Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

Notes:
The Indian men’s hockey team has claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, beating Germany 5-4 to claim the bronze in the ongoing Olympic Games on 5th August, 2021. The eight-time former gold-winners, who suffered a slump in performance in the last four decades, made the resurgence in the best way possible by bagging an Olympic medal. Determined to clinch a medal, the Indian hockey team made one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of the game, fighting back from a two-goal deficit to turn the match in their favour. It is India’s third hockey bronze medal in the history of the Olympics. The other two came in 1968 Mexico City and the 1972 Munich Games.

Notes:
The India-Russia joint military training Exercise INDRA 2021 commenced at Prudboy Ranges, Volgograd on 4th August, 2021 with an opening ceremony that saw the unfurling of the national flags of both the countries. An official release stated that exercise INDRA 2021 will enhance interoperability between the Indian and Russian Armies.

Notes:
SBI General Insurance partnered with Manipal Business Solutions, the initiator of SahiPay, to expand its penetration of non-life insurance in rural areas of the country. As SahiPay provides digital and financial services in semi-urban and rural areas, SBI General will leverage this customer base to maximize its non-life penetration rate in rural areas by providing a variety of non-life insurance solutions. . Over 65% of the Indian population lives in rural areas and hence this partnership will let them understand the benefits of the insurance, affordable and technology-based products that this association provides.

Notes:
The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed in the Lok Sabha on 6th August, 2021. The bill seeks to do away with the contentious retrospective tax provision. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill proposes to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 to provide that no tax demand shall be raised in the future on the basis of the retrospective amendment for any indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before May 28, 2012. Pranab Mukherjee was the finance minister when retrospective tax provision was included in 2012.

Notes:
On 7th August, 2021 Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in men’s javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.58 metres. Czech Republic throwers Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) took the silver and bronze respectively. Chopra becomes the first Indian to win a medal in athletics at the Olympic Games and is only the second Indian to win an individual gold medal after shooter Abhinav Bindra at Beijing in the year 2008.

Notes:
A 101 member contingent of the Indian Army will proceed to Russia to participate in International Army Games – 2021 from 22nd August to 4th September, 2021. The contingent will participate in Army Scout Masters Competition (ASMC), Polar Star, Elbrus Ring, Sniper Frontier and Safe Route games showcasing various drills in operations in snow, High Altitude Area terrain, sniper actions, combat engineering skills in obstacle ridden terrain. The contingent will also contribute two observers (one each) for the Falcon Hunting and Open Water games in which Pontoon Bridge laying and UAV crew skills will be showcased by the participating teams. The Indian Army contingent has been selected out of the best from various arms after three levels of screening.

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:
The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed by IOC chief Thomas Bach on August 8, 2021. The Olympic flag was passed to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games at the Tokyo closing ceremony. The United States topped the tally with 39 gold medals, just one ahead of China. Host Japan finished third with 27 golds followed by Great Britain with 22 and the Russian Olympic Committee, the team for Russian athletes after their country was banned for systematic doping, were fifth with 20. India finished 48th with 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Notes:
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.

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.