Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

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:
Uttar Pradesh government has renamed a landmark freedom movement called “Kakori Train Conspiracy” as “Kakori Train Action” and paid tributes to the revolutionaries who were hanged for robbing a train at Kakori in Uttar Pradesh. Revolutionaries had robbed the train in order to buy weapons in 1925. Freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Roshan Singh were hanged to death on December 19, 1927 for their involvement in Kakori robbery.

Notes:
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami has appointed Vandana Katariya, Indian Women’s Team Hockey Player, as the Brand Ambassador of the State’s Department of Women Empowerment & Child Development. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she became the 1st Indian Woman to score an Olympic hat-trick in hockey. The Uttarakhand Government had also announced a cash reward of INR 25 Lakh to Vandana Kataria for her performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

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:
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.

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.

Notes:
Pakistan has test-fired a surface-to-surface ballistic missile named ‘Ghaznavi’ on August 12, 2021. This is a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Ghaznavi’ which can strike targets up to 290 kilometres. The Ghaznavi missile has been tested in both day and night modes.

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:

• 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.