Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

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Animal Birth Control (ABC) Centre at Konakkarai in Tamil Nadu has become operational again. It was opened in the year 2018 but it remained idle for several months. Tiruchi Corporation has been made operational now and will engage a private veterinarian for the sterilisation drive.

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Two major projects, developed under Smart City initiative of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), are ready for inauguration in Visakhapatnam. Under the smart city initiative, VMRDA Park (also known as VUDA Park) on Beach Road and Multi Level Car Parking (MLCP) Project at Jagadamba Junction has been completed.

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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.

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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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India is ranked 122nd on a new Global Youth Development Index measuring the condition of young people across 181 countries, released by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London on 10th August, 2021. Singapore ranked topmost while Niger came last. The index ranks countries between 0.00 (lowest) and 1.00 (highest) according to the developments in youth education, employment, health, equality and inclusion, peace and security, and political and civic participation. It looks at 27 indicators including literacy and voting to showcase the state of the world’s 1.8 billion people between the age of 15 and 29.

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Bearing testimony to the growing defence ties between India and Saudi Arabia, INS KOCHI, the flagship destroyer of Indian Western Naval Fleet, arrived at Port Al-Jubail on August, 2021. The visit by the ship heralds a new chapter in the bilateral defence ties with the commencement of the harbour phase of first Naval Exercise between the two countries – ‘AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021’, according to a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.

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Grameen Foundation India (GFI) launched the Tech4Inclusion challenge for augmented reality-based solutions to advance financial literacy and inclusion. Grameen Foundation India is a social impact organization, working on financial inclusion, agriculture-based livelihoods, and health initiatives with the mission to enable the poor, especially women to overcome poverty and hunger. The challenge invites technology startups working on cutting edge augmented reality/virtual reality technologies and encourages them to come up with innovative solutions to address the challenges in advancing digital and financial inclusion of low-income people, particularly women.

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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.

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NITI Aayog today released a handbook to guide state governments and local bodies to frame policies and norms towards setting up charging networks for electric vehicles (EV). The objective is to enhance charging infrastructure and facilitate a rapid transition to electric mobility in the country. The Handbook for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Implementation has been jointly developed by NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power (MoP), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), and World Resources Institute (WRI) India.

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Deutsche Bank will set up its IFSC banking unit at India’s first global financial centre in Gujarat. The bank has received approval from the GIFT SEZ Authority to set up an IFSC banking unit at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City, Gujarat, a release said on Thursday. The leading German bank with strong European roots has a global network across 59 countries. This will serve as a primer for renowned banks from other geographies to consider GIFT City a viable destination for international financial services. Deutsche Bank is among the largest international banks in India. It had set up its first branch in the country in Mumbai more than 40 years ago. Deutsche Bank has deployed capital over Rs 19,000 crore in its India branch operations. The foreign lender currently employs more than 18,000 people across its various entities in the country.