Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
The cabinet of Assam has decided that no new cases will be registered against the Gorkha community in the state at the Foreigners’ Tribunals and already registered cases will be withdrawn. Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that no Gorkha citizen will be prosecuted under the Citizenship Amendment Act 1955. According to the organisation representing Gorkhas there are around 25 lakh Gorkhas in Assam.

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.

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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.

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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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Mirabai Chanu and Karnam Malleswari are the only female weightlifting medallists from the country. Karnam Malleswari is a retired Indian weightlifter. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics. In 1995, she received the Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour, and in 1999, the civilian Padma Shri award. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Malleswari lifted 110 kg in the “snatch” and 130 kg in the “clean and jerk” categories for a total of 240 kg. She won the bronze medal and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Women’s 49 kg category. Mirabai Chanu has won the World Championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions to the sport. She was awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Government of India in 2018.

Notes:
The United Nations has declared 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust, the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, and the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. Also, the Catholic Church has proclaimed 2021 as the Year of Saint Joseph.

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The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021 by defeating Mexico in the finals. The final was held in the Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This 2021 championship win marks the 7th Gold Cup title won by US. This year’s tournament was the 16th edition of this biennial tournament which is organized by CONCACAF.

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The Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative of 22 countries and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union) catalyzing investment in research, development and demonstration to make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible for all. Mission Innovation was launched during 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in November 2015. India, During Phase I played crucial role in MI Activities at global level by participating through DBT, DST and CSIR in eight Innovation Challenges and co-leading three challenges (Smart Grids, Off-Grid access to Electricity and Sustainable Bio fuels). The Ministry of Science and Technology, through Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) have played a key role in developing global Science & Technology partnerships in critical areas including energy, water, health and astronomy.

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South Africa has become the first country in the world to grant patent for an invention made by Artificial intelligence (AI). The country has granted a patent to a food container system which is based on Fractal Geometry and was invented by an AI system known as DABUS (Device for Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience). Stephen Thaler has created DABUS and it is a type of AI which is referred to as creativity machines as they are capable of complex functions. DABUS’ main function are spoiled food alerts, emergency warning system, etc.

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The Skytrax World Airport Award ranking 2021 was recently published in which Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi has emerged among world’s top-50 best airports in the 2021. Delhi Airport emerged as best airport in India for the third consecutive year. Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru have also found a rank among world’s 100 best airports. According to Skytrax 2021 world airport’s awards list, Delhi has been ranked at 45th position. Ranking has improved by five places as compared to number 50 in 2020. Delhi airport is first Indian airport to achieve this mark. Hyderabad has been ranked at 64th Its raking has been improved by seven places against 71st in 2020. Mumbai is at 65th number, 13 places down from 52nd position in 2020. Bengaluru is at 71st number, 3 places down from 68th rank in 2020.