The pharmaceutical pricing agency was currently headed by IAS officer Shubhra Singh, who was appointed to the post in 2018. Singh has been repatriated to her cadre state Rajasthan, according to an order of the personnel ministry. Pant, formerly the Principal Secretary (Revenue) in the government of Himachal Pradesh and also the Financial Commisioner (Appeals) at Himachal Pradesh and the head of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board, has taken charge of NPPA with immediate effect.

Notes:
APEDA in collaboration with Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation Ltd (HPMC) exported first consignment comprising of five unique varieties of apples in order to promote agricultural and processed food products exports to newer destinations. Five varieties of apples including Dark Baron Gala, Royal Delicious, Scarlet Spur, Red Velox and Golden Delicious were exported to Bahrain. These apples were sourced from farmers of Himachal Pradesh. First consignment was exported by APEDA registered DM Enterprises. Apples will be showcased at the apple promotion programme organized by leading retailer called Al Jajira group. The apple promotion programme will start from 15th August, 2021 on the occasion of commencement of 75th year of India’s independence celebration. Apple promotion programme is also being organized to familiarise consumers in Bahrain regarding the varieties of apples in India. Apple export comes at a time when India has been expanding its footprint of mango exports in newer countries.

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:
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:
Every year on 13 August, World Organ Donation Day is observed across the world. The day is marked to spread awareness about organ donation and to clear misconceptions related to donating organs. The day is recognised to encourage people to take a pledge of donating healthy organs after their death to those who are in need. The worlds first-ever organ transplant was carried out successfully in the year 1954 in the United States of America.

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:

• Madhya Pradesh Police has launched a pilot initiative to allow people to register FIRs online related to vehicle theft or theft of cash and items up to Rs 1 lakh.
• Any victim of vehicle theft (up to Rs 15 lakh) and monetary theft which can be any item such as cash, jewellery, mobile phones, equipment (up to Rs 1 lakh), can lodge an e-FIR.
• The mediums through which online complaints can be lodged are https://mppolice, citizen portal https://citizen.mppolice.gov.in, and by logging in through a mobile app (MPECOP).
• The e-FIR registration facility will be available round the clock.

Notes:

• SoftWorthy has been conferred the prestigious National Science Foundation Innovation-Corps (NSF I-Corps) Teams Award in the United States.
• Founded in 2020, SoftWorthy’s award-winning project focuses on developing state-of-the-art computational methods for ‘stochastic modelling, design simulation and sensitivity analysis of electronic devices like printed-circuit-boards (PCBs), which are critical for the growth of novel technological applications like driverless vehicles and energy-efficient smart buildings.
• The company is led by a team of Indian engineers trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and has been working to develop innovative software technology for performing engineering analysis.

Notes:

• India has participated in the bilateral naval exercise ‘Exercise Konkan 2021’ with United Kingdom.
• This naval exercise was held between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy of Britain in Portsmouth, UK.
• INS Tabar took part in the annual bilateral exercise Konkan between the Indian Navy and Britain’s Royal Navy.
• The Indian Navy and Royal Navy have been conducting the bilateral naval exercise Konkan every year since 2004.