Current Affairs Quiz - August, 2021

• The Assam government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 37 microfinance lenders for implementation of the Assam Microfinance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS), 2021.
• The scheme is aimed at providing financial relief to the microfinance borrowers in Assam to help them continue maintaining good credit discipline in covid-19 times.

The scheme will provide incentive to clients who are regular in repayments and help overdue clients become regular.

• Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman today unveiled the fourth edition of the Public Sector Bank (PSB) Reforms Agenda ‘EASE 4.0’ for 2021-22 – tech-enabled, simplified, and collaborative banking.
• She unveiled the annual report for the PSB Reforms Agenda EASE 3.0 for 2020-21 and participated in the awards ceremony to felicitate best performing banks on EASE 3.0 Banking Reforms Index.
• State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India have won the awards for best performing banks for PSB Reforms EASE 3.0 based on the EASE index.
• Indian Bank won the award for the best improvement from the baseline performance.
• SBI, BoB, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank won the top awards in different themes of the PSB Reforms Agenda EASE 3.0.

• SBI General Insurance has been chosen by the government of Punjab to service the Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY).
• The scheme will provide cashless health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh annually to eligible families.
• More than 40lakh families will be benefitted from this scheme.

• State-owned RailTel Corporation of India Ltd has implemented an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based attendance system for 48,000 government schools across Assam.
• RailTel has deployed an AI-based identification system for capturing attendance and management of SDMIS (Student Database Management Information System) for government schools in Assam.
• The system covers 48,000 schools in all 33 districts.

• The state assembly of Haryana has recently passed the “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement” Bill.
• The Bill seeks to fasten the implementation of projects in the state and simplify the process of land acquisition.
• The bill has exempted the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects from Social Impact Assessment (SIA).

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles named “Bharat series (BH-series)”.
• A vehicle bearing this registration mark shall not require the assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
• This new registration has been announced to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles and to cater to vehicle owners who frequently shift their bases in India.

• The Union Personnel Ministry has inaugurated a digital learning facility for civil servants named “Karmayogi”.
• It was launched by the Union Minister Jitendra Singh at the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM).
• This digital platform is aimed to deepen the citizen-centric reforms initiated by the Government of India.
• Presently, the platform has 75 courses with a running time of 75 hours of digital content.

• The ‘International Day against Nuclear Tests’ is observed on August 29 every year, across the world.
• The Day aims to bring awareness regarding the harmful effects of testing nuclear weapons and calls for an end to such tests
• The International Day against Nuclear Tests was established on December 2, 2009, by the United Nations General Assembly in its 64th session.
• Kazakhstan initiated this resolution to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the closing of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site at Kazakhstan in 1991.
• The first nuclear test, called Trinity, was conducted by the United States Army in a desert site in New Mexico, on July 16, 1945.

• The month of September is observed as ‘Poshan Maah’ i.e. ‘Nutrition month’ in India every year.
• This year, it is set to be celebrated with four themes across four weeks of the month.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan is Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, adolescent Girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
• Mission Poshan 2.0 has been announced in the Budget 2021-2022 as an integrated nutrition support programme.

• Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a major contract to Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS) worth Rs 1349.95 crore.
• The contract is for manufacturing integrated anti-submarine warfare defence suite (IADS) for modern warships of Indian Navy.
• IADS is a high-end underwater equipment that uses modern technology. It is designed to detect and protect warships from underwater threats.
• It is the first major contract with the private sector meant for underwater detection and protection from threats.