Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has inducted its first women officers in combat. On 8th August, 2021 ITBP commissioned its first two women officers in combat after they completed their training at the ITBP officers’ training academy located in Mussoorie. A first-ever ‘History of ITBP’ book containing many unknown facts and photographs of the border guarding force was also released by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami along with ITBP director general S. S. Deswal.

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.

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The 79th anniversary of Quit India movement was observed on August 8, 2021. On this day in 1942, father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of Do or Die to all Indians to drive away Britishers from the country. The movement had begun from Gowalia Tank in Mumbai. The day is observed as August Kranti Day every year.

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The International Day of Indigenous Peoples was celebrated on August 9, 2021 with its theme: ‘Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract.’ There are over 476 million indigenous peoples living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2% of the global population. Indigenous peoples are the holders of a vast diversity of unique cultures, traditions, languages and knowledge systems.

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Karnataka has become the first state in the country to issue the order with regard to the implementation of National Education Policy-2020, State Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan claimed. The state government has issued an order on Saturday on the implementation of NEP-2020 with effect from the current academic year 2021-2022. The implementation will be done as per the guidelines of the NEP.

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) has built one of the world’s highest mobile air traffic control towers at the Advanced Landing Ground in Nyoma, Ladakh. The ATC controls operations of the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the eastern Ladakh region.

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Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched ‘Equitech’ – a fintech accelerator programme aimed at the start-up ecosystem. The programme, designed to scale-up, will help fintechs to curate their products and define a go-to-market strategy. The primary aim of Equitas is to provide start-ups legal and regulatory support through the venture capitalists and the experts of the bank. To enrol in Equitech the fintech start-ups should have at least 2 full time members along with team members and it must present an innovative idea. Also, this start-up should be incorporated at least 6 years before the date of applying.

Notes:
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.

Notes:
The Indian compound girls’ and mixed teams broke under-18 world records during their ranking round of the World Archery Youth Championships which is being held in Wroclaw, Poland. The girls’ team of Priya Gurjar, Parneet Kaur and Ridhu Senthilkumar combined for a total of 2067 to better the previous record by 22 points. Priya also combined with Kushal Dalal for a mixed pair tally of 1401 to break the previous mark of 1387.

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.