Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
On 7th August, 2021 Wrestler Bajrang Punia won a bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65kg category at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov in the match between losing semi-finalists.

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India ended its campaign at the Tokyo Olympics with it’s best-ever tally of seven medals (1 gold, 2 silvers and four bronzes), beating the tally of six at London Olympic Games 2012. Medal winners for India were — Neeraj Chopra: gold in men’s javelin throw, Mirabai Chanu: Silver in women’s weightlifting, PV Sindhu: Bronze in women’s singles badminton, Lovlina Borgohain: Bronze in women’s boxing, men’s hockey team: bronze, Ravi Kumar Dahiya: Silver in men’s wrestling, Bajrang Punia: Bronze in men’s wresting.

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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.

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On 10 August, 2021, under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Oil and Gas companies celebrated World Biofuel Day with the theme ‘Biofuels for Sustainability and Rural Income”. The special exhibition showcased biofuels and bio-energy related developments and technical achievements made in the field of biofuels in India. The event also witnessed active participation by many technical service providers, post-harvesting equipment manufacturers, Indian Air Force, biodiesel producers, research institutes, farmers, etc. During the occasion, a 9 TPD Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant of Indian Potash Limited (at Rohanakalan, Muzzafarnagar) and three Retail Outlets of Indian Oil at Muzaffarnagar (Chadravati Filling Station, Kissan Filling Station and Agarwal Service Station) were also dedicated to the nation. These Retail Outlets will be marketing CBG produced from this plant.

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The 5th edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave (NPPC) was organized by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII] on the theme “Technology enabled Government Procurement – Towards Efficiency, Transparency, and Inclusiveness”. The conclave was inaugurated virtually by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the industry on August 11, 2021 on the topic of government and businesses working together for a self-reliant. He spoke on the theme ‘India at 75: government and business working together for Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ via video conferencing. The two-day annual meeting of the industry body, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has started on August 11, 2021. Theme of the PM’s address is the guiding principle for India to overcome the devastating impact of the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic. Union government, in its FY22 union budget, articulated a policy to calibrate its import policies and tariffs in order to encourage more value addition to local economy and to discourage import of finished products. Apart from that, global manufacturers are being encouraged to set up factories in India by means of production incentives. As per Government expectations, a strong push to manufacturing and infrastructure creation will help in stimulating economy as capital spending will have a multiplier effect.

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The government of Maharashtra has announced about the introduction of Rajiv Gandhi Award for firms that are excelling in the Information Technology (IT) sector in the state. The awards have been named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The Rajiv Gandhi Award for excellence in the IT sector will be conferred upon institutions and companies for their outstanding performance in the IT sector on August 20, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi. It will be conferred by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Maharashtra IT Corporation Limited (MAHA-IT) has been appointed as the nodal agency to propose the award.

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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.

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The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched a loan interest subvention scheme in association with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) to provide financial assistance for innovative waste to energy biomethanation projects. The industrial organic waste-to-energy bio-methanation projects are generally capital intensive and financially sensitive to both operating costs, including waste availability, and revenue, particularly biogas yield and its utilisation scenario. A GIS-based inventory tool of organic waste streams was also unveiled.

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The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has successfully tested the ‘Nirbhay’ Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile, powered by the Made-in-India ‘Manik’ Turbofan Engine. The missile was designed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment, a DRDO laboratory in Bengaluru. The engine was designed and developed by another DRDO laboratory, Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), which is also based in Bengaluru. The ‘Nirbhay’ subsonic missile, which has a range of 1000 kilometers, was fired from a military testing facility off the coast of Odisha on Wednesday and it flew for nearly 150 kilometers in 15 minutes.