Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
Amitabh Kant is serving as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Government think tank NITI Aayog.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has extended the tenure of Amitabh Kant to another one year. This is the third extension since he joined the NITI Aayog in 2016.

Notes:
As per a report titled ‘COVID-19 and Tourism’ released by the UNCTAD jointly with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the crash in international tourism due to COVID 19 pandemic can lead to a loss of about $4 trillion to the global GDP in 2020 and 2021.
The estimated loss is said to be caused due to direct impact and indirect ripple effect on other sectors closely linked to the tourism industry.

Notes:
The Project BOLD (Bamboo Oasis on Lands in Drought) is a project of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) that seeks to create bamboo-based green patches in arid and semi-arid land zones. It was launched on July 4, 2021 from tribal village Nichla Mandwa in Udaipur, Rajasthan. It is unique and first of its kind scientific exercise serving the combined national objectives of reducing desertification and providing livelihood and multi-disciplinary rural industry support. It has been launched as part of KVIC’s “Khadi Bamboo Festival” to celebrate 75 years of independence “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”. KVIC is set to replicate the Project at Village Dholera in Ahmedabad district in Gujarat and Leh-Ladakh region by August this year. Total 15,000 bamboo saplings will be planted before August, 2021.

Notes:
F-35 Lightning II is a next generation fighter jet developed by the US-based Lockheed Martin. This stealth multirole aircraft is capable of conducting airstrikes, reconnaissance missions and air-to-air combats. Its development was funded by the US and several of its NATO allies. The fighter jet faced several criticisms for its large size, complexity, delivery delays, high costs etc.

Switzerland has ordered these fighter jets, making it the 15^th nation to be part of the world’s largest weapons project, Joint Strike Fighter program. This 5.5 million USD deal was criticised as the small Alpine country does not require such capability to secure itself since these supersonic jets can cross it in 10 minutes.

Notes:
Andrew R. Jassy (born January 13, 1968) is an American businessman and the CEO of Amazon Web Services. He is also one of the minority owners of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League. Jassy has led AWS since its inception in 2003. He will replace Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon on July 5, 2021; Bezos will become executive chairman.

Notes:
European Union’s Digital Covid certificate or ‘Green Pass’ is set to be rolled out on July 1 with an aim to facilitate free movement during the pandemic. Under this framework, persons who have taken vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be exempted from travel restrictions within the EU region.

Notes:
A Los Angeles court has denied the music star’s request to eject her father from a guardianship arrangement that gives him control of her affairs. This a week after the singer made an impassioned plea to end the “abusive” conservatorship during which she said she has been medicated to control her behaviour, prohibited from making decisions on friendships or finances and prevented from having a contraceptive implant removed, despite wanting more children.

Notes:
As per 2019 data, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) it is the world’s largest party in terms of primary membership, with the second largest party, the Chinese Communist Party, having about half the registered members of the BJP. BJP was founded on 6 April 1980 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — the world’s second largest political party after India’s Bharatiya Janata Party recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India mandated that 7.5 % of the bank’s total credit (ANBC or CEOBE) should be provided to Micro enterprises.
Recently, the Union MSME Ministry announced the inclusion of retail and wholesale trade under MSMEs (Micro, small and medium enterprises). As per this categorisation, the traders will now get the benefit of priority sector lending under RBI guidelines. They will also be eligible for availing immediate-term finance as part of the schemes announced under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

Notes:
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought samples of Asteroid Ryugu to earth in Dec 2020.
Recently, Japan has sent these samples to the American Space Agency NASA for research and experimental purposes. This is one of the first samples to move out of Japan for investigation.