Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
A research initiative named ‘Fund for Industrial Research Engagement (FIRE)’ has been initiated by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) in association with DST and Intel. This is aimed to increase research opportunities in fields like Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) etc.
SERB is a statutory body established by the SERB Act 2008, under the Dept. of Science and Technology.

Notes:
India approved its fourth Covid-19 vaccine, and its first mRNA vaccine, Moderna’s mRNA-1273. It is sold under the brand name ‘Spikevax’ in the US.
Now the vaccines can be imported to India without bridging clinical studies. Moderna vaccine which has 94.1 percent efficacy will be available in India through the Indian pharma company Cipla.

Notes:
Every year, 1st July is observed as the National Doctor’s Day in India by the Indian Medical Association.
This day is celebrated in memory of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, who was the former Chief Minister of Bengal, who has made enormous contribution to mankind by his service as a Doctor.

Notes:
Israel’s Defence major Rafael Advanced Defense Systems launched Sea Breaker, a 5th generation long range, autonomous, precision-guided missile system.
It is a naval and artillery unit force-multiplier, which can hit high-value maritime and land targets. It has ranges of up to 300 km, can be fired both from land and surface ships. The firm would offer the system to India in future.

Notes:
The Chengdu J-20 was developed by China’s Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air superiority fighter with precision strike capability.

Notes:
HDFC Bank launched “Salaam-Dil-Sey” initiative. It has been launched to show gratitude to doctors for their significant service during the pandemic.
Similarly, ICICI Bank launched banking solution package called Salute Doctors, to provide customised banking and value-added services to all doctors.

Notes:
Maharashtra has become the 5th state in India and 125th global state to join the “Under2 Coalition” to fight the climate change. The other four states are: Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana and West Bengal.
The Under2 Coalition is a global community of state and regional governments committed to ambitious climate action in line with the Paris Agreement. It started as a MoU which was signed by 12 founding jurisdictions in 2015 in Sacramento, California.

Notes:
Assam government has recently launched a scheme to incentivise the production of orthodox and specialty tea in the state.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched Assam Tea Industries Special Incentive Scheme (ATISIS). It aims to boost the production of orthodox or specialty tea in the state by extending incentives to the tea gardens. Government will provide interest subvention of 3% on the working capital loan per annum.

Notes:
Union AYUSH Ministry recently launched Ayurveda dataset on The Clinical Trials Registry- India CTRI Portal.
The Ayurveda Dataset of CTRI has been jointly developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) under the Ministry of AYUSH. Union AYUSH Minister also launched four more portals namely AMAR, SAHI, e-MEDHA and RMIS.

Notes:
A group of experts from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and its Forest College and Research Institute (FC&RI) has undertaken a project to identify native grasses and trees, suitable for elephants. This project aims to standardise mass multiplication techniques.
Earlier this year, the Forest Department set up the eight-member team, which recently submitted a report after identifying 29 native grass species and 14 fodder tree species that are eatable for elephants and other herbivores. The team have started a nursery to grow these species.