Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
6th August, 2021 marked the 76th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing. The United States had dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on 6th August, 1945, destroying the city and killing 1,40,000 people. Three days later USA dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000. Japan surrendered on 15th August ending World War II and it’s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

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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:
Bhavani Devi is the first Indian fencer to ever qualify for the Olympics after qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Bhavani Devi became the first Indian fencer to qualify for Olympics. The eight-time national champion had failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. She started her sports career in 2003. As of April 2021, she ranks 42nd in the world with 37.0 points.

Notes:
On 9th August National Traders Day is observed in India on the foundation day of Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, addressed the traders on the occasion of this day. He said that the traders should undertake customer awareness campaign to make them buy goods which are made in India. The traders also contribute towards the government’s Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Campaign.

Notes:
1971 war hero Commodore Kasaragod Patnashetti Gopal Rao dies at 94. Commodore Kasaragod Patnashetti Gopal Rao, a 1971 war hero and recipient of the Mahavir Chakra in the year 1971, passed away at the age of 94 on August 9, 2021. Rao was a recipient of the Veer Seva Medal also. He played a key role in the war with Pakistan to liberate East Pakistan that is now Bangladesh. Rao led a small task group of the Western Fleet and launched an offensive off the coast of Karachi as part of Operation Cactus Lily. He led the group into enemy waters on the night of December 4, 1971 and sunk two destroyers and a minesweeper.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ujjwala 2.0 (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana – PMUY) by handing over LPG connections, at Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh on 10th August, 2021, via video conferencing. During the event, the Prime Minister interacted with beneficiaries of the Ujjwala. Addressing the event, the Prime Minister said the number of people, especially women whose lives have been illuminated by the Ujjwala Yojana is unprecedented. This scheme was launched in 2016 from Ballia in UP.

Notes:
Chief Scientist of World Health Organization, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, urged the nations to prioritize reopening of schools amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Chief scientist highlighted that; Covid-19 has indirectly affected the education greatly by shutting down schools globally. So, she asked to prioritize school opening while maintaining proper health and hygiene. Amid the covid-19 pandemic, 1.5 billion children were suddenly out of school and affected their education. In January 2021, Right to Education Forum published its report highlighting that, ten million girls in India could drop out of secondary school amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Notes:
Nagaland has bagged seven prestigious national awards in the Van Dhan Vikas Yojana (VDVY) and Minimum Support Price (MSP) schemes for exemplary performance in various categories. The VDVY and MSP for Minor Forest Produce (MFP) scheme focus on farmers’ entrepreneurship programmes through processing, packaging, branding and marketing of locally available products, according to an official statement issued on Monday. Nagaland topped in three categories – Best Survey, Best Training and the most number of Van Dhan Vikas Clusters (VDVKCs) established. The North-eastern state also secured third positions in Best Sales Generated at Rs 1,15,86,000 and Innovation and Creativity. It got the two other awards for a couple of ideas: supply of gooseberry wine by a multipurpose society and mushroom.

Notes:
On 11th August, 2021 Delhi government has launched faceless transport services. It will bring all the driving licences, registration and services related to permit online. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also launched 33 faceless services, in a function at I.P. Estate office on August 10. Four zonal offices namely, IP Estate, Sarai Kale Khan, Janakpuri and Vasant Vihar will be closed. Motor licensing offices (MLOs) of South zone, Raja Garden and Dwarka, respectively, will look after their Vahan and Sarathi related work. Four MLO offices will serve as facilitation centres for public who are not having access to computers to file their online applications. Services in faceless manner, through online applications, will do away with the need of visiting MLOs. List and faceless services comprise of renewal of driving license, learning licences, transfer of ownership, duplicate registration certificate, fresh permit from goods and passenger vehicles, international driving permit, change of address, hypothecation termination etc.

Notes:
GIFT City, the country’s first international financial services centre (IFSC), has collaborated with the India InsurTech Association (IIA) to promote financial technology in the insurance sector. IIA is a not-for-profit organisation working towards growing a technology-driven insurance ecosystem in India. The two entities will collaborate on building thought leadership in the field of insurance and creating awareness about GIFT City among Indian and foreign insurance companies, the country’s first operational smart city said in a statement. To raise awareness about GIFT-IFSC, the collaboration will organise events, information series, seminars, and conferences.