Current Affairs Quiz - July, 2021

Notes:
The Delhi government has recently unveiled the new Excise Policy 2021-22, as it announced the existing liquor policy old and cumbersome.
Under the new system, the government will close the state-run retail liquor shops and will promote private players retail liquor trade. The policy aims to boost excise as an important source of revenue by announcing new changes.

Notes:
‘Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’ is set to be Africa’s largest hydroelectric project when completed. As per Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopia has started the second phase of filling the dam’s reservoir on the upper Blue Nile.
UN Security Council is set to conduct a meeting on the issue shortly. Ethiopia says the project is essential to its development, while Egypt and Sudan fear it could restrict the water access of their citizens.

Notes:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mars probe is otherwise called as ‘Hope’. It has captured pictures of auroras around the Red Planet, for the first time in the world.
The three images of atomic oxygen emission from the planet Mars were captured by the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer instrument. The data collected during these observations include far and extreme ultraviolet auroral emissions.

Notes:
Union ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying launched the Online Course Mobile App named “Matsya Setu”.
The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar. Matsya Setu app has species-wise/ subject-wise self-learning online course modules. It also teaches the latest freshwater aquaculture technologies to the aqua farmers of the country.

Notes:
China has banned construction of skyscrapers that are taller than 500 meters, following the rising concerns about public safety in the country.
These new mandates come after the near 300-metre-high Shenzhen Electronics Group Plaza, one of China’s tallest skyscrapers, was evacuated recently after it began to shake. All local authorities are directed to strictly limit construction of towers taller than 250 metres, citing quality concerns and public safety hazards.

Notes:
Paradoxurus hermaphrodites, the common palm civet has been spotted in Odisha after 129 years, in the Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR).
It is also called as the Asian palm civet, found in southern and south-eastern Asia. It is a small mammal belonging to the family Viverridae. Their long body is covered with coarse hair, which is usually grey in colour.

Notes:
Indian biologists have identified a species of moss during an expedition to Antarctica in 2017. This has been published in an international journal recently.
The biologists, based in the Central University of Punjab, have named the species as Bryum bharatiensis. Bharati is the name of one of India’s Antarctic research stations. The most astonishing fact is how the moss survives in the landscape of rock and ice.

Notes:
The former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and Congress veteran Virbhadra Singh passed away recently at Shimla after he suffered cardiopulmonary arrest.
He has been the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for 6 times and has been into active politics for over 6 decades with a very rich political and administrative experience.

Notes:
India’s leading golfer Udayan Mane has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2021. He is the second Indian golfer to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, after Anirban Lahiri.
The announcement was made by the International Golf Federation (IGF) and he was placed at Rank 60 on the Olympic Golf Rankings list.

Notes:
A new report by WWF and UNEP has found that 35 per cent of India’s tiger ranges currently lie outside protected areas.
The report was titled “A Future for All – A need for Human-Wildlife Coexistence”. 40% of the African lion range and 70% of the African and Asian elephant ranges fall outside protected areas. As the protected areas disconnected from each other, many animals depend on human-dominated spaces for their survival.